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Honorary Degrees

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

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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

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Honorary Degree Policy
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Approved by the MSU Board of Trustees
12/10/98 

A. Authorization and Criteria

  • Honorary degrees may be awarded by the Board of Trustees to persons who have achieved a record of major distinction at the state or national level in such areas as education, science, arts, public service, research, humanities, business, and the professions.  Under circumstances approved by the Board, honorary degrees may be awarded to persons who, though they have not achieved national or statewide recognition, have made an especially outstanding and significant contribution to Montclair State University or to higher education.

B. Procedure

  • The University Senate shall establish a representative committee that shall recommend to the President honorary degree recipients from nominations by Board members, faculty, students, staff, alumni, and others.  The President's recommendations in turn shall be submitted on a confidential basis to the Board of Trustees, at least four months prior to Commencement and at least one month prior to other special occasions.  The recommendations shall include written information on each candidate's record of achievements and significant relationship, if any, with Montclair State University, higher education, or the state of New Jersey.

C. Restrictions

  • Members of the Board of Trustees, employees of Montclair State University, and members and employees of the Commission on Higher Education are ineligible during the term of their office or employment.  No degrees shall be awarded in absentia. 

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