Honorary Degrees
| YEAR | NAME | DEGREE | ||
| 1868 | Rev. Samuel Cornelius | D.D. | ||
| Philip Hodemaker (Holland, Europe) | A.M. | |||
| A.G. Pierce (Mich.) | A.M. | |||
| 1869/70 | No honorary degrees awarded | |||
| 1871 | Rev. Alfred Owen (Detroit) | D.D. | ||
| 1872/73 | No honorary degrees awarded | |||
| 1874 | Rev. E. J. Fish (Adrian) | D.D. | ||
| Prof. Edward Olney (Ann Arbor) | L.D. | |||
| 1875 | Rev. William T. Stott (President of Franklin College, Franklin, IN) | D.D. | ||
| Jeanette Fisher (Principal of Michigan Female Seminary) | A.M. | |||
| 1876/77 | No honorary degrees awarded | |||
| 1878 | Prof. Joseph P. Vrooman (Michigan State Normal School) | M.A. | ||
| 1879 | George Washington Northrup (D.D.) (Chicago) | LL.D. | ||
| 1880/81 | No honorary degrees awarded | |||
| 1882 | Rev. John Everett Clough (Angola, India) | D.D. | ||
| George W. Greene, M.D. (Three Rivers) | M.A. | |||
| 1883/84 | No honorary degrees awarded | |||
| 1885 | Rev. George F. Hunting (Kalamazoo) | D.D. | ||
| Rev. Asher E. Mather (Battle Creek) | D.D. | |||
| Prof. Edward Olson (University of Chicago) | Ph.D. | |||
| Prof. Lewis Stewart (University of Chicago) | Ph.D. | |||
| August Loudeman | M.A. | |||
| 1886 | No honorary degree awarded | |||
| 1887 | Rev. John S. Holmes (Adrian) | D.D. | ||
| 1888 | Julia A. King | M.A. | ||
| 1889-1895 | No honorary degrees awarded | |||
| 1896 | Rev. Lemuel Call Barnes (Pittsburgh) | D.D. | ||
| 1897 | Donald Drummond MacLaurin | D.D. | ||
| 1898/99 | No honorary degrees awarded | |||
| 1900 | William A. Moore | LL.D. | ||
| 1901/02 | No honorary degrees awarded | |||
| 1903 | William M. Upcraft | D.D. | ||
| 1904 | E.P. Tuller | D.D. | ||
| 1905 | No honorary degrees awarded | |||
| 1906 | Robert J. Burdette | D.D. | ||
| 1907 | No honorary degree awarded | |||
| 1908 | Wooster Woodruff Beman | LL.D. | ||
| 1909/10 | No honorary degrees awarded | |||
| 1911 | Stillman George Jenks | M.S. | ||
| 1912 | Albert Lenox Vail | D.D. | ||
| Dwight B. Waldo | LL.D. | |||
| 1913/14 | No honorary degrees awarded | |||
| 1915 | Shattuck Osgood Hartwell | LL.D. | ||
| George Wheaton Taft | D.D. | |||
| 1916 | No honorary degrees awarded | |||
| 1917 | Caroline Bartlett Crane | LL.D. | ||
| Hinton DeWitt Girdwood | LL.D. | |||
| Elisha Moore Lake | D.D. | |||
| 1918 | David Triestram Magill | D.D. | ||
| John Wellington Hoag | D.D. | |||
| 1919 | Clarke Benedict Williams | D.S. | ||
| 1920 | No honorary degrees awarded | |||
| 1921 | John E. Smith (K 1894) | D.D. | ||
| 1922 | Floyd I. Beckwith (K 1904) | D.D. | ||
| Charles A. Deppe | Sc.D. | |||
| James M. McGee (K 1905) | D.D. | |||
| 1923 | Merrill C. Hart (K 1913) | Sc.D. | ||
| Charles M. Stuart (K 1880) | D.H. | |||
| 1924 | Albert E. Jenks (K 1896) | Sc.D. | ||
| Ransom E. Olds | Sc.D. | |||
