Honorary Degrees Awarded

Morgan College

1917
Carrington L. Davis Master of Arts
John T. Fletcher Master of Arts
Mason A. Hawkins Master of Arts
John W. Jewett Master of Arts
Charles A. Johnson Master of Arts
Charles H. Johnson Master of Arts
Storer S. Jolley Master of Arts
Mary R. Kiah Master of Arts
Lee M. McCoy Master of Arts
George W. F. McMechen Master of Arts
William A. T. Miles Master of Arts
Theophileus R. Parker Master of Arts

1920
W. Sampson Brooks, Doctor of Laws
Matthew S. Clair, Sr. Doctor of Laws
John W. Gandy Doctor of Pedagogy
Thomas H. Kiah Doctor of Pedagogy

1922
McHenry J. Naylor Doctor of Divinity
John H. Nutter Doctor of Divinity

 1923
William A. C. Hughes, Sr. Doctor of Divinity
Charles G. Cummings Doctor of Divinity

1924
Joseph L. Jenkins Doctor of Divinity
William A. Warfield Doctor of Science

1925
James M. King Doctor of Divinity
David E. Skelton Doctor of Divinity

1926
John T. Gibson Doctor of Laws
Matthew Henson Master of Science
Joseph H. Lockerman Doctor of Pedagogy

1929
William F. Crockett Doctor of Laws
S. Bernard Hughes Doctor of Science
Samuel H. Sweeney Doctor of Divinity

1930
George E. Corry Doctor of Divinity
Charles A. Tindley Doctor of Divinity

1931
Erasmus L. Baskerville Doctor of Divinity
Robert F. Coates Doctor of Divinity
Frederick J. Hendy Doctor of Divinity
Francis M. Wood Doctor of Pedagogy

1932
J. Raymond Brown Doctor of Divinity
Julius S. Carroll, Sr. Doctor of Divinity
Albert J. Mitchell Doctor of Divinity

1934
Matthew W. Clair, Jr. Doctor of Divinity
John S. German Doctor of Divinity
Fairfax F. King Doctor of Divinity
Edgar C. Young Doctor of Divinity

1935
James W. Jewett Doctor of Divinity
Edgar A. Love Doctor of Divinity
John W. Scott Doctor of Education
Garnett C. Wilkerson Doctor of Education

1936
John R. Bowman Doctor of Education
William W. Davis Doctor of Divinity
G. David Houston Doctor of Education

1937
Charles W. Baldwin Doctor of Humane Letters
Robert E. Jones Doctor of Humane Letters
Edmund B. Trotman Doctor of Divinity

1938
James D. Browne Doctor of Divinity
Samuel J. Horsey Doctor of Divinity

Morgan State College

1939
Leslie Pinckney Hill Doctor of Laws
Zora Neale Hurston Doctor of Literature
C. F. Abram Otley Doctor of Literature

1940
Jane M. Bolin Doctor of Laws
Eugene A. Clark Doctor of Education
George B. Murphy Doctor of Laws
Harold L. Trigg Doctor of Education

1950
Elmer A. Henderson, Sr. Doctor of Laws
Percy L. Julian Doctor of Science

1951
Ralph J. Bunche Doctor of Laws
Carrington L. Davis Doctor of Laws
William Levi Dawson Doctor of Laws
Theodore R. McKeldin Doctor of Laws

1952
John W. Davis Doctor of Laws
Dwight O. W. Holmes Doctor of Laws
Thurgood Marshall Doctor of Laws
Herbert Romulus O’Connor Doctor of Laws

1953
Houston R. Jackson Doctor of Laws
William P. Lane Doctor of Laws
Morris A. Soper Doctor of Laws
Furman L. Templeton Doctor of Laws

1954
Bliss Forbush Doctor of Laws
Charles H. Thompson Doctor of Laws
Phillip B. Perlman Doctor of Laws
Thomas G. Pullen, Jr. Doctor of Laws
Clarence L. Simpson Doctor of Laws

1955
John Henry Fischer Doctor of Laws
Simon E. Sobeloff Doctor of Laws
Charles E. Cornish Doctor of Laws
Branch Rickey Doctor of Laws
E. Franklin Frazier Doctor of Laws

1956
Ambrose Caliver Doctor of Laws
Norbert R. Davidson Doctor of Laws
William H. Hastie Doctor of Laws
Lillie May Jackson Doctor of Laws

1957
Marion Anderson Doctor of Laws
Milton S. Eisenhower Doctor of Laws
George W. F. McMechen Doctor of Laws
Lewis M. Stevens Doctor of Laws

