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Indra Nooyi to receive Amherst honorary degree
The former PepsiCo chief is among six women leaders being honored.
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Malvika Choudhary - Sat, 11, Apr 2026
- 11:28 EDT
- 20
Indra Nooyi / Britannica
Indra Nooyi, the former chair and chief executive officer of PepsiCo, will receive an honorary degree from Amherst College during its commencement ceremony on May 23.
Nooyi is among six women leaders being recognized this year as part of Amherst’s 50th anniversary of coeducation.
Also Read: Neeli Bendapudi honored for advancing public-impact research
The college said the honorees represent leadership across fields including the arts, athletics, business, humanitarian work and science. They will also participate in a series of public conversations on the same day.
Nooyi led PepsiCo from 2006 to 2019, focusing on what she described as “performance with purpose,” expanding the company’s portfolio to include healthier products, advancing environmental sustainability and emphasizing talent development. She joined PepsiCo’s board in 2001.
Since stepping down from PepsiCo, Nooyi has remained active across corporate, academic and nonprofit sectors. She serves on the board of Amazon, where she chairs the audit committee, and is also a director on the boards of Honeywell and Philips.
She is a trustee of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the National Gallery of Art, and serves on advisory boards for Apollo Global Management, Deutsche Bank and the MIT School of Engineering.
Between 2019 and 2022, Nooyi held the Class of 1951 Chair for the Study of Leadership at the United States Military Academy, where she worked on leadership development initiatives. Her memoir, My Life in Full, reflects on her career and examines issues related to work, family and equity.
Her honors include the Padma Bhushan, India’s third-highest civilian award, the Portrait of a Nation Prize from the National Portrait Gallery and induction into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. She holds degrees from Madras Christian College, the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta and Yale University.
The honorary degree will be conferred during the commencement exercises on the college’s main quad. Amherst College President Michael A. Elliott will deliver the traditional commencement address.
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