Past Honorary Degrees

Each year at Commencement, the College awards honorary doctorates to those honorees selected by a committee of faculty. The Honorary Degree Committee makes their selection from a list of nominees compiled from suggestions made by faculty and staff. For more information about the selection criteria, see page A7 in the Faculty Handbook (PDF). Note: Click on the name of the honoree for more information, such as a link to video of their ceremony remarks, a news story, and/or text of their honorary degree award citation, as available.

2024: Peter Sagal, DHL; Alvin Irby ’07, DHL; Shane Rasmussen, DS; Stuart Yeager ’82, DL
2023: Ham Serunjogi ’16, DSS; Peggy F. Barlett ’69, DS; William Love, DHL; Irma Pearl McClaurin ’73, DSS
2022: Dr. Bernice A. King, DL; Katherine Stephan Villers ’61, DHL; Erin Whalen ’12, DSS; Olivia Kuper, DS
2021: Kesho Y. Scott, DSS; Mardele S. Early, DSS; Simon L. Estes, DHL; Anya C. Grundmann ’89, DHL; Sarah Hake ’75, DS
2019: Amy Tan, DHL; Edith Renfrow Smith ’37, DHL; Richard Royal Fisher ’61, DS; Kristin DeMoss, DSS
2018: Celina Karp Biniaz ’52 DHL; Chase Strangio ’04 DL; James Holbrook ’66 DL; Tracey Menten DHL
2017: Kumail Nanjiani ’01, DHL; Emily Pfitsch, DHL; Barb Van Ersvelde, DH; Daniel Werner ’91, DL
2016: Zadie Smith, DHL; Thomas Cole ’71, DL*; Fred Hersch ’77, DHL; Claudia Swisher, DSS
2015: Bill McKibben, DHL; Penny Bender Sebring ’64 and Charles Ashby Lewis, DL; Mary Seely, DS; Kit Abel Hawkins, DSS
2014: Nancy Giles, DHL; Dorje Gurung ’94, DS; Sterling Lord ’42, DHL; Jaya Subramanian, DSS
2013: Sarah Kay, DHL; Nathaniel Borenstein ’80, DS; David Abarr ’83, DS; Bonnie Tinker ’69, DHL
2012: Jamaica Kincaid, DHL; Kay Bucksbaum ’51, DL; Pat Irwin ’77, DHL
2011: Anna Quindlen, DHL; David Feldman ’71, DHL; Henry Wilhelm ’68, DS; Pardis Sabeti, DS
2010: Jeffrey Sachs, DHL; Lonabelle “Kappie” Kaplan Spencer ’47, DL; Sam Tanenhaus ’77, DHL
2009: Thomas L. Friedman, DHL; Jodie Levin-Epstein ’72, DL; John F. Schwaller ’69, DHL; A. Gregory Theilmann ’72, DL
2008: Judith Butler, DHL; Rekha Basu, DHL; Dr. John W. Canady ’80, DS; James H. Lowry ’61, DL
2007: Angela Y. Davis, DHL; Susan Asbrook Harvey ’75, DHL; John Brady Keisling, DL; Margaret Tolbert ’79, DS
2006: Thomas Vilsack, DL; James Banks, DHL; Patricia O’Conner ’71, DHL; Christopher Vaughan ’71, DS
2005: Carol Bellamy, DHL; Kathryn Jagow Mohrman ’67, DHL; Rein Saral ’65, DHL
2004: William Schulz, DHL; Frances Moore Lappé, DHL; Debhanom Muangman ’58, DS; Mary Sue Wilson Coleman ’65, DS
2003: Gordon Edelstein ’76, DFA; Vernon E. Faulconer ’61, DL; Merry Wiesner-Hanks ’73, DHL
2002: Robert B. Reich, DL; Raymond D. Horton ’62, DHL; Vera Cooper Rubin, DS
2001: Caroline Scheaffer Arnold ’66, DHL; Robert A. Dahl, DL; Jim Diers ’75, DL; Robert P. Moses, DHL
2000: Dolores C. Huerta, DHL; Kim Kihwan ’57, DHL; Mary Rosenthal Lefkowitz, DHL; Arthur C. Risser ’60, DHL
1999: Marcia L. Colish, DHL; Duane W. Krohnke ’61, DHL; Anne Campbell Spence ’66, DS; Fred Wertheimer, DHL
1998: Alberta Nelson Coleman ’35, DHL; Joycelyn Elders, DS; George T. McJimsey ’58, DHL; Kunio Waki ’66, DHL
1997: Bertha Daubendiek ’36, DHL; Jean Bethke Elshtain, DHL; David McCullough, DHL; David Mura ’74, DHL
