Simone Biles Celebrates Receiving Honorary Doctorate from Washington University

The Olympic gold medalist received and celebrated the milestone on Monday. She also delivered the commencement address ahead of the graduation ceremony for the Class of 2025.

Simone Biles was among the honorees at Washington University in St. Louis on Monday, May 12, 2025, earning a Doctor of Humane Letters from the institution.

The decorated athlete shared the achievement in a celebratory Instagram post, featuring photos of herself posing in a doctoral gown and cap, and holding her honorary degree.

"It's Dr. Biles to you [...]," she wrote. "But in all seriousness ,thank you @washu for allowing me to do the commencement speech! Congrats to all the Graduates 🎓Truly inspiring! Good luck with all your future endeavors!!"

In her speech, which was about 12 minutes long, Biles shared some advice with the graduates on how to navigate their futures going forward.

"The world doesn't need you to be perfect. It needs you to be bold. It needs you to care, and to keep going even when things don't go as planned. So go out there and write your own story, only you can tell," she said.

Biles noted that success in academics—like in athletics—requires sacrifice and dedication. "There is a lot of fun on the way, but to make it to the top, you also really need to find joy in the work," she continued.

Biles shared that she sometimes gets chills when she reflects all she has accomplished so far. However, being the Greatest Of All Time—or the G.O.A.T., as she is often called—was never the goal.

"All I ever wanted was to be the greatest Simone that I could be," she said, adding it's still something she strives for every day. Biles encouraged the Class of 2025 to do the same.