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.
Bryan Stevenson
Public interest lawyer and author; Founder and Executive Director, The Equal Justice Initiative which in 2018 created the Legacy Museum and National Memorial for Peace and Justice
Commencement Speaker and Honorary Doctor of Laws
Jon Bon Jovi
Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, founder of the band Bon Jovi; Chair, Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation; 2018 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee
Honorary Doctor of Music
Temple Grandin
Advocate, public speaker, and author; Professor of Animal Science, Colorado State University
Honorary Doctor of Sciences
Richard Lugar
Six-term United States Senator (retired); President, The Lugar Center; Recipient, Presidential Medal of Freedom
Honorary Doctor of Laws
Denis Mukwege
Gynecological surgeon and human rights activist; Founder, Panzi Hospital and the Panzi Foundation; 2018 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
Honorary Doctor of Sciences
Laurie Olin
Landscape architect, teacher, and author; Practice Professor of Landscape Architecture (retired), School of Design, University of Pennsylvania; Recipient, National Medal of Arts
Honorary Doctor of Arts
Neville Strumpf
Advocate and expert in care of older adults; Professor of Nursing (retired) and Interim Dean, 2000-2001, School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania
Honorary Doctor of Sciences
Jill Cornell Tarter
Astronomer; Former Director, Center for SETI Research; Bernard M. Oliver Chair, SETI Institute
Honorary Doctor of Sciences
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