| Mark F. Sanborn (K 1905) | D.D. | |||
| 1925 | Henry M. Bates | LL.D. | ||
| William E. Praeger | Sc.D. | |||
| 1926 | James B. Fox (K 1896) | D.D. | ||
| Daniel C. Holtom (K 1907) | D.D. | |||
| John E. Walker (K 1907) | LL.D. | |||
| 1927 | John R. Effinger | Litt.D. | ||
| Frank Kurz | D.D. | |||
| William Lyon Phelps | LL.D. | |||
| 1928 | John E. West | LL.D. | ||
| 1929 | George E. Merrill | Sc.D. | ||
| 1930 | Maynard Owen Williams (K 1910) | Litt.D. | ||
| 1931 | James E. Napp (K 1908) | D.D. | ||
| Alexander G. Ruthven | Sc.D. | |||
| 1932 | Coe S. Hane (K 1899) | Litt.D. | ||
| Floyd C. Wilcox (K 1910) | D.D. | |||
| 1933 | Justin H. Bacon | Litt.D. | ||
| Stella Fisher-Burgess (K 1905) | Litt.D. | |||
| Hugh Chamberlin Burr | D.D. | |||
| Leroy J. Buttolph (K 1913) | Sc.D. | |||
| Oscar J. Campbell | Litt.D. | |||
| Stewart B. Crandall (K 1903) | D.D. | |||
| Vernor C. Finch (K 1908) | Sc.D. | |||
| Ernest E. Ford (K 1897) | D.D. | |||
| Paul W. Hayne (K 1897) | D.D. | |||
| Allan Hoben | LL.D. | |||
| Charles A. Kraus | Sc.D. | |||
| Lemuel F. Smith | Sc.D. | |||
| 1934 | No honorary degrees awarded | |||
| 1935 | John W. Elliot | D.D. | ||
| Lewis E. Martin (K 1888) | D.D. | |||
| Leonard H. Stewart (K 1885) | Sc.D. | |||
| 1936 | Augustis W. Crane | Sc.D. | ||
| Charles T. Goodsell | LL.D. | |||
| Milton M. McGorrill | D.D. | |||
| 1937 | Frederick W. Heyl | Sc.D. | ||
| J. Edgar Hoover | Sc.D. | |||
| 1938 | Claude V. Courter (K 1911) | Ed.D. | ||
| Claude M. Harmon | LL.D. | |||
| Wilbur Nelson (K 1901) | D.D. | |||
| 1939 | John C. Walker (K 1918) | D.D. | ||
| T. Thomas Wylie | D.D. | |||
| 1940 | M. Forest Ashbrook | D.D. | ||
| 1941 | Enos DeWaters (K 1899) | Sc.D. | ||
| Alfred G. Walton (K 1911) | D.D. | |||
| Forbes Wiley (K 1906) | Sc.D. | |||
| 1942 | Charles S. Campbell | LL.D. | ||
| Howard A. Vernon | D.D. | |||
| Flora D. Roberts | M.A. | |||
| 1943 | Carl H. Chatters (K 1919) | LL.D. | ||
| Homer Ferguson | LL.D. | |||
| Milton Simpson | Litt.D. | |||
| John K. Walsh | M.A. | |||
| 1944 | Donald R. Belcher (K 1909) | LL.D. | ||
| J. Melvin Prior (K 1926) | D.D. | |||
| Louis W. Sutherland | LL.D. | |||
| 1945 | J. Burton Bouwman (K 1916) | D.D. | ||
| Harold W. Brown (K 1924) | D.H. | |||
| Martha J. Gifford (K 1910) | Sc.D. | |||
| 1946 | Otis A. Earl | LL.D. | ||
| Warren C. Johnson (K 1922) | Sc.D. | |||
| Carl H. Norcross (K 1923) | Sc.D. | |||
| C. Fulton Oursler | Litt.D. | |||
| 1947 | Trevor Arnett | LL.D. | ||
| Lewis L. Dunnington | D.D. | |||
| 1948 | No honorary degrees awarded | |||
| 1949 | Dwight H. Rich (K 1919) | LL.D. | ||
| George W. Stewart | Sc.D. | |||
| Hillyer H. Straton | D.D. | |||
| 1950 | Charles K. Johnson (K 1932) | D.D. | ||
| 1951 | Dwight S. Large | D.D. | ||
| Roy E. Larsen | D.H. | |||
| Louis T. Thompson (K 1914) | Sc.D. | |||
