Julie Taymor, the woman behind The Lion King and The Green Bird and the first female to win a Tony for direction of a musical, will receive an honorary degree from Columbia University at its spring commencement exercises on May 19.
Also receiving degrees at the event will be boxing great Muhammad Ali and musician Tito Puente.
Taymor, fable-based, puppet-filled work has been seen at Theatre for a New Audience, the New Victory Theatre and Lincoln Center Theatre. She recently completed filming her first movie, "Titus Andronicus," based on the bloody Shakespeare drama.
