Honorary Degree Recipients, 1951–75
| Recipient | Year/Degree | Notability |
|---|---|---|
| 1952 LL.D. | Thomas J. Watson was a business executive and industrial leader who served as the president of International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) from 1919 to 1951, building IBM into one of the major American corporate manufacturers. | |
| S. Kendrick Guernsey | 1952 D.C.S. | Kendrick Guernsey was the former international president of Rotary International and a vice president of Gulf Life Insurance Company for more than twenty years. |
| James C. Downs, Jr. | 1952 D.C.S. | James C. Downs, Jr. was a banker, author, lecturer, real estate economist, and senior partner of Downs, Mohl and Co. of Chicago, Illinois. |
| Boyd Henry Bode | 1953 LL.D. | Boyd Henry Bode was an internationally renowned philosopher, educator, constructive critic and author who was a professor of philosophy at the University of Wisconsin and the University of Illinois, and a professor of education at Ohio State University. Bode emphasized the vital contribution of public education and publicly supported schools should to the success of democratic government. |
| Alvin C. Eurich | 1953 L.H.D. | Alvin C. Eurich was a former president of Northwestern University and State University of New York. Exponent of general education for maintenance of a free society. Vice president, Fund for Advancement of Education, Ford Foundation. |
| Arthur Andrew Hauck | 1953 L.H.D. | President of the University of Maine for almost twenty years. Eminent educator and administrator. |
| John A. Hannah | 1953 L.H.D. | Former president of Michigan State College (now Michigan State University). An internationally known agricultural specialist, distinguished educator, statesman. Former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Personnel. |
| Virgil Melvin Hancher | 1953 D.C.L. | Professor of law and president of State University of Iowa (now known as the University of Iowa). Attorney, educator, administrator, humanitarian. Member of many learned societies. |
| Millard Fillmore Caldwell | 1953 LL.D. | Florida's twenty-eighth governor. Legislator, statesman, student of international affairs, tireless worker for higher educational standards in the South. Contributor to civic betterment, national safety. |
| Spessard Holland | 1953 D.C.L. | LL.B., University of Florida, 1916. First president of combined university student body. First native son to serve as Governor and U.S. Senator. Well known for contributions to law, education, finance and public works. |
| 1953 D.Sc. | Vice president and director, General Motors Corp. Outstanding inventor, engineer, theoretical scientist, industrialist, philanthropist and humanitarian. | |
| 1953 Litt.D. | John J. Tigert was the third president of the University of Florida (1928–47). He was previously president of Kentucky Wesleyan College, a professor of philosophy and psychology, athletic director, and head basketball and football coach at the University of Kentucky, and U.S. Commissioner of Education (1921–28). Tigert served longer than any other University of Florida president, and in his nineteen years as president, "Big John" was responsible for numerous academic, athletic and administrative reforms. Tigert was also a member of the College Football Hall of Fame. | |
| Turner Zeigler Cason | 1953 D.Sc. | B.S., University of Florida, 1908. Known for his efforts to develop a medical center at the university. A great leader in the medical profession of Florida. |
| Walter Clifton Payne | 1953 D.Sc. | Served the people of Florida since 1914. Past president of the Florida Medical Association, member of its Board of Governors and Chairman of the Board. Known to all about him as a warm friend, patriotic citizen, eminent scientist and wise counselor. |
| Warren Wilson Quillian | 1953 D.Sc. | Nationally influential leader in pediatrics, humanitarian. Contributed many articles to medical and scientific journals. |
| William Thomas Sanger | 1953 D.Sc. | President of the Medical College of Virginia. Inspiring leader in advancing medical education in South. |
| William Clark Thomas | 1953 D.Sc. | Respected physician known for kindly guidance and counsel. Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS) and American Academy of Obstetrics and Gynecology. |
| Mark D. Hollis | 1956 D.Sc. | Chief engineer, U.S. Public Health Service, Assistant U.S. Surgeon General. Outstanding engineer and administrator in field of environmental health. |
