HONORARY
DEGREES AWARDED 1986-2007
|
Year |
Name |
Degree |
Achievement |
|
1986 |
James
Grubbs Martin |
LL.D. |
Public
service |
|
|
Harriet
L. Rheingold |
D.Sci. |
Psychology |
|
|
Ivan
E. Sutherland |
D.Sci. |
Computer
graphics pioneer |
|
|
John
Kenneth Terres |
D.Litt. |
Nature
editor and author |
|
1987 |
William
Brantley Aycock |
LL.D. |
Educator |
|
|
William
Wallace Finlator |
D.D. |
Minister
active in civil rights |
|
|
Margaret
Taylor Harper |
LL.D. |
Journalist;
public service |
|
|
William
Neill Hubbard, Jr. |
D.Sci. |
Medical
statesman; president of Upjohn; dean |
|
|
Samuel
Talmadge Ragan |
D.Litt. |
Journalist |
|
1988 |
James
Evans Davis |
D.Sci. |
President
American Medical Ass’n |
|
|
Marian
Wright Edelman |
LL.D. |
President
Children’s Defense Fund |
|
|
William
Clyde Friday |
LL.D. |
Pre-eminent
university president |
|
|
James
Bryan McMillan |
LL.D. |
US
District Court Judge |
|
1989 |
Minnie
Miller Brown |
D.Sci. |
Pioneer
in attacking rural poverty` |
|
|
Robert
Francis Furchgott |
D.Sci. |
Pharmacological
researcher |
|
|
Robert
Venturi |
D.Sci. |
Architect |
|
1990 |
John
Marsden Ehle, Jr. |
Litt.D. |
Novelist |
|
|
Gertrude
Belle Elion |
D.Sci. |
Biochemist;
Nobel Prize 1988 |
|
|
Allen
Walker Read |
Litt.D. |
Linguist
and lexicographer |
|
1991 |
Federico
Guillermo Gil |
Litt.D. |
Latin
American scholar |
|
|
Archie
Green |
Litt.D. |
American
folklore scholar |
|
|
Charles
Bishop Kuralt |
Litt.D. |
Television
journalist |
|
1992 |
David
McClure Brinkley |
Litt.D. |
Television
journalist |
|
|
Shelby
Dade Foote |
Litt.D. |
Novelist
and Civil War historian |
|
|
|
Litt.D. |
Oriental
art scholar and museum director |
|
|
Anne
Ellen Queen |
LL.D. |
Educator |
|
|
Thomas
Franklin Williams |
D.Sci. |
Gerontologist |
|
1993 |
William
Jefferson Clinton |
LL.D. |
President
of the |
|
1993 |
Katherine
Dunham |
D.F.A. |
Dancer
and cultural anthropologist |
|
|
Eugen
Merzbacher |
D.Sci. |
Physicist |
|
|
Carl
Thomas Rowan |
Litt.D. |
Journalist |
|
1993 |
Nelson
Ferebee Taylor |
LL.D. |
Educator;
business |
|
|
Edwin
Milton Yoder, Jr. |
Litt.D. |
Journalist |
|
1994 |
Daniel
Terry Blue, Jr. |
LL.D. |
Public
service |
|
|
Kenneth
Lauren Burns |
Litt.D. |
Documentary
filmmaker |
|
|
Francis
Sellers Collins |
D.Sci. |
Geneticist |
|
|
Walter
Joseph Harrelson |
Litt.D. |
Biblical
scholar |
|
|
Jane
Shelby Richardson |
D.Sci. |
Protein
scientist |
|
|
Joseph
Curtis Sloane |
Litt.D. |
Art
historian |
|
1995 |
Kenneth
Merle Brinkhous |
D.Sci. |
Pathologist |
|
|
Johnetta
Betsch Cole |
LL.D. |
President
of |
|
|
Bess
Loman Hawes |
Litt.D. |
Folklorist |
|
|
Hugh
Leon McColl, Jr. |
LL.D. |
Banker |
|
|
Louis
Decimus Rubin , Jr. |
Litt.D. |
Professor;
publisher |
|
|
Anna
Deavere Smith |
Litt.D. |
Playwright,
performance artist, professor |
|
1996 |
William
Franklin Graham |
D.D. |
Evangelist |
|
|
Seamus
Justin Heaney |
Litt.D. |
Poet |
|
|
Rudolph
Arthur Marcus |
D.Sci. |
Chemist;
Nobel prize |
|
1997 |
Erskine
Boyce Bowles |
LL.D. |
White
House Chief of Staff; investment banker |
|
|
Rita
Dove |
Litt.D. |
Poet;
professor |
|
|
Eugene
Dominick Genovese |
Litt.D. |
Historian;
professor |
|
|
Alice
Mitchell Rivlin |
LL.D. |
Economist;
public service |
|
|
William
Doyle Ruckelshaus |
LL.D. |