1996: Robert F. Austin ’54, DHL; Paula J. McDermott ’75, DHL; Albert J. Pinder, DHL; Ann W. Richards, DL
1995: Claude W. Ahrens ’38, DHL; Sister Dorina Chase, DHL; Thomas W. Merrill ’71, DL; Alan D. Wheat ’72, DL
1994: Mary Frances Berry, DHL; I. Craig Henderson ’63, DS; Paul G. Risser ’61, DS; Joseph F. Rosenfield 1925, DHL; Lanford Wilson, DHL
1993: Harry Edwards, DHL; Wallace D. Loh ’65, DL; David G. Marker ’59, DS; Martha Nussbaum, DHL
1992: Alfred W. Crosby, DHL; Evelyn Davis, DL; Linda Kaufmann Kerber, DHL; Randall C. Morgan, Jr. ’65, S
1991: David Billington, DC; Bob Edwards, DHL; Grant O. Gale, DS; Liane Ellison Norman ’59, DHL
1990: Johnnetta B. Cole, DL; Amb. George E. Moose ’66, DL; Michael P. Schulhof ’64, DS; Lauren Soth, DHL
1989: Edward M. Hirsch ’72, DHL; Donald E. Knuth, DS; Tetusuo Najita ’58, DL; Geneva Overholser, DHL
1988: Charles W. Anderson, DL; Marian Wright Edelman, DL; Gary Giddons ’70, DFA; Meridel LeSueur, DHL
1987: Thomas R. Cech ’70, DS; Mario M. Cuomo, DL; Helene Scriabine, DHL; Robert B. Winter ’54, DS
1986: Hortense Calisher, DHL; Curtis A. Harnack ’49, DHL; Brian E. Urquhart, DL; Henry T. Wingate ’69, DL
1985: Benjamin R. Barber, DL; Judith L. Mann, DHL
1984: Sir Roger Bannister, DS; E. Douglas Brown, DHL; Amy K. Clampitt ’41, DHL; Charlayne Hunter-Gault, DHL; Mary Louise Smith, DL
1983: John Kenneth Galbraith, DL; Margaret E. Kuhn, DL; George W. Simon ’55, DS
1982: Samuel Hoyt Elbert 1928, DHL; Mary Emily Hannah ’58, DL; William Jovanovich, DHL; Dean Melvin Roosa, DS
1981: Barry Commoner, DL; John C. Culver, DL; Philip F. Nelson ’50, DHL; Clinton A. Rehling ’39, DHL
1980: Joan Wilson Sullivan ’50, DHL; Howard M. Warrington ’34, DL; Edwin M. Yoder, Jr., DHL
1979: Bernard Bailyn, DHL; Jane Temple Howard, DHL; John R. Parish 1927, DS; Marilyn Walsh ’50, DL
1978: Betty Hornor Liljestrand, DL; Samuel R. Rosenthal, DHL; Joseph Frazier Wall ’41, DHL; Edward Osborne Wilson, DS
1977: R. Hal Dean ’38, DL; Patricia A. McIlrath ’37, DHL; Louis “Studs” Turkel, DHL; Garrett “Garry’ Trudeau, DHL
1976: Murray Kempton, DL; Ann Jacobson McGonigle ’49, DA; Gregor Piatigorsky, DA; Thomas Fisher Railsback ’54, DL
1975: Ralph James Kaufmann ’47, DHL; Glenn Leggett, DHL
1974: Thomas Barnabas, DL; Hanna Holborn Gray, D.Litt.; William F. Hejna ’54, DS; Blair Stewart, DL; Nancy Theilgaard Watts ’48, DHL
1973: Harry A. Duncan ’38, DHL; Lucius Perry Gregg, DS; Burton W. Jones ’23, DS; Marion Musser Lloyd, DL; Louise Rosenfield Noun 1929, DHL
1972: Robert W. Crawford, DL; G. Lester Duke 1925, DHL; R. Buckminster Fuller, D.Litt.; Herbert J. Hancock ’60, DFA; Clair C. Patterson ’43, DS; Dorothy Daniell Schramm, DL; James S. Schramm, DFA; John R. Spencer ’47, DFA; Jessie L. Ternberg ’46, DS; Fred A. Winter 1921, DHL
1971: Andrew Billingsley ’51, DHL; Roy J. Clampitt 1911, DHL; Alfred F. Conard ’32, DL; Robert B. Heilman, DL; Bayless A. Manning, DL; Randall C. Morgan, DHL; S. Idell Pyle 1916, DS; Robert D. Ray, DL; Harvey Uhlenhopp ’36, DL
1970: Horace Mann Bond, DHL; H. Maurice Fridlund 1918, DL; Morse W. Rew 1907, DS; John G. Stoessinger ’50, DL; Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., D.Litt.
