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Honorary Degree Recipients
History of Honorary Degrees
Harvard was the first university to confer honorary degrees in 1692. Since then it has become a recognized function of degree granting institutions. Honorary degrees are an opportunity for universities to single out people who have made contributions to society. At ASU Honorary Degree recipients are nominated by faculty members. The six-member Academic Affairs Honorary Degrees Committee reviews faculty nominations for the Honorary Degree. It then recommends candidates to the president. The committee is appointed by and responsible to the president.
View the Honorary Degree Recipients for Spring 2008
| Recipient | Date Conferred |
| Frederick M. Irish | May 28, 1940 |
| Arthur John Matthews | May 28, 1940 |
| Charles A. Stauffer | May 22, 1951 |
| Samuel Henry Morris | May 26, 1953 |
| Ira Dawson Payne | May 26, 1953 |
| Abraham Lincoln Krohn | May 24, 1955 |
| Arthur Ervin Smith | May 24, 1955 |
| Alfred Knight | May 29, 1956 |
| Harvey Leslie Taylor | May 29, 1956 |
| Daniel Earl Noble | May 28, 1957 |
| Howard Pyle | May 28, 1957 |
| Walter Reed Bimson | May 27, 1958 |
| John Cromwell Lincoln | May 27, 1958 |
| Carl Sauer | May 27, 1958 |
| Carlos P. Garcia | June 25, 1958 |
| Eugene Collins Pulliam | May 26, 1959 |
| Carl Hayden | Nov 14, 1959 |
| John Robert Murdock | May 31, 1960 |
| Barry Morris Goldwater | May 30, 1961 |
| George W. Romney | June 5, 1962 |
| Linton Elias Grinter | June 5, 1962 |
| Walter Early Craig | June 4, 1963 |
| Lynn Meade Laney | June 4, 1963 |
| Harvey Harlow Nininger | June 4, 1963 |
| Lillian Moller Gilbreth | May 26, 1964 |
| Julius Charles Wetzler | May 26, 1964 |
| Stewart Lee Udall | June 1, 1965 |
| George Fuller Miller | June 1, 1965 |
| John Alfred Hannah | May 27, 1966 |
| James Bryon McCormick | May 27, 1966 |
| Harold David Richardson | May 26, 1967 |
| Robert Jeffrey Hannelly | May 26, 1967 |
| Karl Clayton Leebrick | May 26, 1967 |
| Lewis Judah Ruskin | June 4, 1968 |
| Harlan Cleveland | June 4, 1968 |
| John Hope Franklin | June 3, 1969 |
| Frank Borman | June 3, 1969 |
| Charles Stewart Mott | Jan 13, 1970 |
| Ernest J. Hopkins | June 2, 1970 |
| George Homer Durham | June 1, 1971 |
| Richard A. Harvill | June 1, 1971 |
| Arthur B. Schellenberg | June 1, 1971 |
| Pablo Casals | Mar 30, 1972 |
| Raul H. Castro | June 2, 1972 |
| O.D. Miller | June 2, 1972 |
| Paolo Soleri | May 18, 1973 |
| Ernest W. McFarland | May 18, 1973 |
| Paul Rappaport | May 17, 1974 |
| Hugh Downs | May 17, 1974 |
| Herbert G. Fales | May 16, 1975 |
| Robert W. Galvin | May 16, 1975 |
| Mae S. Talley | May 14, 1976 |
| John J. Rhodes | May 14, 1976 |
| Louise Lincoln Kerr | May 13, 1977 |
| Bart Jan Bok | May 19, 1978 |
| Henry Eyring | May 19, 1978 |
| David C. Lincoln | May 18, 1979 |
| Erma Bombeck | May 16, 1980 |
| Vincent Persichetti | May 16, 1980 |
| Paul L. Singer | May 16, 1980 |
| Robert Penn Warren | Apr 21, 1980 |
| Philip C. Curtis | May 15, 1981 |
| Herb and Dorothy McLaughlin | May 15, 1981 |
| Steve Allen | May 14, 1982 |
| Fredi Chiappelli | May 14, 1982 |
| James Dickey | May 14, 1982 |
| Alan duBois | May 14, 1982 |
| Mstislav Rostropovich | Aug 6, 1982 |
| Martha Graham | Oct 17, 1982 |
| Tom Chauncey | May 15, 1983 |
| G.M. Sollenberger | May 15, 1983 |
| Sandra Day O'Connor | May 11, 1984 |
| James William Creasman | May 11, 1984 |
