Tom Petty was posthumously recognized by the University of Florida with an honorary Doctor of Music degree, and to celebrate, the estate of the late Heartbreakers announced an endowment for the school’s music program.
Dr. Beatty received academic distinction after the UF Board of Trustees voted unanimously in 2021 to honor the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, who hails from the same city as the university in Gainesville. His younger brother, Bruce Petty, was invited to accept the degree on his behalf at the Spring Commencement Ceremony on Thursday, May 4.
“I don’t think anyone in our family, including him, thought they would relate to the University of Florida in that way,” Little Betty said in a statement. “It’s such a powerful thing, it’s been his lifelong dream, and I know he’d be very happy about it.”
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Kevin Orr, director of the UF School of Music, added that they were “honored to honor Tom Petty with an honorary Doctor of Music degree, celebrating not only his extraordinary accomplishments as an artist, but the ways his music has and continues to unite us as a community.” Previously won the university’s Distinguished Achievement Award in 2006.
Meanwhile, Petty’s Estate, in partnership with UF, has unveiled The Tom Petty Endowment for Guitars & Innovation, which aims to support students enrolled in the Guitar and Music Business and Entrepreneurship programs at the UF School of Music. The estate laid the foundation with a donation of $100,000, while interested parties are able to contribute to the endowment here.
In conjunction with Tom Petty’s posthumous music doctorate, the facility has released exclusive editions of Shepherd Ferry’s “An American Treasure” poster, while Gainesville’s Cade Museum will host a performance Tom Petty: Somewhere you feel freea 2021 documentary film focusing on the making of his 1994 solo album wild flowersstarting night.
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