1969: John F. Chapman 1924, DL; Philip P. Hallie ’46, D.Litt.; Harold E. Hughes, DL; Roger P. Loveland 1919, DS; Dring D. Needham 1914, DL; James H. Stauss ’36, DL; Curtis W. Tarr, DHL
1968: Barry Commoner, DS; Dennis H. Kelly 1918, DS; Myron Koenig ’32, DHL; Dwight J. Porter ’38, DL
1967: James I. Armstrong, D.Litt.; Daniel Bell, DHL; Stephen Benedict, DHL; George Champion, DL; Ralph Ellison, DHL; Fred W. Friendly, DHL; Richard Gilman, DHL; Peter S. Hackes ’48, DHL; Samuel I. Hayakawa, D.Litt.; Gerald Holton, D.Sc.; Sally Hughes-Schrader 1917, DS; Martin Luther King, Jr., DHL; William H. Lawrence, DHL; Benjamin E. Mays, D.Litt.; George McGovern, DL; Dean E. McHenry, DL; Marshall McLuhan, D.Litt.; Leonard B. Meyer, DHL; Ashley Montagu, DS; Willie Morris, DHL; Calvin H. Plimpton, DS; Robert Rauschenberg, DHL; Richard H. Rovere, DHL; Harold C. Schonberg, DHL
1966: E. Wilson Lyon, DL; Gabriel R. Manalac 1916, D.Ed.
1965: H. Eugene Breitenbach 1925, DL; Dwight David Eisenhower, DL; Mary Patterson Routt 1908, DH; Helen Constance White, DHL
1964: Howard Rothmann Bowen, D.Litt.; Francis Crispin Ellis 1914, DD; Theodore Alexander Gill, DD; Eugene Johnson McNeel, DL; James Louis Robertson 1929, DL; Henry Nelson Wieman, D.Litt.
1963: I. Hwthorne Arey 1928, DL; George A. Buttrick, DD; Arthur J. Jones 1893, DL; Arnold J. Toynbee, DHL
1962: Harry S. Ashmore, DL; Luang Binbakyha Bidyabhed ’23, DS; Eugene Carson Blake, DD; James H. Douglas, DL; L. F. Hickernell 1920, DS; Anna Federsen Petteys 1912, DL
1961: Joseph I. Brody 1911, DL; William Graham Cole, DL; Dwight G. McCarty 1901, DL; Allan Nevins, D.Litt.; William B. Otis 1901, DHL; Alonzo Petteys 1911, DL
1960: Conrado Benitez, DL; James Wills Lenhart, DD; C. Ward Macy 1920, DL; Wilfred J. McNeil, DL; Herbert A. Templeton 1905, DL; Paul Weiss, DHL; Theodore O. Yntema, DL
1959: Browne Barr ’39, DD; Carl C. Compton 1913, DL; Roswell Garst, DL; Raymond D. Harriman 1909, DHL; Keyes D. Metcalf, D.Litt.; George D. Stoddard, DFA; Burt J. Thompson 1894, DL
1958: Robert H. Aborn 1918, DS; Evelyn Fisher Frisble 1898, DS; Edward R. Murrow, DL; Eber L. Palmer 1918, DL
1957: Lewis R. Barrett 1917, DL; Gardner Cowles, DL; Clifford C. Crump, DS; Frank F. Everest ’26, DL; James F. Findlay 1922, DL; Raymond A. Hare 1924, DL; MacKinlay Kantor, D.Litt.; Perry Miller, D.Litt.; James A. Pike, DD; William G. Pollard, DD; Liston Pope, DD; David Riesman, DL; James Johnson Sweeney, DFA; James A. Van Allen, DS; William H. Whyte, Jr., DL; Norbert Wiener, DS
1956: George Leland Bach ’36, DL; Mandell Morton Bober, DL; Hallie Flanagan Davis 1911, DFA; Donald A. Quarles, DS; J. Stuart Russell 1913, DL