1958
Helen Gray Edmonds Doctor of Laws
Martin Luther King, Jr. Doctor of Laws
Walter Sondheim, Jr. Doctor of Laws
Jacob Blaustein Doctor of Laws

1959
Harry Bard Doctor of Laws
Benjamin Oliver Davis, Sr. Doctor of Laws
William Lafayette Fitzgerald Doctor of Laws
Asa Philip Randolph Doctor of Laws

1960
W. E. B. Du Bois Doctor of Laws
Willard W. Allen Doctor of Laws
John Hope Franklin Doctor of Laws
Harold A. Stevens Doctor of Laws
J. Millard Tawes Doctor of Laws

1961
L. Manuel Hender Doctor of Laws
Sidney Hollander, Sr. Doctor of Humanities
Noah Watson Moore Doctor of Laws
Asa T. Spaulding Doctor of Business Administration
H. Milton Wagner Doctor of Laws
Charles H. Wesley Doctor of Pedagogy

1962
Carl F. Hanson Doctor of Humane Letters
Robert C. Weaver Doctor of Laws
Edward N. Wilson Doctor of Laws
Ralph J. Young Doctor of Laws

1963
Kenneth B. Clark Doctor of Laws
Benjamin Oliver Davis Doctor of Laws
John Wilfred Haywood, Sr. Doctor of Humane Letters
Lawrence Cardinal Shehan Doctor of Laws
Clifton Reginald Wharton Doctor of Civil Law
Roy Wilkens Doctor of Social Science

1964
Eugene Carton Blake Doctor of Laws
W. Montague Cobb Doctor of Laws
Nathaniel Adams Cole Doctor of Fine Arts
Eleanor D. Corner Doctor of Humanities
Edward R. Dudley Doctor of Civil Law
James Farmer Doctor of Humanities
Herbert M. Frisby Doctor of Laws
Carl T. Rowan Doctor of Public Administration

1965
Whitney M. Young, Jr. Doctor of Humanities
William Leo Hansberry Doctor of Literature
Stephen J. Wright Doctor of Laws
Cedric Earl Mills Doctor of Sacred Theology
William Edward Henry Doctor of Laws
Mary Baskerville Brooks Doctor of Pedagogy

1966
Adelyn Dohme Breeskin Doctor of Fine Arts
John Wesley Lord Doctor of Sacred Theology
Constance Baker Motley Doctor of Laws
James M. Nabrit, Jr. Doctor of Laws
Arthur J. Payne Doctor of Sacred Theology

Centennial Celebration

1967
Edward Kennedy Ellington Doctor of Music
Benjamin E. Mays Doctor of Laws
Samuel M. Nabrit Doctor of Laws
Spiro T. Agnew Doctor of Laws
Patricia R. Harris Doctor of Laws
Edward G. Carroll Doctor of Laws
Fred I. Archibald Doctor of Laws
Clarence Mitchell, Jr. Doctor of Laws
John T. Williams Doctor of Laws

1968
Bentley Glass Doctor of Laws
Samuel Lloyd Myers Doctor of Laws
James Wilson Rouse Doctor of Laws
Merze Tate Doctor of Laws
Hale Aspacio Woodruff Doctor of Fine Arts

1969
Arna Bontemps Doctor of Humane Letters
Thomas J. D’Alesandro, III Doctor of Laws
Percy Ellis Sutton Doctor of Laws

1970
Edward Paulette Hurt Doctor of Laws
Martin David Jenkins Doctor of Humane Letters
Coretta Scott king Doctor of Laws

1971
Julian Bond Doctor of Laws
Ramsey Clark Doctor of Laws
Marvin Mandel Doctor of Laws
Melvin H. Evans Doctor of Humane Letters

1972
Joseph C. Howard Doctor of Laws
Jesse L. Jackson Doctor of Humane Letters

1973
Louis L. Goldstein Doctor of Laws
Parren James Mitchell Doctor of Humane Letters
Earl G. Graves Doctor of Laws

1974
Robert Bernard Watts Doctor of Laws
Benjamin Arthur Quarles Doctor of Humane Letters

1975
Harry Augustus Cole Doctor of Laws
Gerald Hough Trautman Doctor of Laws
Benjamin Franklin Payton Doctor of Humane Letters
Thomas Petigru Fraser Doctor of Science

Morgan State University

1976
Verda Freeman Welcome Doctor of Laws
Margaret Walker Alexander Doctor of Humane Letters
Howard Lee Cornish Doctor of Humane Letters
Elizabeth Murphy Moss Doctor of Humane Letters
Steven Muller Doctor of Humane Letters
Henry Green Parks, Jr. Doctor of Humane Letters