| Arthur S. Adams | 1956 LL.D. | President, American Council on Education. Prominent in fields of science and education and in military service as a U.S. Navy officer. |
| Thomas Wesley Bryant | 1956 LL.D. | Earned both his bachelor's and law degrees at University of Florida. Outstanding student and loyal alumnus. Patriot, lawyer, leader and sportsman. |
| Harold Raymond Medina | 1956 D.C.L. | Federal judge for the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York; later, appellate judge of the United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit. Well-known educator and jurist |
| William F. Callander | 1958 D.Sc. | Outstanding educator and administrator in field of statistics. Interim director of Statistical Laboratory at University of Florida, and continued as consultant after 1953 retirement. |
| 1960 Litt.D. | Robert Frost was a well-known and respected American poet, and a long-time friend and patron of the University of Florida. | |
| William A. Shands | 1960 LL.D. | William A. Shands was a native son of Florida, legislative leader, statesman, churchman, and farmer. Shands was an eighteen-year member of the Florida Senate, and served as the senate president in 1949. He was a forceful advocate for the state's creation of the University of Florida Health Science Center. |
| Louis McDonald Orr | 1960 D.Sc. | Louis McDonald Orr was an internationally known physician, surgeon, medical statesman and researcher, philanthropist, and churchman. He was awarded the Bronze Star for service as a colonel in the U.S. Army Medical Corps during World War II. Orr established and operated the Louis M. Orr Foundation for Cancer Research. |
| 1961 LL.D. | LL.B., University of Florida, 1938. George Smathers was a U.S. Representative from 1947 to 1951, and a U.S. Senator from Florida from 1951 to 1969. Smathers was recognized as one of the U.S. Congress' experts on Latin American affairs. Later, Smathers made a $20 million contribution to the endowment of the university's libraries. | |
| 1963 LL.D. | James E. Webb served as the second Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), from 1961 to 1968, during the critical years of the U.S. manned spaceflight program . Webb was a lawyer, industrialist, educator, administrator, and leader in space sciences. | |
| Ulysses S. Gordon | 1963 D.H.L. | Honorary D.D., University of Florida, 1930. Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Distinguished pastor, teacher, public servant and friend of the university. |
| William L. Thompson | 1963 D.Sc. | Served on State Plant Board; 37 years with Agricultural Experiment Stations of University; retired as Entomologist Emeritus; eminent in citrus industry; author. |
| Robert A. Gray | 1964 LL.D. | Author, educator, civic leader and statesman. Florida's Secretary of State, 1930-1961. |
| J. George Harrar | 1964 D.Sc. | President, Rockefeller Foundation. Taught at University of Puerto Rico, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and Washington State College. Received Certificate for Meritorious Leadership in Agriculture from UF, 1950. |
| Ruth S. Wedgworth | 1965 LL.D. | Ruth S. Wedgworth was a businesswoman, farmer, civic and church leader. She was instrumental in developing the Everglades as an important farming area, and was chosen "Woman of the Year in Service to Florida Rural Progress." Wedgworth was the only woman to serve as the president of the Florida Horticulture Society. |
| 1965 LL.D. | Lewis F. Powell, Jr. was an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, and the president of the American Bar Association. | |
| Olin E. Watts | 1966 LL.D. | Lawyer, civic leader, businessman. Chairman, National Conference of Bar Examiners; Chairman, Legal Education and Admission to the Bar Section of the American Bar Association. |
| Clyde O. Anderson | 1966 LL.D. | Physician, medical statesman, philanthropist, counselor. Received A.H. Robins Award of the Florida Medical Association 1965. President Alumni Association and University of Florida Foundation, Inc. Served on original Advisory Committee to J. Hillis Miller Health Center. Received Significant Alumni Award from UF, 1957. |
| William Shepherd Dix | 1967 LL.D. | Librarian, national leader in information retrieval. |
| Frank A. Doggett | 1967 Litt.D. | Outstanding high school principal; literary scholar; author of special note. |