1955: John Cowles, DL; Charles Harold McCloy, DS
1954: Mason Ladd 1920, DL; Thurgood Marshall, DL; John H. Spencer ’29, DL; Joseph N. Welch 1914, DL
1953: Christopher J. Abbott, DL; Truman B. Douglass, DL; Frederick D. Kirsch, Jr., DFA; Wu Kuo-cheng ’23, DL; Raymond B. McClenon, DS
1952: Nelson I. Baxter, DD; Carl Joachim Friedrich, DL; Gerard S. Nollen 1902, DL; Hudson H. Pittman 1912, DD; Earle D. Ross, DHL
1951: Detley Wulf Bronk, DS; Clark Graham, DL; Robert Wells Harper, DL; William L. Laurence, DHL
1950: Mary Braginton 1920, DHL; James Francis Cooke, DFA; James Norman Hall 1910, D.Litt.; Earl D. Strong 1909, DL
1949: Maynard B. Barnes 1919, DL; John Scott Everton, DD; Theodore W. Schultz, DL; Forrest W. Seymour, DHL
1948: William Gardner McLaren 1898, DL; Royal John Montgomery, DD; Philip Winston Pillsbury, DL; Arthur William Radford, DL
1947: John Stark Evans 1913, DM; Archibald K. Gardner 1891, DL; William Gardner, DL; Byron Sharpe Hollinshead, DL; Andrew Conway Ivy, DS; Leland West Mann, DD
1946: Ronald Bridges, DD; Jean Charlot, DFA; Marshall Field III, DL; Norman Foerster, DHL; Carl Joaquin Hambro, DL; Paul Gray Hoffman, DL; Leonard Eugene Hurtz, DL; Ralph H. Lyman 1907, DM; W. Albert Noyes Jr. 1919, DS; Ezequiel Padilla, DL; Jules Romains, D.Litt.; Wiley Blount Rutledge, Jr. DL; John Patrick Ryan, DL; John H. Talbott ’24, DS; Everett Stanton Turner 1911, DL
1945: Ernest Edward Charlton 1913, DS; Donald J. Cowling, DL; Fred Darby 1895, DL; John Dashiell Stoops, DL
1944: Henry Shoemaker Conard, DS; Russell Cowles, DFA; Delton Thomas Howard, DHL; Harold S. Matthews 1916, DD; Richard Morrow Steiner ’24, DD; Harry S. Truman, DL; Carl S. Weist, DD
1943: Jesse M. Burlew 1900, DS; Herbert C. Holdridge, DL; Florence Stewart Kerr 1912, DL; Harold Dewey Smith, DL; Edward A. Steiner, DHL
1942: Paul Hensen Appleby 1913, DL; David Ernest Crabb 1902, DD; Eleanor Lowden 1903, DHL; Henry Robinson Luce, DL; Modie Spiegel, Jr., MA; Joseph Sunnen, MS
1941: Arthur Edward Andersen, DL; Virgil Melvin Hancher, DL; Dennis Hugh Kelly 1918, MA; William Wesley Waymack, D.Litt.; James Vincent Yager 1920, MA
1940: Glenn Clark 1905, D.Litt.; Charles Eben Cushman 1891, DD; Albert William Merrill 1890, D.Ed.; John Scholte Nollen DHL
1939: Frederick H. Bair 1912, D.Ed.; Paul W. Richards 1894, DL
1938: Rudolph Ganz, DM; P. Adelstein Johnson, DD; Francis Eber Palmer 1888, DL
1937: Ernest Baden Benger 1907, DS; Rossetter Gleason Cole, DM
1936: Oliver Ellsworth Buckley 1909, DS
1935: Chester Charles Davis 1911, DL; Harry Lloyd Hopkins 1912, DL; Ervine Peter Inglis 1916, DD; Sao-Ke Alfred Sze, DL
1932: Eliot Grinnell Mears, DL; Reinhold Niebuhr, DD; Irving Berdine Richman, D.Litt.