1977
Andrew J. Young Doctor of Humane Letters
Margaret Bush Wilson Doctor of Laws

1978
Clifford Leopold Alexander, Jr. Doctor of Laws
Otis Milton Smith Doctor of Laws
Ernesta Gertrude Procope Doctor of Humane Letters

1979
Cicely Tyson Doctor of Humane Letters
Robert C. Embry, Jr. Doctor of Laws
James Hubert Blake Doctor of Music
Chloe Anthony Morrison Doctor of Literature

1980
W. Wilson Goode Doctor of Humane Letters
Hugh Morris Gloster Doctor of Humane Letters
Clarence W. Blount Doctor of Laws

1981
Lerone Bennett, Jr. Doctor of Humane Letters
Lillian L. Adler Doctor of Humane Letters
Abraham M. Adler Doctor of Humane Letters
Hazel Winifred Johnson Doctor of Humanities

1982
Max Robinson Doctor of Humane Letters

1983
William Donald Schaefer Doctor of Laws
Emmanuel C. Iwauanyanwu Doctor of Engineering Science
Emmanuel Chukwuma Nnama Doctor of Engineering Science
Joseph “Joe” Black, Jr. Doctor of Professional Studies

1984
A. Leon Higgenbotham, Jr. Doctor of Humane Letters
Guion S. Bluford Doctor of Engineering Science
Juanita Jackson Mitchell Doctor of Laws

1985
Juanita Kidd Stout Doctor of Laws

1986
Terrence A. Todman Doctor of Public Administration
Cabell “Cab” Calloway Doctor of Fine Arts

1987
Benjamin Lawson Hooks Doctor of Humane Letters
Harry Roe Hughes Doctor of Laws

1988
Kurt Lidell Schmoke Doctor of Laws
Luna Isaac Mishoe Doctor of Laws
Reginald F. Lewis Doctor of Laws

1989
Hughlyn F. Fierce Doctor of Laws
Kweisi Mfume Doctor of Laws

1990
Barbara A. Mikulski Doctor of Laws
Kenneth I. Chenault Doctor of Laws

1991
Jester J. Hairston * Doctor of Music
Enolia McMillan Doctor of Laws
Maxine Waters (CS) Doctor of Laws

1992
Carolyn Reid-Wallace Doctor of Laws
Bernard C. Watson * Doctor of Laws

1993
Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. Doctor of Laws
Elizabeth Catlett Doctor of Humane Letters

1994
Charles L. Benton Doctor of Laws
Benjamin S. Carson, Sr. Doctor of Science
August Wilson Doctor of Humane Letters

1995
James Howard Gilliam, Jr. Doctor of Laws
Samuel H. Lacy, Sr. Doctor of Laws
Corlis L. Moody Doctor of Public Administration

1996
Francis Wheatley Gates Doctor of Laws
Robert M. Bell Doctor of Laws
Peter R. Kann Doctor of Literature
Randall Robinson Doctor of Laws

1997
President William Jefferson Clinton Doctor of Laws
Alexis M. Herman * Doctor of Laws
Richard N. Dixon Doctor of Laws
Levi Watkins, Jr. Doctor of Science

1998
Rodney E. Slater Doctor of Laws
Shirley M. McBay Doctor of Laws
Steven David Dorfman Doctor of Science
Elijah Saunders Doctor of Science
Robert Benjamin Johnson * Doctor of Public Service

1999
Paul Spyros Sarbanes Doctor of Laws
William L. Jews Doctor of Laws

2000
Gen. Larry Rudell Ellis Doctor of Laws
The Honorable Robert L. Mallett Doctor of Laws
Samuel Thornton Daniels Doctor of Public Service
Richard Ishmael McKinney Doctor of Humane Letters

2001
Mayor Willie L. Brown, II Doctor of Laws
Dr. Carla Diane Hayden Doctor of Humane Letters
Rev. Marion Curtis Bascom Doctor of Public Service

2002
Stacey Helene Davis Doctor of Public Service
Dr. John Brooks Slaughter Doctor of Science

2003
Charles Michael Cawley Doctor of Laws
Hon. Michael Stephen Steele Doctor of Laws

2004
Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie Doctor of Laws
Harlow Fullwood, Jr. Doctor of Public Service
Calvin Tyler, Jr. Doctor of Laws

2005
Hon. James E. Clyburn Doctor of Public Service
Tyrone D. Taborn Doctor of Public Service

2006
Hon. Elijah E. Cummings Doctor of Laws
Victorine Quille Adams Doctor of Public Service
D. James Baker Doctor of Science
Bishop John R. Bryant Doctor of Humane Letters

