Draft:List of Columbia University honorary degree and commencement prize recipients
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| A.B. | Bachelor of Arts |
| A.M. | Master of Arts |
| D.D. | Doctor of Divinity |
| LH.D. | Doctor of Humane Letters |
| Litt.D. | Doctor of Letters |
| LL.B. | Bachelor of Laws |
| LL.D. | Doctor of Laws |
| M.D. | Doctor of Medicine |
| M.S. | Master of Science |
| Mus.D. | Doctor of Music |
| Sc.D. | Doctor of Science |
| S.T.D. | Doctor of Sacred Theology |
This is a partial list of honorary degrees and commencement honors awarded by Columbia University in the City of New York.
1700-1799
[edit]1750s
[edit]1758
| Recipient | Degree or Honor |
|---|---|
| Daniel Isaac Brown | A.M. |
| Samuel Brown | A.M. |
| Isaac Browne | A.M. |
| Leonard Cutting | A.M. |
| Samuel Fayerweather | A.M. |
| Cary Ludlow | A.M. |
| David Mathews | A.M. |
| John McKesson | A.M. |
| Josiah Ogden | A.B. |
| Cyrus Punderson | A.M. |
| Ebenezer Punderson | A.M. |
| Daniel Treadwell | A.M. |
| Timothy Wetmore | A.M. |
1760s
[edit]1761
| Recipient | Degree or Honor |
|---|---|
| John Beardsley | A.B. |
| William Jackson | A.M. |
| William Samuel Johnson | A.M. |
| Samuel Peters | A.M. |
| James Scovil | A.M. |
| Samuel Seabury | A.M. |
| Agur Treadwell | A.B. |
| Edward Winslow | A.M. |
1762
| Recipient | Degree or Honor |
|---|---|
| Samuel Andrews | A.M. |
| Robert Harpur | A.M. |
| Bela Hubbard | A.M. |
| Robert McKean | A.M. |
| Ebenezer Parmele | A.M. |
1764
| Recipient | Degree or Honor |
|---|---|
| Matthew Cushing | A.M. |
| Samuel Giles | A.B. |
1765
| Recipient | Degree or Honor |
|---|---|
| Jeremiah Leaming | A.M. |
1767
| Recipient | Degree or Honor |
|---|---|
| Samuel Auchmuty | D.D. |
| Ephram Avery | A.M. |
| Thomas Bradbury Chandler | D.D. |
| George Glentworth | A.M. |
| Charles Inglis | A.M. |
| Hugh Neill | A.M. |
| John Ogilvie | A.M. |
| John Tyler | A.B. |
1768
| Recipient | Degree or Honor |
|---|---|
| Samuel Bard | M.D. |
| John Beardsley | A.M. |
| Samuel Clossy | M.D. |
| Myles Cooper | LL.D. |
| John Jones | M.D. |
| Peter Middleton | M.D. |
1769
| Recipient | Degree or Honor |
|---|---|
| Ebenezer Kneeland | A.M. |
| John Tyler | A.M. |
1770s
[edit]1770
| Recipient | Degree or Honor |
|---|---|
| Thomas Barton | A.M. |
| Robert Blackwell | A.B. |
| John Ogilvie | D.D. |
1771
| Recipient | Degree or Honor |
|---|---|
| Jonathan Boucher | A.M. |
1772
| Recipient | Degree or Honor |
|---|---|
| Edmund Fanning | A.M. |
1773
| Recipient | Degree or Honor |
|---|---|
| Isaac Hunt | A.M. |
| Joseph Lamson | A.M. |
| Harry Munro | A.M. |
| John Stuart | A.M. |
1774
| Recipient | Degree or Honor |
|---|---|
| Luke Babcock | A.M. |
| George Panton | A.M. |
| James Sayre | A.M. |
| William Tryon | LL.D. |
1780s
[edit]1787
| Recipient | Degree or Honor |
|---|---|
| James Hardie | A.B. |
1788
| Recipient | Degree or Honor |
|---|---|
| Robert Annan | A.M. |
| William Cochran | A.M. |
| Alexander Hamilton | A.M. |
| Robert Charles Johnson | A.M. |
| Samuel Latham Mitchill | A.M. |
| Daniel Crommelin Verplanck | A.M. |
| James Watkin Watkins | A.M. |
1789
| Recipient | Degree or Honor |
|---|---|
| Roger Alden | A.M. |
| Abraham Beach | D.D. |
| John Daniel Gros | D.D. |
| Jacob Rusten Hardenbergh | D.D. |
| Samuel Evan Johnson | A.M. |
| Jeremiah Leaming | D.D. |
| William Linn | D.D. |
| Benjamin Moore | D.D. |
1790s
[edit]1790
| Recipient | Degree or Honor |
|---|---|
| Joshua Bloomer | D.D. |
| James Hardie | A.M. |
| Henry Maeller | A.M. |
| Thomas Lambert Moore | A.M. |
| James Proudfit | A.M. |
1793
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| Ebenezer Dibble | D.D. |
| Andrew Jaffray | D.D. |
| William Ogivile | LL.D. |
1794
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| Richard Channing Moore | A.M. |
1795
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| John Campbell | A.M. |
| John Coffin | A.M. |
1797
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| John Bowden | D.D. |
| James Kent | LL.D. |
1798
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| William Best | A.M. |
| William Scott | A.M. |
| Andrew Smith | A.M. |
| Robert Griffeth Wetmore | A.M. |
1800-1899
[edit]1800s
[edit]1802
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| William Duke | A.M. |
| James Kemp | D.D. |
1804
| Recipient | Honorary Degree | Notability |
|---|---|---|
| Edmund D. Barry | A.M. | |
| Edward Jenkins | D.D. | |
| Jacob Larzelere | A.M. | Lecturer at l'Institut d'Etudes Politiques and l'Ecole Nationale d'Administration |
| Peter Stryker | A.M |
1805