1931: Gordon Lockwood Berry 1906, BA; Archibald Cattell 1891, DL; Harry Elmore Downer 1882, DL; Ray Anderson Eusden 1912, DD; Ruth Sucko Nuhn 1914, MA; Robert Ballantine Sweet 1900, BA; Charles Elmer Tower 1896, DD
1930: Eli P. Clark, DL; John Lewis Gillin 1895, DL; William Squire Kenyon 1890, DL
1929: Norman Robert Blatherwick 1909, DS; Salmon Oliver Levinson, DL; Vere VanderHyden Loper 1915, DD; William Albert Noyes, Sr. 1879, DS
1928: James Levi Barton, DD; Samuel Robinson Williams 1901, DS
1927: Ernest James Jaqua 1907, DL
1926: Caroline Sheldon 1893, D.Litt.
1925: Joanna Harris Haines 1865, MA; Cecelia I. Jeffrey 1909, MA; William Edward Paul 1905, DD
1924: Harry Waldo Norris 1886, D.Sc.; Garrett Polhemus Wyckoff 1894, DL
1923: Edward Weeks Cross, DD; Jesse Myron Owen 1890, MA
1922: Margaret Moninger 1913, MA
1920: Edward Cary Hayes, DL; Henry James 1883, MA; Wilmot Brookings Mitchell, D.Litt.; Edward Caldwell Moore, DL; John Winthrop Platner, DL; Walter George Smith, DL
1919: Henry Forsythe Milligan, DD; Henry Morgenthau, Sr., DL
1918: Jacob Wendell Clark, MA; Albert Shaw 1879, DL; Selden Lincoln Whitcomb 1886, D.Litt.
1917: Epghraim Douglass Adams 1887, DL; Henry Edwine Brown, MA; Malcolm Dana, DD; Daniel D. Murphy, DL; William Wheelock Peet, DL; Henry W. Tuttle, DD; Arthur L. Weatherly 1892, DD
1916: Emilius Clark Dudley 1899, DL; William D. Evans, Sr., DL; Harry Ernest Peabody, DD; Byron Webster Preston, DL; John Oliver Thrush, DD
1915: John Cheesman Clark, DL; Charles Hamilton Hughes, DL; Harvey Ingham, DL; Rev. William Allen Knight, DD; Thomas McClelland, DL; Rev. William J. Minchin, DD; John Calvin Montgomery 1893, MA; Alfred Noyes, D.Litt.; Rev. Naboth Osborne, DD; Ellen Sabin, DL; Samuel Strauss, DL
1914: James Perkins Burling 1889, DD; Raymond Calkins, DD; Harlow Spencer Mills 1874, DD; Lee L. Summers, MA
1913: Charles Luther Fitch 1896, MA; George C. Williams, DD
1912: Oliver F. Emerson 1882, D.Litt.; Charles E. McKinley 1891, DD; Theodore C. Munger 1884, DL; Edward B. Scheve D. Mus.
1911: Dana W. Bartlett 1882, DD; Jesse Macy 1870, DL
1910: Frank William Johnson 1897, MA
1909: Ewing Ogden Tade 1858, DD
1907: Alexander Francis, DD; Abbie Williams Hill, MA; Charles Noble, DD
1906: Azora S. Davis, DD; J.E. Dodge 1875, DL; Isaac A. Loos, DL; James E. Snowden, DD; George E. White 1882, DD
1905: Asa Lee Ames 1882, MA; Paul Shorey, DL; George Meason Whicher 1882, D.Litt.
