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Honorary Degrees

Honorary Degree Nomination Form (PDF)

Honorary degrees listed in chronological order

Name Degree Date
1. Dr. John H. Bosshart Litt.D. 10/23/58
2. Mr. Joel R. Jacobson Litt.D. 06/04/59
3. Mr. Harold Bruce Palmer Litt.D. 06/04/59
4. Dr. Allen Balcom DuMont Litt.D. 06/09/60
5. Mr. Bertram B. Johansson (’38) Litt.D. 06/09/60
6. Mr. John T. Cunningham Litt.D. 06/08/61
7. Ms. Ruth Hornby Page (’32) Litt.D. 06/07/62
8. Dr. George Rochberg (’39) Litt.D. 06/07/62
9. Dr. Eugene Thomas Maleska (’37, MA ’40) Litt.D. 06/05/63
10. Ms. Margot M. Studer Litt.D. 06/03/64
11. Ms. Esther Eggersten Peterson Litt.D. 10/06/64
12. Mr. Alex Quaison-Sackey Litt.D. 10/05/65
13. Mr. Harold S. Osborne Litt.D. 06/08/66
14. Dr. Harry A. Sprague Litt.D. 06/08/66
15. Mr. Charles W. Hamilton Litt.D. 06/07/67
16. Mr. Edward E. Booher Litt.D. 06/02/68
17. Mr. Bayard Rustin Litt.D. 06/02/68
18. Dr. Edward James Meade, Jr. (’54, MA ’56) Litt.D. 06/01/69
19. Colonel Edwin E. Aldrin Litt.D. 09/06/69
20. Mr. Edgar Chalfant Bye Litt.D. 05/31/70
21. Mr. Aloysius Michael Sullivan Litt.D. 05/31/70
22. Dr. Karl J. Gruber Litt.D. 10/11/70
23. Mr. Gustav Scherbaum Litt.D. 10/11/70
24. Judge Frederick B. Lacey LL.D. 05/31/71
25. Ms. Katherine K. Neuberger LL.D. 05/29/72
26. Mr. Arthur Ochs Sulzberger L.H.D. 05/29/72
27. Mr. John Quincy Adams, III L.H.D. 06/10/73
28. Mr. Herbert J. Stern Litt.D. 06/10/73
29. Dr. Walter Lincoln Hawkins LL.D. 06/09/74
30. Mr. Friedrich Niederl LL.D. 06/09/74
31. Ms. Barbara Ann Wolf (’28) Litt.D. 06/09/74
32. Dr. Margaret C. Brown LL.D. 06/01/75
33. Dr. Rene Jules Dubos LL.D. 06/01/75
34. Bishop John Wesley Lord (’22) LL.D. 06/01/75
35. Mr. John Thomas Shawcross (’48) L.H.D. 06/01/75
36. Dr. Eileen Lynch Corcoran (’38) Litt.D. 06/30/76
37. Dr. E. DeAlton Partridge LL.D. 06/30/76
38. Dr. James Patrick Shenton Litt.D. 06/30/76
39. Reverend Thomas Edward Davis LL.D. 05/26/77
40. Dr. Edythe Jones Gaines LL.D. 05/26/77
41. Mr. Meyer Melnikoff (’37) LL.D. 05/26/77
42. Mr. Richard Taylor Dugan (’40) LL.D. 05/24/78
43. Dr. Hans Joachim Hillerbrand LL.D. 05/24/78
44. Ms. Licia Albanese Litt.D. 05/23/79
45. Mr. Angelo Robert Cali (’36) LL.D. 05/23/79
46. Dr. Leonard Solomon Silk LL.D. 05/23/79
47. Mr. Gerald A. LeBoff LL.D. 05/28/80
48. Dr. Calvin B. T. Lee LL.D. 05/28/80
49. Dr. Nathan Weiss (’48) LL.D. 05/28/80
50. Dr. Alexander Goetz LL.D. 09/22/80
51. Judge Thomas Nowotny LL.D. 09/22/80
52. Mr. Robert J. Davis LL.D. 05/27/81
53. Dr. Allan Morehead (’34) LL.D. 05/27/81
54. Dr. Thomas H. Richardson LL.D. 05/27/81
55. Senator Bill Bradley LL.D. 05/26/82
56. Dr. Herman Sokol (’37) LL.D. 05/26/82
57. Mr. William (Count) Basie LL.D. 12/12/82