Environmentalist;
public service; business |
|
|
|
Litt.D. |
Folk
singer |
|
1998 |
Susan
Pardee Baker |
D.Sci |
Public
health |
|
|
Richard
Hampton Jenrette |
LL.D. |
Business;
historic preservation; philanthropy |
|
|
Betty
Ray McCain |
LL.D. |
Public
service |
|
|
Elizabeth
Spencer |
Litt.D. |
Author |
|
|
Leroy
Tashreau Walker |
LL.D. |
Educator |
|
1999 |
William
Warren Bradley |
LL.D. |
Public
service |
|
|
Marc
Basnight |
LL.D. |
Public
service |
|
|
Damon
Jerome Keith |
LL.D. |
Public
service |
|
|
Nina
Woo Matheson |
D.Sci. |
Librarian |
|
2000 |
Stuart
Eliot Eizenstat |
LL.D. |
Diplomat |
|
|
Joseph
Leo Blotner |
Litt.D. |
Literary
historian |
|
|
Walter
Horace Carter |
LL.D. |
Newspaper
editor and owner |
|
|
Charles
Justice |
LL.D. |
Athlete |
|
|
Daniel
Alexander Okun |
D.Sci. |
Scholar;
educator |
|
2001 |
Gladys
Hall Coates |
LL.D. |
Public
service |
|
|
Dennis
Barry Gillings |
D.Sci. |
Scholar;
founder of Quintiles |
|
|
William
Edward “Billy” Taylor |
D.F.A. |
Musician |
|
|
Thomas
Grey Wicker |
LL.D. |
Journalist |
|
|
David
Satcher |
D.Sci. |
Physician;
Surgeon General of the |
|
|
Ricardo
|
LL.D. |
President
of |
|
2002 |
Julian
Hart Robertson, Jr. |
LL.D. |
Financier,
philanthropist |
|
|
Verne
Edward Chaney, Jr. |
D.Sci |
Physician
and humanitarian |
|
|
John
Reid Edwards |
LL.D. |
United
States Senator |
|
2003 |
Drew
Saunders Day III |
LL.D. |
U.S.
Solicitor General; Yale law professor |
|
|
Clemmie
Dixon Spangler Jr. |
LL.D. |
Public
Service; Business |
|
|
Reynolds
Price |
Litt.D. |
Author |
|
|
Bill
Cosby |
LL.D. |
Actor,
Entertainer |
|
2004 |
Julius
LeVonne Chambers |
LL.D. |
Educator,
Civil rights leader |
|
|
William
Albert Graham Jr. |
L.H.D. |
|
|
|
William
Octavius McCoy |
LL.D. |
Business
leader, University vice president and acting chancellor |
|
|
Maurice
John Koury |
LL.D. |
Business
leader |
|
|
William
Forrest Winter |
LL.D. |
|
|
2005 |
Nannerl
Overholser Keohane |
LL.D. |
Scholar,
|
|
|
Anand
Panyarachun |
LL.D. |
Thai
Prime Minister, diplomat, world leader |
|
|
Peter
John Gomes |
D.D. |
Preacher,
author, minister of The Memorial Church, Harvard |
|
|
Frank
Borden Hanes Sr. |
L.H.D. |
Philanthropist,
author, business leader |
| 2006 | Joyce Conseen Dugan | LL.D. | Educator; Cherokee leader |
| Thomas Stephen Kenan III | LL.D. | Philanthropist | |
| Robert Ray Morgan | Litt.D. | Author and poet | |
| John Shelby Spong | L.H.D. | Author, clergyman |
|
| 2007 | Madeline Korbel Albright | LL.D. | Public Service; Diplomacy |
| H. Jack Geiger | D.Sci. | Physician; humanitarian | |
| William Ivey Long | D.F.A. | Costume designer | |
| Richard Wilson Riley | LL.D. | Public Service; educator | |
| Dean Edwards Smith | LL.D. | Coach; humanitarian | |
| 2008 | Peter Courtland Agre | D.Sci. | Medical researcher; Nobel Prize winner |
| Philip Palmer Green III | D.Sci. | Human genome researcher | |
| Heather Munroe-Blum | D.Sci. | University administrator; psychiatric epidemiologist | |
| Anthony Eden Rand | LL.D. | Public service; champion of the University | |
| Jessye Norman | D.Mus. | Performing artist in opera and concert | |
Note: Often (but not always) an honorary degree is conferred on the commencement speaker. This accounts for a sixth recipient in some years.