1904: Asher Anderson, DD; Andrew B. Chalmers, DD; Francis E. Clark, DL; Frank G. Smith, DD
1903: Rev. George Luther Cady, DD; Rev. George D. Marsh 1867, DD; Rev. Robert L. Marsh, DD
1902: Rev. Edward T. Harper, DD
1901: Rev. C.O. Day, DD
1898: Henry Carter Adams 1874, DL; Charles E. Bessey, DL; Eli P. Clark, MA; Homer Taylor Fuller, DD; William W. Peet, MA; James H. Pettee, DD; Charles Theodore Steck 1858, DD; Edmund March Vittum, DD; Frank N. White, DD; Frank P. Wigton 1879, MA; John Hill Windsor 1854, DD
1896: Rev. Stephen G. Barnes, DD
1894: Rev. Edward T. Fairbank, DD
1892: Charles A. Berry, DD; Dr. E.C. Dudley MA; Luther C. Harris 1881, MA; Mahlon Willett 1869, DD
1891: Rev. James L. Hill 1871, DD; Judge W.L. Pattee, DL; Rev. William H. Ryder, DD; Rev. Samuel H. Virgin, DL
1890: John L. Atkinson, MA; Rev. John Wesley Carr 1865, MA; Hiram Landis Getz, M.D., MA; Lorettus S. Metcalf, DL
1889: Allen C. Barrows, DD; Thomas Davies, DD; H.T. Englehorn, AM; C.E. Harrington, DD; J.F. Heilner, AM; Julius A. Reed, DD
1888: Alexander Fleischmann, AM; Mary E. Snell 1869, AM; R.B. Snell 1870, AM
1887: Harvey Adams, DD; Henry E. Barnes, DD; Ephraim Cutter, DL; Albert H. Heath, DD; William Kincaid, DD; Daniel Lane, DD; Robert W. McAll, DD
1886: Charles F. Buss, MA; E.M. Cravath, DD; Charles F. Craver, MA; Edward A. Goodnow, MA; Irving J. Manatt, DL; A.F. Sherrill, DD
1884: James Brande, DD; David J. Brewer, DL; Judge William R. Lewis, MA; James Powell, DD
1883: William Bruce Allison, DL; Henry Seymour Barnes, Ph.D; Silas Leroy Blake, STD; Samuel Hawkins Marshall Byers, AM; James Scott, STD
1882: Ephraim Adams, STD; David Otis Mears, STD
1881: James Falconer Wilson, DL
1880: George Washington Crary, DL; James Amazias Whitney, STD
1879: William Walter Woodworth, STD
1878: John Wesley Chapman, AM; Samuel Ives Curtis, STD; Isaac Pendleton Langworthy, STD
1877: Mary Ellis, AM; Charles Hammond, DL; Jesse Winegar Hough, STD
1876: Samuel Freeman Miller, DL
1875: John Bascom, STD; Selah Merrill, STD; Joshua Thomas Tucker, STD
1874: Israel Ward Andrews, DL; Stephan Rollins Dennen, STD
1873: Job Cushman, AM; Rhys Gwesyn Jones, STD; James Madison Love, DL
1872: Arthur Sherburne Hardy, AM
1871: Lucian Caleb Blanchard, AM; Charles Edward Cheney, STD; Thomas Drummond, DL; James Bruen Howell, DL; George Henry Lewis, AM; Edward Pruyn 1869, AM; George Reed Ransom, AM; Julian Monson Sturtevant, DL; George Thacher, STD
1870: Richard Brockway Bull, AM; Chester Cicero Cole, DL; Jesse Guernsey, STD; William Gardner Hammond, DL; George Slocum Folger Savage, STD; John Teesdale, AM
1869: Charles Aldrich, AM; Moses Willard Bartlett, AM; James Frederick Joy, DL; Crescentius Niles Tarbox, STD
1868: Charles Frederick Boynton, AM; Alexander Huntington Clapp, STD; Charles Henry Conklin, AM; James Williston Patterson, DL; Orestes Hawley St. John, AM; Israel Perkins Warren, STD; Lyman Whiting, STD
1867: Samuel Davies Cochran, STD; John Putnam Gulliver, STD; James Harlan, DL; Jonathan Piper, AM
1866: Orville Willard Merrill, MA; Charles Christopher Parry, MA; Charles Abiathar White, AM
1865: Henry Martyn Dexter, DL; George Daniel Frisbie, MA; James William Grimes, DL; Francis Wayland Palmer, MA; Edwin McMasters Stanton, DL
1863: John Forest Dillon, DL; Abram Scott Kissell, MA; George Grover Wright, DL

* On Jan. 13, 2021, Thomas Cole ’71 voluntarily relinquished his honorary degree.