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| Clement Merriam | A.M |
1806
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| William James MacNeven | M.D. |
1809
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| Abraham Bronson | A.M. |
1810s
[edit]1811
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| John Croes | D.D. |
| James Hall | D.D. |
| William Harris | D.D. |
| Isaac Wilkins | D.D. |
1812
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| Oliver Cromwell Comstock | M.D. |
| William Kirkpatrick | M.D. |
| Andrew Morton | M.D. |
| Alexandra Sheldon | M.D. |
| John Augustine Smith | M.D. |
| John Stearns | M.D. |
| David Baillie Warden | M.D. |
| Joseph White | M.D. |
| Westel Willoughby | M.D. |
1814
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| John Churchill Osborn | M.D. |
| Wright Post | M.D. |
1815
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| Frederick Beasley | D.D. |
1816
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| John Schureman | D.D. |
1817
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| John D. Jaques | M.D. |
1818
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| Robert Adrian | LL.D. |
| Joseph Hopkinson | LL.D. |
| Samuel Nichols | A.M. |
| Andrew Mitchell Thomson | D.D. |
1819
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| Thomas Church Brownell | D.D. |
| Philander Chase | D.D. |
| Richard Davidson | M.D. |
| John Philip | D.D. |
| William H Richardson | M.D. |
| John Van Cleve | M.D. |
1820s
[edit]1820
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| Isaac Auld | M.D. |
| William Forrest | A.M. |
1821
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| Thaddeus Fiske | D.D. |
| Washington Irving | A.M. |
| Daniel McDonald | D.D. |
1822
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| William Lowndes | LL.D. |
| Thomas Lyell | D.D. |
| Pierre Proal | A.M. |
| John Reed | D.D. |
| Stephan N Rowan | D.D. |
| John Walsh | A.M. |
1823
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| John Carroll | A.M. |
| Abraham Oothout Halsey | A.M. |
| Chauncey Lee | D.D. |
| Edward Livingston | LL.D. |
| John Stark Ravenscroft | D.D. |
| Nathan Sanford | LL.D. |
| John Savage | LL.D. |
| Samuel Seabury | A.M. |
| Ambrose Spencer | LL.D. |
1824
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| Langdon Cheves | LL.D. |
| William A Clark | A.M. |
| James Fenimore Cooper | A.M. |
| Thomas Addis Emmet | LL.D. |
| Ernest Lewis Hazelius | D.D. |
| Levi Silliman Ives | A.M. |
| James Kirke Paulding | A.M. |
| Daniel Webster | LL.D. |
1825
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| John Caldwell Calhoun | LL.D. |
| Stephen Elliot | LL.D. |
| John McVickar | D.D. |
| Nathaniel Fish Moore | LL.D. |
| Henri L P F Peneveyre | D.D. |
| Joel Roberts Poinsett | LL.D. |
| William Shelton | A.M. |
1826
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| De Witt Clinton | LL.D. |
| Samuel Jones | LL.D. |
| Benjamin Tredwell Onderdonk | D.D. |
| William Wirt Phillips | D.D. |
| Peter Van Schaack | LL.D. |
1827
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| Jasper Adams | D.D. |
| Henry Ustick Onderdonk | D.D. |
| William Rollinson Whittingham | A.M |
1828
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| William Berrian | D.D. |
| Charles Taylor Catlin | A.M |
| Asa Eaton | D.D. |
| William Hendell | D.D. |
| William Buel Sprague | D.D. |
1829
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| Washington Irving | LL.D. |
| Jackson Kemper | D.D. |
| Clement Clarke Moore | LL.D. |
| James Renwick | LL.D. |
1830s
[edit]1830
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| William Creighton | D.D. |
| James Marsh | D.D. |
| Frederic Christian Schaeffer | D.D. |
| William Davis Snodgrass | D.D. |
| William Muarry Stone | D.D. |
1831
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| Charles Anthon | LL.D. |
| Eli Baldwin | D.D. |
| Levi Silliman Ives | D.D. |
| Robert McCartee | D.D. |
| James Ryan | A.M. |
| James Shea | A.M. |
| Thomas Swords | A.B. |
| George Upfold | D.D. |
| Antoine Verren | A.B. |
1832
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| Henry Anthon | D.D. |
| Francis Lister Hawks | D.D. |
1833
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| Charles Burroughs | D.D. |
| George Washington Doane | D.D. |
| James Emott | LL.D. |
| James Hervey Otey | D.D. |
| John Hothersall Pinder | D.D. |
| David Prentice | A.M. |
| James M Quin | A.M. |
1834
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| Orange Clark | A.M. |
| Thomas Winthrop Coit | D.D. |
| Thomas Gener | LL.D. |
| Robert J Harvey | A.M. |