2007
Hon. Pamela E. Bridgewater Doctor of Public Service
Catherine Liggins Hughes Doctor of Public Service
Gen. William E. “Kip” Ward Doctor of Public Service

2008
James L. Fisher Doctor of Laws
Loida Nicholas Lewis Doctor of Laws
Gloria Richardson Doctor of Laws

2009
Benjamin Todd Jealous Doctor of Public Service

2010
Linda Gooden Doctor of Laws
Valerie Jarrett Doctor of Laws
Earl S. Richardson Doctor of Laws
Sheila B. Richardson Doctor of Public Service
H. D e Wayne Whittington Doctor of Laws

2011
Eddie C. Brown Doctor of Public Service
Henrietta Lacks (posthumously) Doctor of Public Service
Ruth Simmons Doctor of Humane Letters

2012
Larry Gibson Doctor of Laws
Shirley Ann Jackson Doctor of Science
H. E. Tebelelo Mazile Seretse Doctor of Laws

2013
MAY
Hon. Arne Duncan Doctor of Humane Letters
Hon. Fred David Gray Doctor of Humane Letters
Hon. Charles Vert Willie Doctor of Humane Letters

DECEMBER
Byron Pitts Doctor of Humane Letters

2014
MAY
Calvin G. Butler, Jr. Doctor of Humane Letters
Eric H. Holder, Jr.
(Brown v. Board of Education 60th Anniversary Commemoration Speaker) Doctor of Laws
Sylvester James Gates, Jr. Doctor of Science
Joseph T. Jones, Jr. Doctor of Public Service

NOVEMBER (FOUNDER’S DAY)
Carl J. Murphy (posthumously) Doctor of Humane Letters

DECEMBER
Hon. Carolyn W. Colvin Doctor of Public Service

2015
MAY
Graça Simbine Machel Doctor of Public Service
Nelson Mandela (posthumously) Doctor of Humane Letters
James Edward Maceo West Doctor of Science

DECEMBER
Autherine Lucy Foster Doctor of Public Service
Morgan Student Civil Rights Pioneers (Group) Doctor of Laws
Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. (Presidential Citation— Distinguished Achievement Award)

2016
MAY
Kevin Liles Doctor of Laws
Hon. Nancy Pelosi Doctor of Public Service

SESQUICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION - DECEMBER
Willie E. Lanier, Sr. Doctor of Laws

2017
SESQUICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION - MAY
C. Sylvia Brown Doctor of Public Service
Sheldon Goldseker Doctor of Public Service
April Ryan Doctor of Laws
Hon. Joseph Biden Doctor of Public Service

SESQUICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION - DECEMBER
Hon. Boyd K. Rutherford Doctor of Public Service
John Emory Round (posthumously) Doctor of Laws
William Frysinger (posthumously) Doctor of Laws
Francis Wagner (posthumously) Doctor of Laws
John Oakley Spencer (posthumously) Doctor of Laws
King Virgil Cheek Doctor of Laws
Andrew Billingsley Doctor of Laws

2018
MAY
Stanley Nelson Doctor of Humane Letters
Gloria Ladson-Billings Doctor of Laws
Tom Joyner Doctor of Laws

DECEMBER
Hon. Elizabeth Warren Doctor of Laws
Clara I. Adams Doctor of Laws
Eugene M. DeLoatch Doctor of Laws

2019
MAY
William C. Rhoden Doctor of Humane Letters

DECEMBER
Jesse Eugene Russell Doctor of Science

2021
MAY
Michael V. Drake, M.D. Doctor of Laws
Lonnie Liston Smith Doctor of Fine Arts

2022
MAY
David E. Talbert Doctor of Fine Arts
David Burton Doctor of Humane Letters
Colin Kaepernick Doctor of Humane Letters

DECEMBER
Gov. Elect Wes Moore Doctor of Humane Letters
Adrienne A. Jones Doctor of Humane Letters
Melvin Miles Jr. Doctor of Fine Arts

2023
MAY
Benjamin L. Crump Doctor of Laws
Ruthe T. Sheffey Doctor of Humane Letters

DECEMBER
Kim Godwin Doctor of Public Service
Larry Hogan Doctor of Public Service
George A. Pruitt Doctor of Humane Letters

2024
MAY
Sir Samuel Esson Jonah Doctor of Engineering
Valerie LaVerne Thomas Doctor of Science

DECEMBER
Mayor Ed Gainey Doctor of Public Service
Mary Elaine Proctor Blackwell Doctor of Public Service

2025
MAY
Thasunda Brown Duckett Doctor of Laws
Juan E. Gilbert Doctor of Science
Burney J. Hollis Doctor of Humane Letters