| 1967 L.H.D. | J. Wayne Reitz was the fifth president of the University of Florida, serving for twelve years from 1955 to 1967. Reitz oversaw the peaceful integration of the university, and the expansion of its student body and physical plant during a period of rapid growth. | |
| David B. Lee | 1968 D.Sc. | Made great strides in malaria control. Upgraded sanitary engineering development in Florida; pioneer in pollution control. |
| Wallace O. Duvall | 1968 LL.D. | Leadership in savings and loan industry. |
| Robert B. Mautz | 1968 L.H.D. | Robert B. Mautz was the Vice President of Academic Affairs at the University of Florida, before being appointed the Chancellor of the Board of Regents of State University System of Florida |
| Harold Sebring | 1968 LL.D. | Harold Sebring was the head coach of the Florida Gators football team from 1925 to 1927, while attending the university's College of Law. Sebring served as a justice of the Florida Supreme Court, an American judge at the Nuremburg Trials, and dean of the Stetson University College of Law. Sebring graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Laws degree (LL.B.) in 1928. |
| Edith B. Tigert]] | 1968 D.H.L. | Edith Bristol Tigert was the wife of former University of Florida President John J. Tigert, and served as first lady of the University of Florida for nineteen years from 1928 to 1947. |
| J. Patrick O'Mahoney | 1968 D.D. | Catholic clergyman and personal counselor to Stephen C. O'Connell, the sixth president of the University of Florida. |
| 1968 LL.D. | President of Indiana University; educator; lawyer and public administrator. | |
| Jack K. Williams | 1968 LL.D. | Educator; public administrator; Commissioner of Public Higher Education in Texas; University of Tennessee vice president. |
| Lester R. Dragstedt | 1969 D.Sc. | Research Professor of Surgery, UF. |
| Robert Colder Beaty | 1969 L.H.D. | Director of National Youth Administration in Florida; Dean of Students, Dean of Men, Dean of Student Personnel, and Director of Alumni Loyalty Fund, University of Florida. |
| 1969 D.Sc. | George Low was a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) senior manager, and held such positions as the Director of Spacecraft and Flight Missions, NASA Deputy Director in Houston, Texas, and Manager of the Apollo Spacecraft Program Office. | |
| George W. Gore Jr. | 1969 Litt.D. | George W. Gore, Jr. was the former president of Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in Tallahassee, Florida. |
| 1969 D.Sc. | Shared the 1968 Nobel Prize in medicine and physiology with two other U.S. scientists. | |
| Harry Melvin Philpott | 1969 LL.D. | University of Florida professor of religion, and president of Auburn University. |
| Charles A. Robertson | 1969 L.H.D. | Professor Emeritus of English and Honorary Curator of Rare Books, University of Florida. |
| 1970 LL.D. | Skillful diplomat and an effective administrator. | |
| Wayne Thomas]] | 1970 D.Sc. | Considered foremost authority on the Florida phosphate mining industry. |
| Andrew Nelson Lytle | 1970 Litt.D. | Writer, teacher and editor of the Sewannee Review. |
| Nell C. Miller | 1970 L.H.D. | Nell Critzer Miller was the wife of J. Hillis Miller, Sr., the fourth president of the University of Florida, and served as the university's first lady for six years from 1947 to 1953. She was also an English teacher, the assistant director for the Wesley Foundation, and the head of the Office of Patient Services at the J. Hillis Miller Health Science Center. |
| John Barkley Rosser | 1970 D.Sc. | Contributor to the field of mathematics and has served as a consultant and panel member for the U.S. Government. Director of the Mathematics Research Center of the U.S. Army at Madison. |
| Mason W. Gross | 1970 LL.D. | President of Rutgers, the State University; Chairman of the National Book Committee, philosopher and writer. |
| 1970 Litt.D. | Red Barber was a noted author, lecturer and radio sports broadcaster. Barber attended the University of Florida from 1929 1931, and worked as announced for Florida Gators football games while he as an undergraduate. | |
| C. Vann Woodward | 1970 Litt.D. | Sterling professor of history, Yale University. Author and lecturer. |
| Walter Langbein | 1971 D.Sc. | Hydraulic engineer, research hydraulic engineer and research hydrologist. |
| 1971 L.H.D. | Publisher, widely known for philanthropies in education and arts. | |
| Helen Nahm | 1971 D.Sc. | Distinguished career in nursing and education. |