| 1952 | Kenneth S. LaTourette | D.H. | ||
| 1953 | No honorary degrees awarded | |||
| 1954 | Franklin D. Elmer | D.D. | ||
| George K. Ferguson (K 1913) | LL.D. | |||
| Chester H. Loucks | D.D. | |||
| 1955 | Charles R. Bell, Jr. | D.D. | ||
| Leland I. Doan | LL.D. | |||
| Frederic Groetsema (K 1931) | D.D. | |||
| William G. Pollard | Sc.D. | |||
| 1956 | Homer J. Armstrong | D.D. | ||
| Samuel McCrea Cavert | D.D. | |||
| Donald S. Gilmore | LL.D. | |||
| Marston Bates | Sc.D. | |||
| 1957 | Richard Cummings | D.D. | ||
| Herman J. Felber | D.Mus. | |||
| Margaret Mead | L.H.D. | |||
| Paul V. Sangren | LL.D. | |||
| Helen White | L.H.D. | |||
| 1958 | Burton L. Baker (K 1933) | Sc.D. | ||
| Edwin T. Dahlberg | D.D. | |||
| Harlan H. Hatcher | LL.D. | |||
| Winthrop S. Hudson (K 1933) | D.D. | |||
| Frederick O. Pinkham (K 1942) | LL.D. | |||
| Leroy D. Stinebower (K 1926) | LL.D. | |||
| Dee Tourtelotte (K 1925) | Sc.D. | |||
| 1959 | Waclaw Jedrzejewicz | LL.D. | ||
| Benjamin E. Mays | D.D. | |||
| Paul Woodring | L.H.D. | |||
| 1960 | Marston S. Balch (K 1923) | L.H.D. | ||
| Samuel H. Miller | D.D. | |||
| Willard Thorp | L.H.D. | |||
| 1961 | Gene E. Bartlett | D.D. | ||
| Thurgood Marshall | LL.D. | |||
| Wilbour E. Saunders | L.H.D. | |||
| William P. Woodward (K 1918) | D.D. | |||
| 1962 | John D. Montgomery (K 1941) | LL.D. | ||
| Albert C. Outler | D.D. | |||
| Franz Josef Strauss | LL.D. | |||
| Eugene S. Thomas | LL.D. | |||
| 1963 | Frances O. Clark (K 1928) | D.Mus. | ||
| Lawrence M. Gould | L.H.D. | |||
| Richard U. Light | L.H.D. | |||
| Howard R. Moody | D.D. | |||
| 1964 | John Ciardi | L.H.D. | ||
| George L. Collins | D.D. | |||
| Clark M. Eichelberger | LL.D. | |||
| Chris E. Lawson | D.D. | |||
| Davidson Nicol | Sc.D. | |||
| 1965 | Aaron Copland | D.Mus. | ||
| Willis F. Dunbar (K 1924) | LL.D. | |||
| William T. Gossett | LL.D. | |||
| William Muehl | LL.D. | |||
| Henri Peyre | L.H.D. | |||
| 1966 | Theodosius Dobzhansky | Sc.D. | ||
| Edouard Morot-Sir | LL.D. | |||
| Edwin Spencer Parsons | D.D. | |||
| Curtis W. Sabrosky (K 1931) | Sc.D. | |||
| 1967 | H. Gardner Ackley | LL.D. | ||
| Loren C. Eiseley | L.H.D. | |||
| John A. Hannah | LL.D. | |||
| Foster Edward Mohrhardt | LL.D. | |||
| Dean Peerman | D.D. | |||
| 1968 | Harvey G. Cox | D.D. | ||
| Constantinos A. Doxiadis | LL.D. | |||
| Milton Friedman | LL.D. | |||
| 1969 | John Hope Franklin | LL.D. | ||
| Christopher S. Jencks | LL.D. | |||
| Carlyle Marney | D.D. | |||
| 1970 | Robert K. Merton | L.H.D. | ||
| John R. Silber | L.H.D. | |||
| Laurence L. Spitters (K 1948) | LL.D. | |||
| 1971 | Rene J. Dubos | L.H.D. | ||
| Gordon F. Kurtz (K 1948) | D.D. | |||
| Wiliam F. Keucher | D.D. | |||
| William D. Ruckelshaus | LL.D. | |||
| 1972 | David Easton | LL.D. | ||