| William Augustus Muhlenburg | D.D. |
| William Sherwood | A.M. |
1835
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| Benjamin Clarke Cutler | D.D. |
| Manton Eastburn | D.D. |
| Manuel Fetter | D.D. |
| William Gaston | LL.D. |
| Peter Augustus Jay | LL.D. |
| James Neilson Reynolds | A.M. |
| Gulian Crommelin Verplanck | LL.D. |
| William Rollinson Williams | A.M. |
1836
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| Benjamin Hale | D.D. |
| Benjamin Luckock | A.M. |
| Jacob Sutherland | LL.D. |
| Henry Vethake | LL.D. |
1837
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| John Bethune | D.D. |
| William Cullen Bryant | A.M. |
| John Duer | LL.D. |
| George Griffin | LL.D. |
| Fitz-Greene Halleck | A.M. |
| Charles Fenno Hoffman | A.M. |
| Theodore Irving | A.M. |
| Erskine Mason | D.D. |
| Philip Frederick Mayer | D.D. |
| Samuel Allen McCoskry | D.D. |
| David Bayard Ogden | LL.D. |
| Samuel Seabury | D.D. |
| Thomas House Taylor | D.D. |
| Samuel Alexander Van Vranken | D.D. |
| Peter Dumont Vroom | LL.D. |
| William Rollinson Whittingham | D.D. |
| William R Williams | D.D. |
1838
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| Isaac Boyle | D.D. |
| Walter Chisolm | A.M. |
| Leonidas Polk | D.D. |
| James Romeyn | D.D. |
| Hugh Smith | D.D. |
1839
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| William Miller Carmichael | D.D. |
| Abraham Hasley | A.M. |
1840s
[edit]1840
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| John Watson Adams | D.D. |
| Stephen Elliott | D.D. |
| Abraham Bruyn Hasbrouck | LL.D. |
| William Hawkesworth | A.M. |
| Hugh Swinton Legare | LL.D. |
| William Hickling Prescott | LL.D. |
1841
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| Albert Gallatin | LL.D. |
| E H Gotsbergen | A.M |
| C H Gottsberger | A.M. |
| Mancius Smedes Hutton | D.D. |
| Samuel Nelson | LL.D. |
| William M Thompson | A.M. |
1842
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| Gustavus Abeel | D.D. |
| James John Bowden | A.B. |
| Manuel Fetter | A.M. |
| Charles William Hackley | A.M. |
| Edward Y Higbee | A.M. |
| George C Schaeffer | A.M. |
| John H Shepherd | A.M. |
1843
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| John Mason Duncan | D.D. |
| George Emlen Hare | D.D. |
| Edward Y Higbee | D.D. |
| Daniel Stone | A.M. |
1844
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| Edward E Ford | D.D. |
| Joseph W Ingraham | A.M. |
| Ambrose Seymour Todd | D.D. |
| Charles Edwin West | A.M. |
1845
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| Daniel Dewey Barnard | LL.D. |
| Edward Cooper | A.M. |
| George H Fisher | D.D. |
| Charles Hewitt | A.M. |
| John Williamson McCullough | D.D. |
| Horatio Southgate | D.D. |
| Bird Wilson | LL.D. |
1846
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| William Bayard Blackwell | A.M. |
| Robert Emory | D.D. |
| Benjamin Isaacs Haight | D.D. |
| Ezra Abel Huntington | D.D. |
1847
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| John Murray Forbes | D.D. |
| William Ingraham Kip | D.D. |
| Joseph Henry Price | D.D. |
| John Canfield Spencer | LL.D. |
1848
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| Samuel Roosevelt Johnson | D.D. |
| Francis Vinton | D.D. |
1849
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| George Alexander Crook | A.M. |
| Robert William Harris | D.D. |
| James Stephenson | A.M. |
| Horace Webster | LL.D. |
1880s
[edit]1887
| Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|
| Martin Bower Anderson | LH.D. |
| Charles Andrews | LH.D. |
| James Burrill Angell | LL.D. |
| George Bancroft | LL.D. |
| Henry Barnard | LH.D. |
| Phillips Brooks | S.T.D. |
| Ephenor Adrastus Brown | A.M. |
| Francis James Child | LH.D. |
| Henry Augustus Coit | ST.D. |
| Frederic R. Coudert | LL.D. |
| George William Curtis | LH.D. |
| John Call Dalton | LL.D. |
| John Chandler Bancroft Davis | LL.D. |
| Nathaniel Henry Rhodes Dawson | LH.D. |
| Sir John William Dawson | LL.D. |
| John De Witt | LH.D. |
| Robert Earl | LL.D. |
| Amelia Blandford Edwards | LH.D. |
| Robert Brinkerhoff Fairbairn | S.T.D. |
| Sandford Fleming | LL.D. |
| Horace Howard Furness | LH.D. |
| Merrill Edwards Gates | LH.D. |
| Daniel Coit Gilman | LL.D. |
| William W Goodwin | LL.D. |
| Benjamin Apthorp Gould | LL.D. |
| Albert Zabriskie Gray | S.T.D. |
| Isaac Hollister Hall | LH.D. |
| James A Harrison | LH.D. |
| Abram Stevens Hewitt | LL.D. |
| Eugene W Hilgard | LL.D. |
| Eugene Augustus Hoffman | S.T.D. |
| Frederic Dan Huntington | S.T.D. |
| Lord William Thompson Kelvin | LL.D. |