| Stephen H. Spurr | 1971 D.Sc. | University of Florida alumnus. A widely known forester, ecologist, educator and resource analyst. Former Vice President and Dean of Graduate Studies at the University of Michigan and the President of the University of Texas at Austin. |
| John C. Slater | 1971 D.Sc. | Author of numerous articles on fundamental nature of atoms, molecules and solids. |
| 1971 LL.D. | Thomas C. Clark was an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1949 to 1967. | |
| Sidney Hook | 1971 L.H.D. | Leading philosopher and educator. |
| 1972 Mus.D. | Outstanding musician and composer. | |
| Nathaniel P. Reed | 1972 D.P.S. | Assistant Secretary of the Department of the Interior for Fish, Wildlife and Parks. |
| Roe Lyle Johns | 1972 D.P.A. | Distinguished UF professor, financial consultant, military officer and author. |
| Chesterfield Smith | 1972 LL.D. | Lawyer, civic leader, statesman, public servant. |
| Frank E. Richart Jr. | 1972 D.Sc. | Distinguished professor and consultant in engineering. |
| Max Lerner | 1972 Litt.D. | Distinguished author, teacher, lecturer. |
| John A. Mulrennan | 1972 D.Sc. | Leading entomogilist; active in public health programs. |
| 1973 LL.D. | Leading educator, state and national public service (former Governor of Pennsylvania). | |
| 1973 LL.D. | LeRoy Collins was the thirty-third governor of Florida, serving from 1955 to 1961, and was later appointed as U.S. Under-Secretary of Commerce by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson. | |
| 1973 D.Sc. | Norman Borlaug won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work as an agricultural scientist, known as "The Apostle of Wheat", with the Rockefeller Foundation. | |
| Julian Goodman | 1973 D.H.L. | Outstanding leadership in communication. |
| John Tracy Ellis | 1973 Litt.D. | Eminent historian and lecturer. |
| J. Broward Culpepper | 1973 Litt.D. | Distinguished educator. |
| Arnold D. Welch | 1973 D.Sc. | Outstanding scientist and researcher. |
| James Alfred Perkins | 1974 Litt.D. | Outstanding scholar and international educator. |
| Linton E. Grinter | 1974 D.Sc. | Outstanding educator and administrator; Dean of the University of Florida Graduate School for seventeen years. |
| William H. Parham | 1974 D.Hlth. | Outstanding health administrator, Executive Vice President, Florida Medical Assn. Adm. |
| 1974 LL.D. | B.S.B.A. & LL.B., University of Florida, 1940. Stephen C. O'Connell was a former chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court (1955–67), and the sixth president of the University of Florida (1967–73). O'Connell guided the university through a tumultuous time of war and civil rights protests and rapid expansion of the student body. | |
| John Atanasoff | 1974 D.Sc. | Distinguished engineer and inventor, invented first electronic digital computer. |
| Robben W. Fleming]] | 1974 D.H.L. | Distinguished educator; President of the University of Michigan; well-known labor arbitrator and attorney. |
| Rae O. Weimer | 1974 Litt.D. | Distinguished journalist, educator and pioneer in Florida journalism and communications, the university's College of Journalism and Communications developed under his direction from 1949 to 1968. |
| Donald T. Campbell | 1975 D.Sc. | Distinguished psychologist and scientist; President of the National Academy of Sciences. |
| Ants Oras | 1975 Litt.D. | Eminent scholar and internationally recognized man of letters; University of Florida Professor Emeritus of English. |
| Paul G. Rogers | 1975 LL.D. | Prominent U.S. Representative from Florida, U.S. Congressional leader on public health matters. |
| 1975 D.Sc. | Scholar, author, researcher and science advisor; developed DDT and eradicated screwworm fly. | |
| Johanna Döbereiner]] | 1975 D.Sc. | Prominent scientist and researcher, working mainly with nitrogen fixing capability of grasses. |
| Ronald S. Berman | 1975 D.H.L. | Scholar, humanist and writer; Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. |
| Chester Howell Ferguson | 1975 LL.D. | Attorney, industrialist and advocate for higher education. |
Read more about this topic: List Of University Of Florida Honorary Degree Recipients
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“It is true that genius takes its rise out of the mountains of rectitude; that all beauty and power which men covet are somehow born out of that Alpine district; that any extraordinary degree of beauty in man or woman involves a moral charm.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)