Xavier University of Louisiana President Dr. Reynold Verret will be awarded an honorary degree from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai during its 2019 Commencement Thursday, May 09.

At the event, he will honored for his achievements as president of the nation’s only historically Black, Catholic university, as a “celebrated educational leader, scientist, and teacher whose work has shaped the course of higher education of many, and, in particular, the path forward for the next generation of STEM K-12 teachers of color”, and for his “efforts to develop programs and initiatives” to increase the number of U.S. students earning degrees in the STEM disciplines, including education.