| John Richard Magrath | S.T.D. |
| Daniel Manning | LL.D. |
| Francis Andrew March | LH.D. |
| John Barbee Minor | LL.D. |
| Maria Mitchell | LL.D. |
| Simon Newcomb | LL.D. |
| Mrs. G H Palmer | LH.D. |
| Charles Anthony Rapallo | LL.D. |
| William Crawford Ruger | LL.D. |
| Lewis Morris Rutherford | LL.D. |
| Julius Hawley Seelye | LL.D. |
| William Milligan Sloane | LH.D |
| George Williamson Smith | S.T.D. |
| Carlo Leonardo Speranza | A.M. |
| Moritz Steinschneider | LH.D. |
| Richard Salter Storrs | LH.D. |
| George Lansing Taylor | LH.D. |
| James Hammond Trumbell | LH.D. |
| Moses Coit Tyler | LH.D. |
| John Tyndall | LL.D. |
| Herman Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz | LL.D. |
| Morrison Remick Waite | LL.D. |
| Francis Amasa Walker | LL.D. |
| Sir Charles Walston | LH.D. |
| Andrew Dickson White | LH.D. |
| William Dwight Whitney | LH.D. |
| William Copley Winslow | LH.D. |
| Charles Augustus Young | LL.D. |
1900-1999
[edit]1980s
[edit]1980
| Recipient | Honorary Degree | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sfroza | Sc.D. | Geneticist |
| Jacques Derrida | Litt.D. | Philosopher |
| George A. Miller | Sc.D. | Psychologist |
| Norman E. Borlaug | Sc.D. | Agricultural Scientist |
| Curt F. Buhler | Litt.D. | Historian; Scolar |
| May Edward Chinn | Sc.D. | Humanitarian; Physician |
| F. Albert Cotton | Sc.D. | Educator; Scientist |
| James Marston Fitch | Litt.D. | Architect; Educator |
| Ieoh Ming Pei | L.H.D. | Architect; Urbanist |
| William E. Petersen | LL.D. | Banker and Chairman of the Trustees and Trustee Emeritus of Columbia University |
| Prezell Russell Robinson | LL.D. | Educator; Statesman |
| Harry M. Rose | Sc.D. | Physician; Teacher |
| Rudolf Serkin | L.H.D. | Musician; Humanist |
| Michael I. Sovern | LL.D. | Educational Administrator; Legal Scholar |
| Leonard Woodcock | LL.D. | Labor Leader; Humanitarian |
1981
| Recipient | Honorary Degree | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Kurt Otto Friedrichs | Sc.D. | Educator; Mathematician; Scientist |
| Robrert Dodd Lilley | LL.D. | Business and Community Leader; Trustee Emeritus of Columbia University |
| Robert Traill Spence Lowell, Jr. | Litt.D. | Recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry |
| Otto Luening | Litt.D. | Composer; Educator; Musician |
| V.S. Naipaul | L.H.D. | Essayist; Novelist; World Author |
| Samson Raphaelson | L.H.D. | Author; Playwright; Screenwriter |
| Paul Ricoeur | Litt.D. | Humanist; Philosopher; Scholar |
| Samuel Ruben | Sc.D. | Inventor; Scientist |
| Beverly Sills Greenough | Mus.D. | Humanist; Opera Impresario; Champion of the Arts |
| William Clements Warren | LL.D. | Law School Dean; Scholar; Legal Advisor |
| George Schneiweis Wise | LL.D. | University President; Social Scientist; Philanthropist |
1990s
[edit]1990
| Recipient | Honorary Degree | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Vaclav Havel | LL.D. | President of Czechoslovakia. Special Convocation. |
| Natalie Zemon Davis | Litt.D. | Scholar; Teacher |
| Joseph P. DiMaggio | LL.D. | Baseball Immortal |
| Milton Handler | LL.D. | Lawer; Scholar; Teacher |
| Helene L. Kaplan | LL.D. | Lawyer; Leader |
| Frank Press | Sc.D. | Geophysicist; Statesman of Science |
| Samuel DeWitt Proctor | S.T.D. | College President; Theologian; Pastor |
| P. Roy Vagelos | Sc.D. | Scientist; Teacher; Business Leader |
| Baruch Samuel Blumberg | Sc.D. | Scientist; Nobel Prize Recipient. Nobel Laureates Convocation. |
| Iosif Alexandrovich Brodsky | Litt.D. | Poet; Nobel Prize Recipient. Nobel Laureates Convocation. |
| Val Logsdon Fitch | Sc.D. | Physicist; Nobel Prize Recipient. Nobel Laureates Convocation. |
| Herbert Aaron Hauptman | Sc.D. | Mathematician; Nobel Prize Recipient. Nobel Laureates Convocation. |
| Willis Eugene Lamb | Sc.D. | Physicist; Nobel Prize Recipient. Nobel Laureates Convocation. |
| Leon Max Lederman | Sc.D. | Experimental Physicist; Nobel Prize Recipient. Nobel Laureates Convocation. |
| Tsung Dao Lee | Sc.D. | Physicist; Nobel Prize Recipient. Nobel Laureates Convocation. |
| Arno Allan Penzias | Sc.D. | Physicist; Nobel Prize Recipient. Nobel Laureates Convocation. |
| Jack Steinberger | Sc.D. | Physicist; Nobel Prize Recipient. Nobel Laureates Convocation. |
| George Joseph Stigler | Sc.D. | Economist. Nobel Laureates Convocation. |
| Samuel Chao Chung Ting | Sc.D. | Particle Physicist; Nobel Prize Recipient. Nobel Laureates Convocation. |
| Harold Eliot Varmus | Sc.D. | Cell Biologist; Nobel Prize Recipient. Nobel Laureates Convocation. |
| George Wald | Sc.D. | Nobel Prize Recipient. Nobel Laureates Convocation. |