| Leontyne Price | Mar 8, 1985 |
| Edward F. Albee | May 17, 1985 |
| William A. Fowler | May 17, 1985 |
| Northurp H. Fry | May 17, 1985 |
| Kathryn K. Gammage | May 17, 1985 |
| William G. Payne | May 17, 1985 |
| Edward J. Dwight, Jr. | May 16, 1986 |
| Sylvia Porter | May 16, 1986 |
| John I. Yellott | Aug 8, 1986 |
| William Reilley | Nov 7, 1986 |
| Henry Cisneros | Dec 19, 1986 |
| Frank Snell | May 15, 1987 |
| Gerald Wasserburg | May 15, 1987 |
| Virginia Galvin Piper | May 15, 1987 |
| Mo Udall | Aug 7, 1987 |
| Kax Herberger | Aug 7, 1987 |
| Edson W. Spencer | Dec 18, 1987 |
| Robert S. Dietz | May 13, 1988 |
| Robert J. Eggert | Aug 5, 1988 |
| Jovita R. Salonga | Dec 16, 1988 |
| Art Buchwald | Dec 16, 1988 |
| Walter Cronkite | May 12, 1989 |
| Lorraine Frank | May 12, 1989 |
| William Kajikawa | Aug 5, 1989 |
| Pearl Bailey | Dec 22, 1989 |
| Rabbi Albert Plotkin | Dec 22, 1989 |
| Yuan T. Lee | May 11, 1990 |
| G. Robert Herberger | May 10, 1991 |
| Frank X. Gordon | Dec 8, 1991 |
| Cesar Chavez | May 11, 1992 |
| Tony Hillerman | May 11, 1992 |
| Alan Pritsker | May 11, 1992 |
| Willard Pedrick | May 11, 1992 |
| Marvin Morrison | Aug 11, 1992 |
| Karsten Solheim | Dec 18, 1992 |
| Louise Solheim | Dec 18, 1992 |
| Daniel Nagrin | Dec 18, 1992 |
| Dwight Patterson | May 11, 1993 |
| Jesse Jones | May 11, 1993 |
| Polly Rosenbaum | May 11, 1993 |
| Edward Carson | Aug 10, 1993 |
| Paul Elsner | Dec 14, 1993 |
| Rose Mofford | May 11, 1994 |
| Herman Chanen | May 11, 1994 |
| Keith Turley | Aug 5, 1994 |
| Virginia Ullman | Aug 5, 1994 |
| Maxine Marshall | Dec 14, 1994 |
| Jonathan Marshall | Dec 14, 1994 |
| Margaret Gisolo | Dec 14, 1994 |
| Edward Bud Jacobson | May 14, 1995 |
| Rita Dove | May 14, 1995 |
| Ernest Boyer | May 14, 1995 |
| Florence Nelson | Aug 10, 1995 |
| William S. Shover | May 10, 1996 |
| Gary L. Tooker | May 10, 1996 |
| Frank J. Sackton | Aug 9, 1996 |
| Chang-Lin Tien | Dec 20, 1996 |
| John F. Long | Dec 20, 1996 |
| Paul J. Fannin | May 16, 1997 |
| Jack W. Whiteman | May 16, 1997 |
| Newton Rosenzweig | Aug 8, 1997 |
| John P. Frank | Dec 19, 1997 |
| Craig R. Barrett | May 15, 1998 |
| Wm. Polk Carey | Aug 7, 1998 |
| Norman William Fain | Dec 18, 1998 |
| Leon Howard Sullivan | Dec 18, 1998 |
| Eddie Basha | May 14, 1999 |
| Raul Yzaguirre | May 14, 1999 |
| Alfredo Gutierrez | Dec 17, 1999 |
| Craig E. Weatherup | Dec 17, 1999 |
| Barbara McConnell Barrett | May 11, 2000 |
| Rudy E. Campbell | May 11, 2000 |
| Nadine Severns Carson | Aug 4, 2000 |
| Lamonte H. Lawrence | Aug 4, 2000 |
| L. Roy Papp | Dec 14, 2000 |
| Marilyn A. Papp | Dec 14, 2000 |
| L. William Seidman | Dec 14, 2000 |
| Alice Wiley Snell | May 10, 2001 |
| Richard Berlin Snell | May 10, 2001 |
| Robert H. Johnson | Aug 31, 2001 |
| Delbert Ray Lewis | Dec 31, 2001 |
| Jewell McFarland Lewis | Dec 31, 2001 |
| Jerry Colangelo | May 9, 2002 |
| Rex G. Maughan | May 9, 2002 |
| John R. Christian | Aug 2, 2002 |
| Bob Stump | Dec 19, 2002 |
| Rita R. Colwell |
May 13, 2004 |
| Rafael Rangel Sostmann |
May 13, 2004 |
| Lawrence Douglas Wilder | May 13, 2004 |
| Peterson Zah | May 12, 2005 |
| Blake Edwards | Sep 23, 2005 |
| Lord John Browne of Madingley | Dec 15, 2005 |
| The Right Honourable Kim Campbell | Dec 15, 2005 |
| Wu Qidi | May 11, 2006 |
| Frank H.T. Rhodes | May 11, 2006 |
| J. Craig Venter | May 10, 2007 |
| Leland Hartwell | Dec 13, 2007 |