58. Governor Thomas Kean LL.D. 05/25/83
59. Dr. Ernest B. Yeager (’45) LL.D. 05/25/83
60. Dr. John Brademas LL.D. 09/20/83
61. Governor Richard J. Hughes LL.D. 09/20/83
62. Mr. Peter Drucker LL.D. 04/24/84
63. Senator Matthew Feldman LL.D. 05/23/84
64. Mr. Henry Otto Pollak LL.D. 05/23/84
65. Mr. George Irving Shirley LL.D. 05/23/84
66. Judge Joseph H. Rodriguez LL.D. 05/23/85
67. Dr. Raymond Warren Young (’45) LL.D. 05/23/85
68. Mr. Jerome Hines LL.D. 05/29/86
69. Mr. Larry Doby L.H.D. 05/28/87
70. Congresswoman Marge Roukema (’51) LL.D. 05/28/87
71. Mayor Sharpe James (’58) LL.D. 05/24/88
72. Senator Wynona Lipman LL.D. 05/24/88
73. Ms. Miriam Colon Litt.D. 05/24/89
74. Dr. David W. D. Dickson LL.D. 05/24/89
75. Dr. Ernest M. May LL.D. 05/24/89
76. Ms. Melba Moore (’70) Litt.D. 05/25/90
77. Dr. Daniela Camhy Litt.D. 05/29/90
78. Mayor Alfred Stingl LL.D. 05/29/90
79. Mr. Ben H. Love L.H.D. 05/29/91
80. Mr. Robert C. Winters L.H.D. 05/29/91
81. Dr. John I. Goodlad Litt.D. 05/27/92
82. Mr. Borden R. Putnam LL.D. 05/27/92
83. Mrs. Margaret M. Sokol (’38) L.H.D. 05/27/92
84. Dr. Israel Tribble, Jr. (’62) Litt.D. 05/27/92
85. Governor James J. Florio LL.D. 05/26/93
86. Mr. Gordon Parks Litt.D. 05/25/94
87. Governor Christine Todd Whitman LL.D. 05/25/94
88. Dr. Robert A. Altman LL.D. 05/18/95
89. Dr. Mathilde Krim Sc.D. 05/18/95
90. Mr. John Tugwell LL.D. 05/18/95
91. Mr. Mort Pye Litt.D. 06/26/95
92. Mr. Lawrence (Yogi) Berra L.H.D. 05/16/96
93. Mr. Edward Leshowitz (’36) L.H.D. 05/16/96
94. Mr. Bruce Willis Litt.D. 05/16/96
95. Chief Justice Deborah Poritz LL.D. 05/16/97
96. Dr. George Walker Litt.D. 05/16/97
97. Mr. Josh Weston L.H.D. 05/16/97
98. Mr. Samuel D. Mills, Jr. (’80) L.H.D. 05/15/98
99. Mr. Floyd Hall L.H.D. 05/14/99
100. Mr. Paul Plishka D.F.A. 05/14/99
101. Rev. William H. Gray III LL.D.. 05/22/00
102. Dr. Antonia Novello Sc.D. 05/22/00
103. Rev. DeForest B. Soaries, Jr. LL.D. 05/22/00
104. Mr. Gordon Bethune L.H.D. 05/25/01
105. Mr. Raymond G. Chambers L.H.D. 05/25/01
106. Ms. Emily (Cissy) Houston L.H.D. 05/25/01
107. Ms. Elizabeth Christopherson L.H.D. 09/13/01
108. Governor James E. McGreevey LL.D. 05/24/02
109. Mr. Charles Peete Rose, Jr. Litt.D. 05/24/02
110. Dr. John J. McMullen Litt.D. 05/09/03
111. Dr. Irvin D. Reid LL.D. 05/09/03
112. Mr. Kevin Smith Litt.D. 05/14/04
113. Mr. Joseph Coccia, Jr. &
Mrs. Elda Coccia
L.H.D. 05/15/04
114. Mr. Alec Baldwin Litt.D. 05/21/04
115. Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey Sc.D. 05/16/05
116. Mr. Murray L. Cole LL.D. 05/20/05
117. Dr. Lawrence P. Goldman Litt.D. 05/12/06
118. Attorney General Zulima V. Farber LL.D. 05/13/06
119. Dr. Sylvia A. Earle Sc.D. 05/15/06
120. Dr. Nel Noddings Litt.D. 05/16/06
121. Governor Richard J. Codey LL.D. 05/19/06
