Honorary Degree Recipients
Haverford College invites distinguished members of society to speak at academic convocations and at commencement. There are three to four honorary degree recipients at commencement, and it is tradition that one of the recipients be a Quaker. The college awards Litt.D, Sci.D, LL.D, D.MA, D.FA, D.H.A honoris causa.
Prominent recipients include:
- 2011: Dikembe Mutombo, Congolese American former NBA basketball player and humanitarian.
- 2010: Bob Herbert, Columnist for The New York Times
- 2008: Anna Deavere Smith, Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-nominated American actress, playwright, and professor
- 2007: Ghebre Selassie Mehreteab, '72, CEO,The NHP Foundation, builder of affordable housing, Barbara Ehrenreich, columnist essayist, and author. Author of Nickel and Dimed
- 2006: Koichiro Matsuura '61, Director-General of UNESCO.
- 2005: Dave Matthews, Grammy-winning lead vocalist and guitarist for the Dave Matthews Band
- 2005: Juan Williams '76, Emmy Award–winning writer, and radio and television correspondent. Senior correspondent of National Public Radio.
- 2004: Jane Goodall, English primatologist, ethologist, and anthropologist.
- 2004: Paul Krugman, American economist and a columnist for The New York Times.
- 2002: Bill Cosby, American actor, comedian, television producer, and activist.
- 2001: Chinua Achebe, Nigerian novelist and poet. Author of Things Fall Apart.
- 2000: Madeleine L'Engle, American writer best known for her children's books, particularly the Newbery Medal-winning A Wrinkle in Time.
- 2000: Edward Said, Palestinian-American literary theorist and outspoken Palestinian activist.
- 2000: Charles V. Willie, Sociologist
- 1999: Daniel Schorr, legendary broadcast journalist
- 1998: Wynton Marsalis, one of the most prominent Jazz musicians of his age
- 1993: Arthur Ashe, prominent African American tennis player and humanatarian. Winner of three Grand Slam titles.
- 1992: Thomas L. Friedman, American journalist, author and a three-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize
- 1991: Dave Barry '69, humorist
- 1991: Catharine MacKinnon, feminist legal scholar
- 1991: Freeman Dyson, physicist and mathematician
- 1989: Audre Lorde, writer, poet, and activist
- 1985: Elie Wiesel, Romania-born American novelist, political activist, and Holocaust survivor. Author of Night.
- 1983: Paul Simon, American singer-songwriter and guitarist of folk-singing duo Simon and Garfunkel
- 1982: Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, former South African politician who has held several government positions and headed the African National Congress' Women's League
- 1981: Rosa Parks, African American civil rights activist
- 1981: Chambon-sur-Lignon, France, Town in France that harbored thousands of Jews during the Holocaust
- 1980: John Royston Coleman, labor economist, author of Blue-Collar Journal, former president
- 1979: Tony Taylor, second baseman and coach.
For a complete list of honorary degree recipients since 1858, visit Haverford's Commencement page.
Read more about this topic: List Of Haverford College People
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