| Kenneth E. Boulding | L.H.D. | |||
| Galway Kinnell | L.H.D. | |||
| John E. Fetzer | LL.D. | |||
| James W. Miller | LL.D. | |||
| 1973 | Maynard Mack | Litt.D. | ||
| Pauline Kael | L.H.D. | |||
| Donald Goodrich Little (K 1916) | Sc.D. | |||
| John Wilson Porter | L.H.D. | |||
| 1974 | Albert Calhoun Pittman | D.D. | ||
| Ralf Dahrendorf | L.H.D. | |||
| Weimer Kerr Hicks | LL.D. | |||
| 1975 | O.B. Hardison, Jr. | Litt.D. | ||
| Elliott M. Estes | LL.D. | |||
| John E. Hines | D.D. | |||
| Daniel L. Schorr | L.H.D. | |||
| 1976 | Lawrence A. Cremin | L.H.D. | ||
| Linus C. Pauling | Sc.D. | |||
| Stanley S. Kresge | LL.D. | |||
| 1977 | Germaine Bree | D.H. | ||
| Dorothy Upjohn Dalton (K 1914) | D.H. | |||
| Joseph Papp | D.F.A. | |||
| George Warren Rickey | D.F.A. | |||
| 1978 | Ralph David Abernathy | D.D. | ||
| Wigbert Holle | L.H.D. | |||
| William G. Milliken | LL.D. | |||
| Ray T. Parfet, Jr. | L.H.D. | |||
| Elliot L. Richardson | LL.D. | |||
| 1979 | Landrum R. Bolling | L.H.D. | ||
| William Sloane Coffin, Jr. | D.D. | |||
| Jaqueline Anderson Mattfield | L.H.D. | |||
| Robert McQueen Grant | L.H.D. | |||
| 1980 | Stanley Cavell | L.H.D. | ||
| Norman Cousins | L.H.D. | |||
| Robert McAffee Brown | D.D. | |||
| Russell George Mawby | LL.D. | |||
| Anna Dorothy Wylie | L.H.D. | |||
| 1981 | E. Mandell DeWindt | LL.D. | ||
| Charles A. Pratt | LL.D. | |||
| Paul Simon: U.S. Senator and Representative from Illinois | L.H.D. | |||
| 1982 | Marshall D. Shulman | L.H.D. | ||
| John Brademas | LL.D. | |||
| William T. Creson | LL.D. | |||
| Theodore M. Hesburgh | L.H.D. | |||
| 1983 | John Torben Bernhard: President of Western Michigan University | L.H.D. | ||
| Beverly Roberts Gaventa: Professor of New Testament Literature and Exegesis at the Princeton Theological Seminary | D.D. | |||
| Amory Bloch Lovins: Director of Research of Rocky Mountain Institute | D.Sc. | |||
| Davidson Nicol (Sesquicentennial Citation): Sierra Leonean diplomat, physician, medical researcher, and writer | ||||
| Harry Albert Towsley (K 1926): Pediatrician, professor, and philanthropist | D.Sc. | |||
| 1984 | Genevieve U. Gilmore | L.H.D. | ||
| Jitsuo Morikawa: Baptist minister | D.D. | |||
| Joe Hinton Stroud: Editorial page editor of the Detroit Free Press | L.H.D. | |||
| George Wald: Biochemist and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine | L.H.D. | |||
| 1985 | Shirley Anita Chisholm: U.S. Representative from New York | L.H.D. | ||
| Marshall Theodore Meyer: Rabbi and religious leader | D.D. | |||
| Paul R. Halmos: Professor of Mathematics, Indiana University | L.H.D. | |||
| 1986 | Kimpianga Mahaniah (K 1967): Professor at the National Teaching Institute | D.D. | ||
| E. Gifford Upjohn: Former CEO of Upjohn Company | LL.D. | |||