| Steven Weinberg | Sc.D. | Physicist. Nobel Laureates Convocation. |
1991
| Recipient | Honorary Degree | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Russell Wayne Baker | Litt.D. | Columnist; Author |
| Joan Ganz Cooney | LL.D. | Broadcasting Executive |
| William Dillard | LL.D. | Business Leader |
| John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie | Mus.D. | Composer; Musician |
| Thomas S. Kuhn | Litt.D. | Philosopher; Teacher |
| Mary Douglas Leakey | Litt.D. | Archaeologist; Anthropologist |
| Walter Eugene Massey | Sc.D. | Physicist; Teacher; Statesman of Science |
| Melvin Schwartz | Sc.D. | Physicist; Teacher |
| David Benjamin Sprinson | Sc.D. | Biochemist; Teacher |
1992
| Recipient | Honorary Degree | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Harry A. Blackmun | LL.D. | Supreme Court Justice |
| Johnetta B. Cole | LL.D. | Educational Leader |
| Gertrude B. Elion | Sc.D. | Nobel Laureate in Medicine |
| Horst Fuhrmann | Litt.D. | Scholar; Teacher |
| Katharine Houghton Hepburn | L.H.D. | Actress; Author |
| Marshall Darrow Shulman | Litt.D. | Diplomat; Adlai E. Stevenson Emeritus of International Relations |
| Arthur Ochs Sulzberger | LL.D. | Publisher of the New York Times; Philanthropist |
1993
| Recipient | Honorary Degree | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Arthur Ashe | LL.D. | Champion Athlete; Social Advocate (Awarded Posthumously) |
| Gary Stanley Becker | Sc.D. | Nobel Laureate in Economics; Educator |
| Harold George (Harry) Belafonte | L.H.D. | Entertainer; Human Rights Leader |
| Seymour Milstein | LL.D. | Business Leader; Philanthropist |
| Mary Robinson | LL.D. | President of Ireland |
| George Erik Rupp | Litt.D. | President of Rice University; President-Designate of Columbia University |
| Susan Sontag | L.H.D. | Author; Social Critic |
| Gilbert Stork | Sc.D. | Higgins Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at Columbia University |
1994
| Recipient | Honorary Degree | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Tenzin Gyatso | L.H.D. | 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet. Special Convocation. |
| James Comer | LL.D. | Pyschiatrist; Educator |
| William Theodore de Bary | Litt.D. | Asian Studies Scholar; Educator; Son of Columbia |
| Dorothy DeLay | Mus.D. | Violinist; Educator |
| Betty Friedan | Litt.D. | Author; Feminist Leader |
| Ruth Bader Ginsberg | LL.D. | Supreme Court Justice; Teacher; Scholar |
| Harry Barkus Gray | Sc.D. | Chemist; Educator |
| Johan Jorgen Holst | LL.D. | Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs; Peacemaker (Awarded Posthumously) |
1995
| Recipient | Honorary Degree | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Madeleine K. Albright | LL.D. | United States Permamnent Representative to the UN |
| Louis Henkin | LL.D. | University Proessor; Human Rights Scholar |
| Teddy Kollek | LL.D. | Statesman; Peacemaker |
| Robert B.W. MacNeil | L.H.D. | Broadcast Journalist; Author; Linguist |
| Salome G Waelsch | Sc.D. | Cell Biologist |
| William Julius Wilson | Litt.D. | Sociologist; Educator; Public Servant |
1996
| Recipient | Honorary Degree | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Toru Takemitsu | Mus.D. | Japanese composer |
| Mark O. Hatfield | LL.D. | United States Senator |
| Andrei Kozyrev | LL.D. | Statesman; Reformer |
| Irwin D. Mandel | Sc.D. | Scientist; Educator; Author |
| Wyton Marsalis | Mus.D. | Composer; Musician; Teacher |
| Sadako Ogata | LL.D. | Diplomat; Educator; Humanitarian |
| Franz Rosenthal | Litt.D. | Scholar; Author; Mentor |
| Edwards Witten | Sc.D. | Physicist; Mathematician; Innovator |
1997
| Recipient | Honorary Degree | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sydney Brenner | Sc.D. | Scientist; Innovator |
| Kathryn Wasserman Davis | LL.D. | Diplomat; Educator |
| Eric John Earnest Hobsbawn | Litt.D. | Historian; Author |
| Donald Keene | Litt.D. | University Professor |
| John R. Lewis | LL.D. | Congressman; Civil Rights Leader |
1998
| Recipient | Honorary Degree | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bruce M. Alberts | Sc.D. | Molecular Biologist; Public Educator |
| Kofi A. Annan | LL.D. | Secretary-General of the UN |
| Lauren Bacall | L.H.D. | Actress; Activist |
| Rita Frances Dove | Litt.D. | Poet Laureate |
| Amartya Sen | Litt.D. | Development Economist |
| Maurice Sendak | L.H.D. | Artist; Writer |
| Fritz Stern | Litt.D. | University Professor Emeritus |
1999
| Recipient | Honorary Degree | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Muhammad Ali | LL.D. | The Greatest |
