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Apple designer Jonathan Ive can now add "Sir" to his title; he was named a Knight Commander of the British Empire (KBE) on Saturday as part of England's New Year's Honors List.
London-born Ive serves as vice president of industrial design at Apple, reporting to CEO Tim Cook. He has led Cupertino's highly regarded design team since 1996, according to his Apple bio, having started in 1992.
In a statement provided to the BBC, Ive said the honor was "absolutely thrilling."
"I discovered at an early age that all I've ever wanted to do is design," he said.
Honors are awarded twice a year by the Queen; on her birthday in mid-June and at the New Year. Anyone can be nominated, but they must be approved by a nominations team and the Queen. In all, almost 1,000 people were honored today, many of them local heroes.
Art historian John Patrick Richardson also received the KBE honor with Ive.
There are five classes in the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, which was created by George V in 1917 during World War I. The two most prestigious classes, which carry with them the "Sir" or "Dame" designation, are the Knight or Dame Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire and the Knight or Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.
The origins of knighthood, however, "are obscure, but they are said to date back to ancient Rome, where there was a knightly class Ordo Equestris (an order of mounted nobles)," according to the U.K. government.
As the BBC noted, Ive was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 2005, the third highest honor, but it did not allow him to use the "Sir" title.
As described in Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs, Ive—known as Jony—thought about quitting Apple in 1997, the year Jobs returned as CEO. Ive was frustrated by the focus on profit rather than product design, Isaacson wrote, but Jobs changed that.
"I remember very clearly Steve announcing that our goal is not just to make money but to make great products," Ive told Isaacson.
Ive grew up the son of a silversmith who valued a handmade product. He landed at Apple after his London-based design firm, Tangerine, was awarded a contract job with Cupertino. He soon gained the respect of Jobs, who later told Isaacson that Ive was a "spiritual partner" at Apple.
Earlier this year, there were reports that Ive would leave Apple in order to spend more time in the U.K., but a report in the Daily Mail shot down those rumors.
Around the same time, there were also rumors that Jobs had been considered for knighthood, but the designation was blocked by former U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown because Jobs rejected an invitation to speak at a Labour Party event.
Another famous tech figure, former Microsoft head Bill Gates, was awarded an honorary knighthood in 2005. Full knighthoods are only available to citizens of countries where Queen Elizabeth II is queen. She can award honorary knighthoods to anyone else, but they cannot use the "Sir" title, so even if Brown had not allegedly blocked Jobs's nomination, the late Apple chief could never be addressed as Sir Steve Jobs.
For more, see PCMag's Year in Review of Apple.
For more from Chloe, follow her on Twitter @ChloeAlbanesius.
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