| 1987 | Lawrence C. Hoff: Chairman of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, and the American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education |
LL.D. | ||
| George Vail Pixley (K 1958): Professor of Biblical Studies , Baptist Theological Seminary of Nicaragua Seminario Teologico Bautista | D.D. | |||
| Dennis Brutus: South African activist and poet | L.H.D. | |||
| Ronald Dworkin: Professor of Law and Philosophy at NYU | L.H.D. | |||
| 1988 | David S. Broder: Political columnist | L.H.D. | ||
| Hildegard Goss-Mayr: Honorary President, International Fellowship of Reconciliation | D.D. | |||
| Ursula Leonhardt | L.H.D. | |||
| Martha Craven Nussbaum: Research Advisor at the World Institute for Development Economics Research | L.H.D. | |||
| 1989 | Robert Jewett: Professor of New Testament Interpretation at Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary | D.D. | ||
| Jeremy Bernstein | ||||
| Mark O. Hatfield: U.S. Senator from Oregon | L.H.D. | |||
| Herbert H. Dow II: Vice President of Dow Chemical Company | L.H.D. | |||
| Wen Chao Chen: Professor of Political Science, Kalamazoo College | L.H.D. | |||
| 1990 | Yehudi Menuhin: Violinist | D.Mus. | ||
| Jon W. Fuller: Senior fellow at the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities | L.H.D. | |||
| Andre Heinz | L.H.D. | |||
| Margaret R. Miles: Professor of Historical Theology at the Harvard University Divinity School | D.D. | |||
| William A. Sederburg: Michigan Senator | LL.D. | |||
| William J. Raspberry: Urban and minority affairs columnist, | L.H.D. | |||
| 1991 | Wayne Booth: Professor of English, University of Chicago | L.H.D. | ||
| Theodore Cooper: Chairman and CEO of the Upjohn company | D.Sc. | |||
| Alfredo Ramon: Artist | D.F.A. | |||
| Howard Wolpe: Former Presidential special envoy to Africa’s Great Lakes Region | LL.D. | |||
| David Warren Brubeck: Jazz musician | D.Mus. | |||
| 1992 | Amy Gutmann: Professor of Politics at Princeton University | LL.D. | ||
| Maurie Golle | L.H.D. | |||
| Arthur Ashe: Champion tennis player | L.H.D. | |||
| Jose Vidal | L.H.D. | |||
| Joseph L. Roberts, Jr.: Senior Pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church | D.D. | |||
| Johnetta Cole: Educator and President of Spelman College | L.H.D. | |||
| 1993 | Nancy Rosenblum: Professor of Ethics in Politics and Government, Harvard University | L.H.D. | ||
| Yoshimi Takeda: Music Director of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra | D.Mus. | |||
| Elizabeth S. Upjohn | D.H. | |||
| Leland Lubbers | L.H.D. | |||
| 1994 | Michael Walzer: Professor in the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton | L.H.D. | ||
| Charles G. Adams: Pastor of Hartford Memorial Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan | D.D. | |||
| 1995 | Hilary Putnam: Mathematician and philosopher | L.H.D. | ||