| Noam Chomsky | Litt.D. | Philosopher; Linguist; Activist. |
| David Brion Davis | LL.D. | Author; Scholar; Teacher; |
| Mildred Dresselhaus | Sc.D. | Physicist; Educator; Leader |
| Lawrence Kolb, M.D. | Sc.D. | Visionary; Author; Mentor |
| Ernest "Tito" Puente | Mus.D. | King of Latin Music |
| Julie Taymor | L.H.D. | Director; Designer; Mythologist |
| Richard Zare | Sc.D. | Chemist; Teacher; Innovator |
2000-
[edit]2000s
[edit]2000
| Recipient | Degree or Honor | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Martti Ahtisaari | LL.D. | Statesman; Humanitarian |
| David D. Ho | Sc.D. | Pioneer of Biomedical Research |
| Judith Jamison | L.H.D. | Dancer; Choreographer; Virtuoso |
| Paul Alan Marks | Sc.D. | Teacher; Researcher; Institution Builder |
| Robert E Rubin | LL.D. | Financial Savant; Public servant |
| Oscar Schachter | LL.D. | Teacher; Scholar; Diplomat |
2001
| Recipient | Degree or Honor | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Timothy Berners-Lee | LL.D. | Inventor of the Web |
| Peter Robert Lamont Brown | Litt.D. | Historian; Biographer |
| Isidore S. Edelman | Sc.D. | Biochemist; Genomecist |
| Judith Smith Kaye | LL.D. | Chief Judge |
| Arthur Levitt, Jr. | LL.D. | Public Servant |
| Maxwell L. Roach | Mus.D. | Percussionist; Conductor |
| George P. Shultz | LL.D. | Statesman |
| Zhen-Yi Wang | Sc.D. | Medical Pioneer |
2002
| Recipient | Degree or Honor | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Jack Beeson | Mus.D. | Composer; Teacher |
| Lee. C Bollinger | LL.D. | President of Columbia University |
| Joan Didion | Litt.D. | Novelist; Essayist |
| Roberto Gonalez Echevarria | Litt.D. | Scholar; Teacher |
| Brenda Milner | Sc.D. | Scientific Pioneer |
| George J. Mitchell | LL.D. | Statesman; Public Servant |
| Ruth J. Simmons | LL.D. | President of Brown University |
2003
| Recipient | Degree or Honor | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Maya Angelou | Litt.D. | Author; Activist |
| Julian Hochberg | Sc.D. | Centennial Professor Emeritus of Pyschology |
| Frank Kermode | Litt.D. | Critic; Scholar; Teacher |
| Mary-Claire King | Sc.D. | Geneticist |
| Constance Baker Motley | LL.D. | United States District Judge |
| Cecil Taylor | Mus.D. | Musician; Composer |
| Andrew Wiles | Sc.D. | Mathematician |
2004
| Recipient | Degree or Honor | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Laurie Anderson | Mus.D. | Performing Artist |
| David Baltimore | Sc.D. | Scientist; Educator |
| The Honorable Michael R. Bloomberg | LL.D. | Leader; Philantropist |
| The Honorable Robert L. Carter | LL.D. | Pioneering Civil Rights Attorney; Jurist |
| Arthur C. Danto | Litt.D. | Art Historian; Critic; Philosopher |
| Oliver W. Hill | LL.D. | Pioneering Civil Rights Attorney; Jurist |
| The Honorable Louis H. Pollak | LL.D. | Pioneering Civil Rights Attorney; Jurist |
| Leo Steinberg | Litt.D. | Art Historian; Author; Educator |
| The Honorable Jack B. Weinstein | LL.D. | Pioneering Civil Rights Attorney; Jurist |
2005
| Recipient | Degree or Honor | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Robert A. Dahl | Litt.D. | Scholar; Political Scientist |
| Henry Franklin Graff | Litt.D. | Presidential Scholar; Teacher |
| Zaha M. Hadid | L.H.D. | Architect |
| Dorothy Irene Height | LL.D. | Social Activist |
| Brent Scowcroft | LL.D. | Military Leader; Presidential Adviser |
| Shirley M. Tilghman | Sc.D. | Molecular Biologist; Teacher |
| Endel Tulving | Sc.D. | Cognitive Scientist |
| August Wilson | Litt.D. | Playwright |
2006
| Recipient | Degree or Honor | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Kenneth Chenault | LL.D. | Business; Community Leader |
| C.K. Chu | Sc.D. | Mathematician |
| Gerda Lerner | Litt.D. | Historian |
| Maya Lin | L.H.D. | Artist; Architect |
| Oswaldo Paya | LL.D. | Human Rights Activist |
| Irving Weissman | Sc.D. | Cell Biologist |
2007
| Recipient | Degree or Honor | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Aharon Barak | LL.D. | Israel Supreme Court President |
| Santiago Calatrava | L.H.D. | Architect |
| Benjamin Solomon Carson Sr. | Sc.D. | Neurosurgeon |
| Susan Lindquist | Sc.D. | Microbiologist |
| Barbara Novak | Litt.D. | Art Historian |
| Felix G. Rohatyn | LL.D. | Financier; Public Servant |
| Jonathan Spence | Litt.D. | Historian |
| Stephen Joel Trachtenberg | LL.D. | Leader in Higher Education |
2008
| Recipient | Degree or Honor | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fazle Hasan Abed | LL.D. | Social Entrepreneur |
| Emanuel Ax | Mus.D. | Pianist |
