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.
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
Gordon Edelstein ’76, DFA
Vernon E. Faulconer ’61, DL
Merry Wiesner-Hanks ’73, DHL
2002
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.