Honorary Degree Recipients, 1978 - Present
Year |
Name |
Degree |
Achievement |
| 1978 | James Baxter Hunt Jr. | LL.D. | Governor of North Carolina |
| Oscar Knefler Rice | LL.D. | Kenan Professor of Chemistry | |
| Rafael Montinola Salas | LL.D. | Asst. Secretary General United Nations | |
| Berta Vogel Scharrer | D.Sci. | Prof. of Anatomy, Albert Einstein Med. Coll. | |
| *1979 | Donald Sharp Frederickson | D.Sci. | Director of NIH |
| L. Richardson Preyer | LL.D. | U.S. Congressman | |
| Frederick Chapman Robbins | D.Sci. | Sr. Research Scholar Nat. Acad. of Science | |
| Lewis Thomas | D.Sci. | President and CEO Sloan-Kettering Institute | |
| 1979 | Robert Martin Coles | D.Sci. | Harvard research psychiatrist |
| John Hope Franklin | LL.D. | Professor; historian; author | |
| Katharine Jocher | LL.D. | Sociologist and administrator | |
| Robert Mayer Lumiansky | LL.D. | Scholar of English literature | |
| Thelma Gwinn Thurstone | D.Sci. | Co-establisher UNC Psychometric Lab. | |
| 1980 | Peter Bommarito | LL.D. | Int'l Pres. United Rubber etc. Workers, AFL-CIO |
| David Beers Quinn | LL.D. | Prof. Modern History emeritus, Univ.ofLiverpool | |
| Donald Ray Seawell | Litt.D. | Pres. & Chrm. of Board, The DenverPost | |
| Cecil GradyTaylor | LL.D. | Chancellor emeritus, LouisianaState Univ. | |
| 1981 | James Edward Cheek | LL.D. | President Howard Univ. |
| Henry Armfield Foscue | LL.D. | Businessman and civic leader | |
| Lawrence H. Fountain | LL.D. | U.S. Congressman | |
| Sarah Ratner | D.Sci. | Biochemist | |
| 1982 | William Patterson Cumming | D.Litt. | Prof. of English emeritus, Davidson College |
| George Herbert Hitchings | D.Sci. | Burroughs-Wellcome researcher and administrator | |
| Myles Horton | LL.D. | Founder, Highlander FolkSchool | |
| 1983 | Henry Parker Brandis Jr. | LL.D. | Kenan Prof. of Law; dean of Law School |
| Elizabeth Scott Cranston | LL.D. | Benefactor of UNC School of Nursing | |
| Aloyisus Leon Higginbotham Jr. | LL.D. | Judge, USCourt of Appeals 3rdCircuit | |
| Joseph Carlyle Sitterson | LL.D. | Chancellor emeritus; KenanProf. of History | |
| Frank Henry Westheimer | D.Sci. | Chemist; Harvard professor | |
| 1984 | George Richard Herbert | LL.D. | President of Research Triangle Institute |
| James Earl Jones | Litt.D. | Stage, screen, and TV actor | |
| Frank Hawkins Kenan | LL.D. | UNC benefactor | |
| 1985 | Mildred Cohn | D.Sci. | Biochemist; Inst. for Cancer Research |
| Elizabeth Hanford Dole | LL.D. | U.S. Secretary of Transportation | |
| Blyden Jackson | D.Litt. | Prof. of English emeritus UNC | |
| Emma Neal McQueen Morrison | LL.D. | Chair emeritus Roanoke Island Historical Ass'n. | |
| James Dickson Phillips Jr. | LL.D. | Judge, U.S.4th Circuit Court of Appeals | |
| 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 Assn. |
| 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 | |
| Sherman Emery Lee | 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 United States |
| 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 ofSpelmanCollege | |
| Bess Lomax 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 | |
| Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson | 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 AlexanderOkun | 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 United States | |
| **2001 | Ricardo Lagos Escobar | LL.D. | President of Chile |
| 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 Days III | LL.D. | U.S. Solicitor General; Yale law professor |
| Clemmie Dixon Spangler Jr. | LL.D. | Public Service; Business | |
| Reynolds Price | Litt.D. | Author | |
| William Henry Cosby Jr. | LL.D. | Actor, Entertainer | |
| 2004 | William Albert Graham Jr. | L.H.D. | Scholar; dean Harvard Divinity School |
| Julius Levonne Chambers | J.D. | Attorney; civil rights pioneer | |
| Maurice John Koury | J.D. | Businessman and philanthropist | |
| William Octavius McCoy | J.D. | Businessman; interim chancellor | |
| William Forrest Winter | J.D. | Former governor of Mississippi; statesman | |
| 2005 | Nannerl Overholser Keohane | LL.D. | Scholar, Duke University president, feminist leader |
| 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 | |
| 2009 | William J. Armfield IV | LL.D. | Investment executive and philanthropist |
| Eli N. Evans | LL.D. | Writer on Jews in the south, nonprofit leader | |
| Charles Sanders | D.Sci. | Physician and medical executive | |
| Helen Maynor Sheirbeck | LL.D. | Native American activist and educational leader | |
| Lee Marshall Smith | Litt.D. | Prolific southern author | |
| Desmond M. Tutu | D.D. | Nobel Peace Prize winner and South African anti-apartheid campaigner |
*February 10, 1979, Convocation celebrating Centennial of University of North Carolina School of Medicine
**Special Convocation
Note: Often (but not always) an honorary degree is conferred on the commencement speaker. This accounts for a sixth recipient in some years.