| Dawn Greene | LL.D. | Philantropist |
| Eric S. Lander | Sc.D. | Geneticist |
| William E. Leuchtenberg | Litt.D. | Historian |
| Gertrude F. Neumark | Sc.D. | Physicist |
| Judith Shapiro | LL.D. | Educator |
2009
| Recipient | Degree or Honor | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Kwame Anthony Appiah | Litt.D. | Philosopher |
| P.N. Bhagwati | LL.D. | Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India |
| Caroline Walker Bynum | Litt.D. | Medieval History Scholar |
| Ainslie T. Embree | Litt.D. | Historian of Modern South Asia |
| Paul Farmer | Litt.D. | Physician; Anthropologist |
| Helene D. Gayle | LL.D. | International Humanitarian |
| H. FitzGerald Lenfest | LL.D. | Media Entrepreneur; Philanthropist |
| Joseph L. Sax | LL.D. | Environmental Law; Property Law Scholar |
2010s
[edit]2010
| Recipient | Degree or Honor | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bernard Bailyn | Litt.D. | Historian |
| Jacqueline K. Barton | Sc.D. | Chemist |
| Geoffrey Canada | LL.D. | Social Activist, Educator |
| C. Lowell Harriss | Litt.D. | Economist; awarded posthumously. |
| Joel I. Klein | LL.D. | Education Reformer, Attorney |
| Tony Kushner | Litt.D. | Playwright |
| Koji Nakanishi | Sc.D. | Chemist |
| Dana Schutz | University Medal for Excellence | |
| Xu Bing | L.H.D. | Artist |
2011
| Recipient | Degree or Honor | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ornette Coleman | Mus.D. | Musician (Jazz) |
| Martin Meisel | Litt.D. | English Scholar, Columbia University professor/administrator |
| Eleanor Jackson Piel | LL.D. | Lawyer; "champion of social justice" |
| Lydia Polgreen | University Medal for Excellence | |
| Joan A. Steitz | Sc.D. | Geneticist |
| Keith Thomas | LL.D. | Historian |
2012
| Recipient | Degree or Honor | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Muhal Richard Abrams | Mus.D. | Pianist and composer |
| Michelle Bachelet | LL.D. | Political Leader and Physician |
| Shu Chien | Sc.D. | Vascular Physiology and Bioengineering Scholar |
| Jean Franco | Litt.D. | English and Comparative Literature Scholar; Columbia University Professor Emerita. |
| Amy Gutman | LL.D. | University of Pennsylvania President, Political Scientist, and Philosopher |
| Thomas Robert Kitt | University Medal for Excellence | Award-winning composer, conductor, arranger and musical director. |
| Gloria Steinem | LL.D. | Author and Activist |
2013
| Recipient | Degree or Honor | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Alicia Abella | University Medal for Excellence | Engineer and Technology Executive |
| Herbert Irving | LL.D. | Philanthropist |
| Florence Irving | LL.D. | Philanthropist |
| Peter E. Steiger | LL.D. | Editor and Journalist |
| Arnold Rampersad | Litt.D. | Biographer, Literary Critic, Scholar |
| Laurence H. Tribe | Litt.D. | University Professor and Constitutional Law Scholar at Harvard, Attorney |
| Stanley Falkow | Sc.D. | Microbiologist |
| Zena A. Stein | Sc.D. | Professor Emerita of Public Health and Psychiatry, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health; Pioneer of HIV Prevention for Women |
2014
| Recipient | Degree or Honor | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Renzo Piano | L.H.D. | Architect |
| Cicely L. Tyson | L.H.D. | Actress |
| Mortimer B. Zuckermer | LL.D. | Real Estate Developer, Publisher, Philanthropist |
| David Remnick | Litt.D. | Writer and Editor |
| David Rosand | Litt.D. | Art Historian |
| Robert B. Silvers | Litt.D. | Editor of The New York Review of Books |
| Natasha Trethewey | Litt.D. | US Poet Laureate, Author, Scholar |
| Joseph B. Keller | Sc.D. | Mathematician |
| Alisa Weilerstein | University Medal for Excellence | Cellist |
2015
| Recipient | Degree or Honor | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Theda Skocpal | Litt.D. | Professor at Harvard |
| Albie Sachs | LL.D. | Anti-apartheid activist |
| David Levering Lewis | Litt.D. | Historian |
| Miloš Forman | L.H.D. | Film director |
| Anthony S. Fauci | Sc.D. | HIV Researcher |
| William V. "Bill" Campbell | LL.D. | Business executive |
| Andrea Elliott | University Medal for Excellence | Reporter for New York Times |
2016
| Recipient | Degree or Honor | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ban Ki-Moon | LL.D. | Eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations |
| Amanda M. Burden | LL.D. | Urban planner |
| Zhu Chen | Sc.D. | Leading scientist in leukemia translational studies and China's Minister of Health (2007-2013) |
| Robert Darnton | Litt.D. | Cultural historian and academic librarian. Carl H. Pforzheimer University Professor and Director of the University Library at Harvard University |
