An honorary degree is the highest accolade the University can bestow on an individual. It is given to honor a person who possesses outstanding qualities and talents, who has made exceptional contributions to the field of his or her endeavor, and who exemplifies the highest standards of personal integrity and civic responsibility.
The following is a list of the distinguished men and women whom we have conferred honorary degrees.
| Year | Honorary Degree Recipient |
|---|---|
| 1926 | William H. Compton |
| 1927 | Harold W. West Mary A. Hooper Newton A. K. Bugbee |
| 1928 | A. Harry Moore Bernice A. Gee '17 Martin Henry Thomas Sadie L. Ziegler '09 |
| 1929 | Chauncey DeV. Eversfield Clair F. Bee Sr. Francis M. Dowd Frank A. Souders |
| 1930 | George R. Gerard Samuel Sharkey Willard Schwab William J. Couse |
| 1931 | A. Crozer Reeves Clarence V. Sloan |
| 1932 | James Noone Connolly |
| 1933 | George J. Smith Howard W. Letts J. Harold Lucas John F. Meagher |
| 1934 | Richard W. Elsea Walter R. Darby |
| 1935 | Albert Samuel Davis Carl K. Withers Walter F. Nutt |
| 1936 | John A. Campbell Justine Oakley |
| 1937 | Christopher A. Gough Mary T. Norton William Rodney Holbert |
| 1939 | A. Harry Moore Harold Giles Hoffman James Elliott Mooney Mildred Montgomery Mooney |
| 1940 | James Robinson Erwin Joseph Godfrey Buch |
| 1941 | David Lloyd Milman Ida Boffey Bacon Irwin A. Conroe |
| 1942 | John Robert Gregg |
| 1943 | Arthur W. Magee Colonel Cassius M. Dowell |
| 1944 | Rear Admiral Charles E. Rosendahl Thor Thors Walter E. Edge William J. Ellis |
| 1945 | Robert H. Morrison Thomas Howard Winters |
| 1947 | Alfred E. Driscoll Charles P. Messick Fred Van Deventer |
| 1948 | Charles E. Murphy General Edward C. Rose Harry L. Derby Lowell Thomas Prosper Buranelli |
| 1949 | John H. Bosshart Theodore R. McKeldin |
| 1950 | Chester Robbins Fernando Berckemeyer Grace A. Dunn James Albert Michener Joseph James O'Connell Louis Kroner Phillips Moore W. Paul Stillman |
| 1951 | Alben W. Barkley Arthur Godfrey Delos W. Rentzel Edmund Harris Kase John Fairfield Sly |
| 1952 | Bertha Lawrence Karl E. Mundt |
| 1953 | Frederick M. Raubinger Ivy Baker Priest |
| 1954 | Earle M. Rader Homer E. Capehard Paul Loser Stanley Switlik |
| 1955 | Hortense F. Kessler Robert B. Meyner Robert W. Van Houten |
| 1956 | Frederick M. Adams George R. Hill '32 James E. Van Zandt |
| 1957 | Alan Bible H. Alexander Smith Styles Bridges |
| 1958 | Elmer H. Bobst J. Stuart Hill Major General Bernard A. Schriever |
| 1959 | Clifford P. Case Fred G. Holloway Harold W. West Joseph W. Crosby |
| 1960 | James A. McFadden Thurston Ballard Morton |
| 1961 | Elmer W. Engstrom Henry Joseph Parcinskii Robert William Semenow |
| 1962 | Frank Thompson Jr. James P. Stewart Ossian MacKenzie |
| 1963 | James Creese Louis Andrew Leslie Richard J. Hughes |
| 1964 | Harold Ray '20 John L. Lincoln Leland J. Haworth Leonard A. Olson '30 Mason Welch Gross |
| 1965 | Byron R. White Harrison A. Williams Jr. Walter R. Staub William J. Baumol |
| 1966 | George H. Gallup Sr. Henry Chauncey Mary G. Roebling Millard E. Gladfelter Paul Sanford Lomax |
| 1967 | Crawford Jamieson Ernest A. Gross Frederick Moore Binder Lindley Joseph Stiles Virgil W. Gillenwater |
| 1968 | Edward E. Booher Peter Jennings Philip H. Wilkie Ralph A. Dungan Rex Warner Robert E. Slaughter Robert F. Goheen |
| 1969 | Henry Lewis John Anthony Brown Julia J. Henderson Robert L. D. Davidson W. Harmon Wilson |
| 1970 | Clifford L. Lord Franklin Frazee Moore '27 Gustav O. Lienhard Herbert Stein Max Tishler Merle Curti Samuel DeWitt Proctor |
| 1971 | Andrew W. Cordier Ernest E. McMahon James I. McCord Jerome H. Holland William T. Cahill |
| 1972 | Charles E. Zoubek Edward Kennedy Ellington Fred M. Hechinger J. Henry Smith Joan Sutherland Richard Bonynge Terry Sanford |
| 1973 | James K. Feibleman Lawrence T. Frymire Lynn A. Towsend Philip B. Hofman Phillipp Schmidt-Schlegel Shirley Ann Grau |
