Honorary Degrees
University of Pennsylvania
Honorary degrees are important statements of Penn's values and aspirations and we strongly encourage your participation in this process.
Honorary Degree Process
The Office of the University Secretary manages the honorary degrees process at Penn.
All members of the University community are welcome to submit nominations. All nominations are confidential and potential nominees should not be contacted directly. Review is ongoing and candidates may ultimately be selected several years after their initial nomination.
The University Council Honorary Degrees Committee, with a membership of faculty, staff and graduate and undergraduate students, is charged with reviewing nominations from the fields of scholarship and academic achievement and advising the Trustee Committee on Honorary Degrees and Awards. The Trustee Committee considers recommendations from the Council Committee as well as other sources and makes final selections.
The list of previous University of Pennsylvania honorary degree recipients.
It is University policy not to consider Penn standing faculty, trustees, or school and center overseers for honorary degrees.
Penn emeritus faculty are eligible to receive honorary degrees through a special nomination process by University Deans.
2018 Commencement Speaker and Honorary Degree Recipient:
Andrea Mitchell, CW’67
Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, NBC News; Host of “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” MSNBC
2018 Commencement Speaker and Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
2018 Honorary Degree Recipient:
Sylvia Earle
Marine biologist, oceanographer, and author; Founder of Mission Blue and the Sylvia Earle Alliance
Honorary Doctor of Sciences
2018 Honorary Degree Recipient:
Freeman Hrabowski
Scholar of education and President, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
2018 Honorary Degree Recipient:
Elihu Katz
Distinguished Trustee Professor Emeritus of Communication, Annenberg School, University of Pennsylvania
Honorary Doctor of Sciences
2018 Honorary Degree Recipient:
Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Music Director, Walter and Leonore Annenberg Chair, Philadelphia Orchestra; Music Director Designate, Metropolitan Opera, New York
Honorary Doctor of Music
2018 Honorary Degree Recipient:
Peggy Noonan
Author, political and cultural commentator; The Wall Street Journal columnist
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
2018 Honorary Degree Recipient:
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
Scholar of American history and the history of women; 300th Anniversary University Professor, Harvard University
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
2018 Honorary Degree Recipient:
Hamdi Ulukaya
Entrepreneur and philanthropist; Founder, Chair, and CEO of Chobani
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Honorary Degree Qualifications
Candidates should exemplify the highest ideals of the University, which seek to educate those who will change the world through innovative scholarship, scientific discovery, artistic creativity and/or societal leadership. Please note that Penn does not offer Honorary Degrees posthumously or in absentia.
Nominations for Honorary Degrees
Nominations should explain how nominees meet the criteria for selection and outline the nominees’ achievements and contributions; Please include as much biographical and other supporting information as possible, but do not contact the nominees. The nomination process is confidential and nominees should not know that they are being considered. We particularly encourage nominations from fields which have not been recognized by the award of honorary degrees in recent years.
For general purposes, field of consideration for honorary degree nominations are as follows:
- Arts and Culture
- Business
- Education
- Entertainment and Media
- Humanities and Social Sciences
- Public Affairs (government, law)
- Scholarship/Academia
- Science, Technology and Medicine
- Other