| Susan Meiselas | L.H.D. | Photographer |
| Arthur Mitchell | L.H.D. | Dancer; A pioneer, an icon, and a self-described “political activist through dance,” |
| Robert Owen Paxton | Litt.D. | Mellon Professor Emeritus of Social Sciences at Columbia University |
| Tracy K. Smith | University Medal for Excellence | American poet |
2017
| Recipient | Degree or Honor | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Jacques Pépin | L.H.D. | Author and Chef |
| Eric H. Holder, Jr. | LL.D. | 82nd Attorney General of the United States |
| Admiral Michael Mullen | LL.D. | 17th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff |
| Julia Bacha | University Medal for Excellence | Filmmaker |
| Padma Desai | Litt.D. | Gladys and Roland Harriman Professor Emerita of Comparative and Economic Systems and Economics |
| Martin Duberman | Litt.D. | Historian, Biographer, Autobiographer, Political Essayist, Playwright, and Gay Rights Advocate |
| João Gilberto Prado Pereira de Oliveira | Mus.D. | Musican and Composer |
| Allen Irwin Hyman, M.D. | Sc.D. | Professor Emeritus of Anesthesiology, Physican, and Public Health Advocate |
2018
| Recipient | Degree or Honor | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Elizabeth Diller | L.H.D. | Architect and Designer |
| Thelma Golden | L.H.D. | Museum Director and Curator |
| Patrick Hubert Gaspard | LL.D. | Human rights advocate, public servant, and former United States Ambassador to South Africa |
| Bradley R. Efron | Sc.D. | Statistician |
| Lynn R. Sykes | Sc.D. | Higgins Professor Emeritus of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Seismologist |
| Shazi Visram | University Medal for Excellence | Entrepreneur and Activist |
2019
| Recipient | Degree or Honor | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Peter Awn | Litt.D. | |
| Douglas A. Chalmers | L.H.D. | Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Special Assistant to the Provost for Faculty Retirement, and Executive Director of the Society of Senior Scholars at Columbia University. |
| Karen Brooks Hopkins | LL.D. | Board Member and Senior Advisor to the Onassis Foundation USA. She is also the Nasher Haemisegger Fellow at the National Center for Arts Research, located at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. |
| Robert Langer | Sc.D. | Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Jamie Kern Lima | University Medal for Excellence |
Co-Founders and Co-Chief Executive Officers of IT Cosmetics |
| Paulo Lima | University Medal for Excellence | Co-Founders and Co-Chief Executive Officers of IT Cosmetics |
| Molly Ola Pinney | University Medal for Excellence | Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Global Autism Project |
2020s
[edit]2022
| Recipient | Degree or Honor | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hillary Rodham Clinton | LL.D. | |
| Carla Hayden | Litt.D. | |
| Jodi Kantor | University Medal for Excellence | |
| William Kentridge | LH.D. | |
| Yo-Yo Ma | Mus.D. | |
| James Stewart Polshek | LH.D. | |
| Patti Smith | Mus.D. |
2023
| Recipient | Honorary Degree or Honor |
|---|---|
| Katori Hall | University Medal for Excellence |
| Joyce Ladner | Litt.D. |
| Jeannie Bachelor Lavine | LL.D. |
| Jonathan Lavine | LL.D. |
| Tania León | Mus.D. |
| Minouche Shafik | LL.D. |
| Bob Woodward | Litt.D. |
| Shing-Tung Yau | Sc.D. |
Notes
[edit]Honorees from 1758-2019 sourced in its entirety from Columbia University Libraries.[1] Honorees 2022-present sourced from Columbia University Office of the Secretary.[2] Additional or edited information is cited inline where applicable.
The University Medal for Excellence is awarded once per year at Commencement to an alumnus or alumna (or others, especially in the early years of the award) who have performed useful or exceptional service in public or professional life. Graduates from all divisions of the University, including Barnard College and Teachers College, are eligible for the Medal. The Medal was first awarded on the occasion of the 175th Anniversary Celebration of the granting of the First Charter, October 31, 1929, to "alumni of foreign birth and training who have returned to important public service in their native lands."[3]
References
[edit]- ^ "Honorary Degree Recipients". Columbia University Libraries. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
- ^ "Honors and Prizes". Columbia University, Office of the Secretary.
- ^ "Honorary Degree Recipients". Columbia University Libraries. Retrieved 6 February 2024.