| 1974 | Alfred Kracher Bennetta B. Washington Bill Moyers Ethel J. Alpenfels William E. Stevenson |
| 1975 | Brendan T. Byrne Frederick William Ness Friedrich Niederl Murray F. Buell Patricia A. Sheehan Rolland A. Ritter Yee Chiang |
| 1976 | James Kerney Jr. Paul R. Haas '34 Rise Stevens Robert W. Kleinert Thomas C. Cochran |
| 1977 | Bruce McClellan Clair F. Bee Sr. George H. Gallup Jr. H. Russell Morrison Jr. Morton Botel Ruth H. Mancuso |
| 1978 | Nancy Hanks Roger Serssions Sidney E. Mead Stanley Van Ness Thomas Samuel Kuhn William Turnbull |
| 1979 | Ernest L. Boyer Fred G. Burke Lawrence Arthur Cremin Raymond L. Steen Richard R. Shinn '38 The Rev. Victor R. Yanitelli S.J |
| 1980 | Amitai W. Etzioni Edward Coffin Pomeroy Helen Stevenson Meyner Robert A. Beck |
| 1981 | Donald L. Fruehling Joseph R. Fink '61 Richard F. Phelps '63, '64 Robert Wiley Miller Sol M. Linowitz |
| 1982 | Bill Bradley Frank J. Hoenemeyer Lawrence O. Ealy Maurice B. Sendak |
| 1983 | Audrey Ronning Topping Henry J. Heimlich M.D. Seymour Topping The Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh Thomas E. Robinson |
| 1984 | J. Richardson Dilworth William E. Simon |
| 1985 | Chuck Stone Edward L. Hennessy Jr. J. Peter Grace John Brademas Max DePree William Olsten |
| 1986 | Claiborne Pell Malcolm Stevenson Forbes Mary Higgins Clark Norman S. Davis 1908 Ronald W. Bush '65 |
| 1987 | Gregory R. Anrig Harry Thomas Gamble '52 Herbert A. Tonne J. W. Marriott Jr. Sidney Pestka |
| 1988 | Fairleigh S. Dickinson Jr. Frank E. Taplin George Frost Kennan Millicent Fenwick |
| 1989 | David S. Broder Freeman John Dyson James Edward Cheek Paul J. Hanna William M. Polishook William Mastrosimone '74 |
| 1990 | F. Murray Abraham General Colin Luther Powell James J. Florio Paul Hardin Vincent E. Hoyer |
| 1991 | Edward J. Bambach Helen F. Boehm |
| 1992 | Frank Lautenberg Patricia K. Cross Thomas A. Malloy |
| 1993 | Mariette Hartley Boyriven |
| 1994 | Donald Bixby Frank N. Elliott Martin Katz |
| 1995 | Anne Brossman Sweigart '34 Bernard V. Vonderschmitt '81 Christine Todd Whitman |
| 1996 | Alice Parker David L. Warren Susan Polis Schutz '66 Wolfgang Sawallisch |
| 1997 | Frances Oman Clark Michael R. Bloomberg Robert G. Torricelli Sylvia McNair The Rev. S. Howard Woodson Jr. |
| 1998 | John Bertalot Richard Bilotti Zdenek Macal |
| 1999 | Fred Rogers John Corigliano Ronald Berman Rush Holt |
| 2000 | Arnold Levine Julius Koppelman Louise Goss William Sloane Coffin |
| 2001 | Corella A. Bonner James H. Litton Joan H. Lippincott Jon S. Corzine Martin E. Marty |
| 2002 | George Sharney James E. McGreevey Maurice Perilli Shirley Tilghman |
| 2003 | Eric F. Wieschaus Graeme Phelps Schulke Marion Buckelew Cullen Robert Page |
| 2004 | Benita Valente Douglas H. Palmer Mark S. Schweiker '83 Peter Gomes |
| 2005 | Jennifer Larmore Steven B. Kalafer '71 The Honorable Anne E. Thompson Weston Noble |
| 2006 | Joe Torre Alice Torre Anthony Tommasini Allen Crowell |
| 2007 | James Byer Yuan Ji Donald E. Allured |
| 2008 | The Honorable Deborah T. Poritz Christy Stephenson '87 |
| 2009 | M. Nathaniel Barnes '77 Anthony Dickson Gerre Hancock |
| 2010 | David L. Cohen Albert McNeil David Robertson Thomas Wilfrid |
| 2011 | Martin L. Perl Stephen Paulus Sam A. Solomon '80 |
| 2012 | Aaron Gast Maureen Maguire '75 Morten Lauridsen |
| 2013 | John H. Martinson Paul Plishka George A. Pruitt |
| 2014 | Joseph Flummerfelt Clive Gillinson Joan C. Mazzotti '72 Howard B. Stoeckel '67 |
| 2015 | Peter Inverso '60 J. Barton Luedeke Yannick Nezet Sequin |
| 2016 | Neil B. Friedman Judith Brodsky Alan Gilbert |
| 2017 | Joe Plumeri Rochelle R. Hendricks |
| 2018 | Norm Brodsky '64 Allison Vulgamore |
| 2019 | Barry Bierenbaum ’76 Jazmine Fenlator-Victorian ’07 Donald Nally '87 |
| 2022 | Paul J. Muller Judith M. Persichilli ’80 |
| 2023 | Lewis Schiff |
| 2024 | William Rue ’69 Joi Brown |
Compiled by Walter A. Brower, Class of 1948