Bob Geldof to be honored in Israel
(Video) Former Boomtown Rats lead singer, organizer of Live Aid and Live 8 charity concerts to receive honorary doctorate from Ben-Gurion University in late May
According to the program of the 41st Annual Board of Governors Meeting published on the university's website, Geldof will take part in the conferment of honorary doctoral degrees on May 30.
The award is being given in honor of his successful musical career and his activities to bring the world’s attention to the famine in Africa and commitment to raise funds to alleviate it.
Geldof with Boomtown Rats in Live Aid
On the same occasion, the university will confer Honorary Doctoral degrees upon six additional individuals: Sir Stephen Waley-Cohen, UK, a businessman and entrepreneur; Dr. Mimi Halper Silbert, USA, founder of the “Delancy Street Foundation,” a non-profit organization that runs rehabilitation programs for ex-felons and other at-risk populations in San Francisco; Prof. Donna E. Shalala, USA, a political scientist and President of the University of Miami; Prof. France A. Córdova, USA, a physicist and astronomer and President of Purdue University; Sir Martin Gilbert, UK, historian and Winston Churchill’s official biographer, and Prof. Robert Badinter, France, a professor of law and member of the French Senate.
Geldof, 59, became famous in the late 1970s as lead singer of the Boomtown Rats band. He began his solo career in the mid 1980s.
As part of his fund-raising efforts, in 1985 he staged the Live Aid concert. In 2005, he organized the Live 8 rock concerts to raise awareness for world poverty. These concerts took place simultaneously in London, Paris, Philadelphia, Rome and Berlin, with the participation of top musicians from around the globe. All of the proceeds were dedicated to alleviating poverty in Africa.
Geldof has received a lifetime achievement award for his outstanding contribution to the music industry, an honorary knighthood as Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire from Queen Elizabeth II, and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
While in Israel, Geldof will also be participating in the conference “Israel in Africa – Past, Present and Future,” organized by IsraAID- The Israel Forum for International Humanitarian Aid, on May 29 at the Daniel Hotel, Herzliya.
About nine years ago, Geldof expressed his support for the Beth Shalom Holocaust Centre in Nottinghamshire, England. "If you say `never again', you have to show you mean it. Words without actions are no use to dead people," he said at the time.
Eran Baron and Ynetnews contributed to this report
- Follow Ynetnews on Facebook