122. Dr. Yu Lizhong Sc.D. 05/19/06
123. Judge José L. Fuentes LL.D. 05/10/07
124. Ms. Bobbi Brown L.H.D. 05/11/07
125. Commissioner Kevin M. Ryan LL.D. 05/12/07
126. Dr. Alan I. Leshner Sc.D. 05/14/07
127. Dr. Maxine Greene Litt.D. 05/15/07
128. Ms. Whoopi Goldberg Litt.D. 05/18/07
129. Judge Julio M. Fuentes LL.D. 05/14/08
130. Mr. Bill T. Jones Litt.D. 05/15/08
131. Mr. Ronald M. Califre Sc.D. 05/16/08
132. Ms. Amy B. Mansue L.H.D. 05/17/08
133. Dr. Frank R. Alvarez Litt.D. 05/18/08
134. Mr. Craig Newmark L.H.D. 05/19/07
135. Dr. Jane Holl Lute (’78) LL.D. 05/23/08
136. Mr. Mikhail Baryshnikov Litt.D. 05/23/08
137. Governor Jon S. Corzine LL.D. 05/23/08
138. Dr. Kornel Terplan Litt.D. 05/15/09
139. Ms. Lisa Perez Jackson Sc.D. 05/16/09
140. Mr. James M. Cracchiolo L.H.D. 05/16/09
141. Mr. Jonathan H. Alter Litt.D. 05/17/09
142. Rev. Dr. Audrey V. Leef (’43) Litt.D. 05/17/09
143. Ms. Lucille E. Davy LL.D. 05/18/09
144. Mr. John J. Cali Litt.D. 05/22/09
145. Mayor Cory A. Booker LL.D. 05/22/09
146. Mr. Charles L. Magliaro (’54, MA ’58) Litt.D. 05/13/10
147. Mr. Bruce “Cousin Brucie” Morrow Litt.D. 05/15/10
148. Mr. John P. Wallace L.H.D. 05/15/10
149. Mr. Malcolm Stevenson “Steve” Forbes, Jr. L.H.D. 05/15/10
150. Dr. Richard Axel Sc.D. 05/16/10
151. Ms. Fahima Vorgetts LL.D. 05/16/10
152. Mr. James Bradley Litt.D. 05/21/10
153. Mr. Richard D. Parsons L.H.D. 05/13/11
154. Dr. Jeffrey D. Sachs LL.D. 05/14/11
155. Mr. Byron Pitts Litt.D. 05/14/11
156. Mr. Raul de Molina Litt.D. 05/20/11
157. Dr. Warren T. Farrell Litt.D. 05/20/11
158. Mr. John T. Riordan L.H.D. 05/20/11
159. Mr. Brian Lehrer Litt.D. 05/12/12
160. Dr. Gene E. Likens Sc.D. 05/12/12
161. Mr. Dennis Bone L.H.D. 05/13/12
162. Mr. Jacques D’Amboise Litt.D. 05/13/12
163. Mr. Michael E. Cryor L.H.D. 05/14/12
164. Dr. Patrick T. McCarthy LL.D. 05/14/12
165. Ms. Victoria Reggie Kennedy LL.D. 05/18/12
166. Ms. S. Epatha Merkerson LL.D. 05/24/13
167. Mr. James Patterson LL.D. 05/23/14
168. Chief Justice Stuart Rabner LL.D. 05/20/15
169. Mr. Don Garber Litt.D. 05/25/16
170. Mr. Frankie Faison D.F.A. 01/23/17
171. Mr. Carlos Rodriguez L.H.D. 05/22/17
172. Mr. Ras J. Baraka L.H.D. 05/25/17
173. Mr. Savion Glover D.F.A. 05/25/17
174. Senator Loretta Weinberg Litt.D. 01/14/18
175. Mr. John Schrieber D.F.A. 05/22/18
176. Lieutenant Governor Sheila Oliver Litt.D. 05/25/18
177. Ms. Judy Woodruff Litt.D. 01/19/19
178. Mr. Ralph Izzo SC.D. 05/21/19
179. Mr. Kevin P. Bradley LL.D. 05/21/19
180. NJ Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal LL.D. 01/17/20

Degree abbreviations and definitions

Degree Definition
Litt.D. Doctor of Letters
LL.D. Doctor of Laws
L.H.D. Doctor of Humanities or Humane Letters
Sc.D. Doctor of Science
D.F.A. Doctor of Fine Arts