Honorary doctorates for Safiya Umoja Noble and Catherine Malabou during 2026 Dies Natalis
Leiden University will award two honorary doctorates at its Dies Natalis on 9 February 2026. They will go to internet studies scholar Safiya Umoja Noble and philosopher Catherine Malabou.
Noble and Malabou will be awarded their honorary doctorates on Leiden University’s 451st Dies Natalis. They are receiving this honour for their outstanding contributions to science, education and society.
Safiya Umoja Noble
Safiya Umoja Noble has earned global recognition as a pioneer in digital inequality, algorithmic discrimination and the impact of technology on minority groups. She holds the David O. Sears Presidential Endowed Chair at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). With her book Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism, she set an international standard for critical research on digital systems.
Noble shows how seemingly neutral technologies can amplify social inequality and affect people’s access to knowledge, opportunities and rights. Her work has sparked a broad debate about the need for transparency, regulation and ethics in the tech sector.
Noble’s influence extends beyond the academic world. She is co-founder and Director of the Center on Race & Digital Justice and Co-Director of the Minderoo Initiative on Tech & Power. In 2021, she was recognised as a MacArthur Foundation Fellow for her groundbreaking research and advocacy for cyber civil rights. She is also involved in international policy development, including as a Research Associate at the Oxford Internet Institute.
Noble will receive an honorary degree for her ability to communicate complex technological issues to a wide audience and for her calls for a just, inclusive digital society.
Catherine Malabou
Catherine Malabou is one of the most influential contemporary thinkers within continental philosophy. She is a professor at the Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy (CRMEP) at Kingston University, as well as at the European Graduate School and the Department of Comparative Literature at the University of California, Irvine. She previously held the Spinoza Chair in Philosophy in Amsterdam.
Malabou introduced a new methodological approach within her discipline and has consistently engaged with the challenges of the contemporary world. A steadfast advocate for the humanities in a globalised world, she has urged philosophers to adopt a more open stance toward the natural and social sciences, whether in response to the implications of new information technologies, neuroscientific discoveries or developments in climate science.
Malabou will receive an honorary doctorate in recognition of her innovative contributions to continental philosophy and her interdisciplinary approach. Her approach to both research and education exemplifies why we need to protect universities: they are one of the few remaining places where the pursuit of understanding and orientation in a rapidly changing world is given privileged attention.
Safiya Umoja Noble has been nominated for an honorary doctorate by the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences. Her honorary supervisor is Marja Spierenburg, Professor of Anthropology of Sustainability and Livelihood at Leiden University and a Research Fellow at Stellenbosch University, South Africa.
Catherine Malabou has been nominated for an honorary doctorate by the Faculty of Humanities. Her honorary supervisor is Susanna Lindberg, Professor of Continental Philosophy.