| Martha G. Parfet: Chairwoman of Gilmore Brothers, Inc. | D.H. | |||
| Paul H. Todd,Jr.: U.S. Representative from Michigan | D.H. | |||
| 1996 | Daniel Charles Maguire | D.D. | ||
| Santiago Gangotena: Director of Universidad de San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador | D.Sc. | |||
| 1997 | Richard Crawford: Professor of Musicology, University of Michigan | D.Mus. | ||
| Preston S. Parish | L.H.D. | |||
| 1998 | Louise Goss K1948 | D. Mus. | ||
| Ulrich Littman | L.H.D. | |||
| 1999 | Dr. Martin E. Marty | L.H.D. | ||
| 2000 | Clyde Wilcox | L.H.D. | ||
| Dr. Kenneth G. Elzinga K1963 | L.H.D. | |||
| Dr. Rafael Muatine Munavu | L.H.D. | |||
| 2001 | Dr. Akira Iriye | L.H.D. | ||
| Dr. W. Maxwell Cowan | L.H.D. | |||
| Rev. Dr. Otha Gilyard | L.H.D. | |||
| Mr. Robert L. Payton | L.H.D. | |||
| 2002 | Dr. Mary Patterson McPherson | L.H.D. | ||
| 2003 | Mr. John W. Brown | L.H.D. | ||
| Dr. Judith Mbula Bahemuka | L.H.D. | |||
| Mr. Gustav Meier | D.Mus. | |||
| 2004 | Mr. Richard Ford | L.H.D. | ||
| Mr. Ihsan H. Shurdom | L.H.D. | |||
| Dr. James F. Jones, Jr. | L.H.D. | |||
| 2005 | Dr. William H. Gass | L.H.D. | ||
| Mr. Dale Chihuly | D.F.A | |||
| 2006 | Dr. Ha Jin | Litt. D | ||
| 2007 | Ms. Ann Patchett | Litt. D | ||
| Dr. Grace Lee Boggs | L.D. | |||
| Mr. Robert O. Kramer | L.H.D. | |||
| 2008 | Mr. Victor K. Braden Jr. ’51 | D.Sc. | ||
| David W. Breneman | L.H.D. | |||
| Aleksandar Hemon | L.H.D. | |||
| 2009 | Mrs. Margaret Ann “Ranny” Riecker | L.H.D. | ||
| Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | L.H.D. | |||
| 2010 | Mr. Carl M. Levin | LL.D. | ||
| 2011 | Mr. Noah Feldman | LL.D. | ||
| Edward P. Jones | L.H.D. | |||
| 2012 | Linda Rae Murray | D.Sc. | ||
| 2013 | Donald R. Parfet | D.H.D. | ||
| Rachel Kushner | D.H.D. | |||
| Walter E. Massey | D.Sc. | |||
| 2014 | Rafael A. Suarez, Jr. | D.H.D. | ||
| 2015 | David Finkel | D.H.D. | ||
| Urvashi Vaid | LL.D. | |||
| 2016 | Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran | L.H.D. | ||
| Bonnie Jo Campbell | L.H.D. | |||
| Gay J. McDougall | LL.D. | |||
| 2017 | Kevin Lobo | D.H.L. | ||
| 2018 | Deborah Bial | D.H.L. | ||
| 2019 | Leslie Jamison | D.H.L. | ||
| 2020 | Charlotte Hall (awarded in 2021) | D.H.L | ||
| 2021 | Julie Mehretu | D.H.L | ||
| D.H.L. | ||||
| 2022 | Bill Manns | D.H.L. | ||
| 2023 | Larry J. Bell ’80 | D.H.L | ||
| Jaroslav Kalfař | D.H.L | |||
| 2024 | Dr. Tamea Evans ’93 | D.Sc. |
Key:
D.D. = Doctor of Divinity
A.M./M.A. = Master of Arts
M.S. = Master of Science
L.D./Litt.D. = Doctorate of Letters
LL.D. = Doctorate of Laws
Ph.D. = Doctorate of Philosophy
Sc.D./D.Sc.= Doctorate of Science
Ed.D. = Doctorate of Education
D.H./L.H.D./D.H.L. = Doctorate of Humane Letters
D.Mus. = Doctorate of Music
D.F.A. = Doctorate of Fine Arts