South African-born Twitter CEO Elon Musk’s mother Maye Musk embodies the idea that aging shouldn’t hold you back from chasing your dreams as she was conferred with an honorary doctorate in Dietetics by the University of the Free State for her exemplary contribution to nutrition research.
“I am now Dr. Maye Musk PhD! 👩🎓🥰 Thank you the University of the Free State for honoring me with the Doctor of Dietetics,” Maye shared her excitement following her return to South Africa for the ceremony as she tweeted earlier today (Thursday), adding: “After dedicating my adult life to nutrition research and the promotion of dietitians, this is the best recognition ever! This ceremony brought me to tears.”
The awe-inspiring model and dietitian is quite a relentless go-getter herself. Last year, she made history as the oldest ever model to be featured in the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition.
She was featured as the cover model with a head-turning photoshoot wearing a one-piece Maygel Coronel suit on the beach, alongside Hollywood reality star Kim Kardashian, Grammy award-winning singer Ciara, and Japanese-Dutch recording artist Yumi Nu.
Sports Illustrated said of her role at the time: “Musk embodies the idea that aging shouldn’t hold you back from pursuing your dreams.”
Armed with two master’s degrees, Maye first made modeling history by being CoverGirl’s oldest spokesmodel at the age of 69. And previously in 2013 – when she was 65 – she appeared in ‘Haunted‘ music video by Beyoncé.
With an illustrious modeling career spanning more than five decades, she has appeared on the covers of New York magazine and Elle Canada. Not only that, she has starred in premium campaigns for the likes of Virgin America, Clinique, and has been photographed for Vogue Italia and Vogue Korea to name but a few.
In 2016, she signed a contract with IMG, the agency that represents top Hollywood supermodels, Alek Wek, Gigi Hadid and Joan Smalls, and has previously (2017) walked in two New York Fashion Week shows.
