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Honorary Degrees

“We will be judged not by our degrees, but by our lives.”

—Father Hesburgh, in his 1962 Baccalaureate Address at Saint Mary's College

Considered one of the most influential figures in higher education of the 20th century, Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., was invited to deliver commencement addresses from coast to coast and even overseas in more than a dozen countries. He held honorary degrees from seven of the eight Ivy League schools—and Cornell University does not grant honorary degrees. With 150 honorary degrees from both private and public colleges and universities across the nation and the world, Father Hesburgh held the record for most degrees ever awarded to one person.

2000–present

  • University of Saint Francis, Fort Wayne, Indiana, 2000
  • Holy Cross College, Notre Dame, Indiana, 2000
  • Saint Peter’s College, Jersey City, New Jersey, 2000
  • North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, 2000
  • St. Edward’s University, Austin, Texas, 2001
  • Georgian Court College, Lakewood, New Jersey, 2001
  • Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, 2002
  • Ivy Tech State College, South Bend, Indiana, 2002
  • University of San Diego, San Diego, California, 2002

1990–99

  • Loras College, Dubuque, Iowa, 1990
  • The Defiance College, Defiance, Ohio, 1990
  • Saint Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota, 1990
  • George Washington University, Washington, D.C., 1991
  • Our Lady of Holy Cross College, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1991
  • Gannon University, Erie, Pennsylvania, 1992
  • Mount Mercy College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 1993
  • Notre Dame College, Manchester, New Hampshire, 1993
  • Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 1993
  • Marian College, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1994
  • Avila College, Kansas City, Missouri, 1994
  • North Park College, Chicago, Illinois, 1995
  • Saint Vincent College, Latrobe, Pennsylvania, 1996
  • College of Saint Francis, Joliet, Illinois, 1996
  • Albertus Magnus College, New Haven, Connecticut, 1996
  • University of Notre Dame Australia, Fremantle, Australia, 1997
  • The College of Saint Rose, Albany, New York, 1997
  • The University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, 1998
  • Touro College Law Center, Huntington, New York, 1998
  • Barry University, Miami Shores, Florida, 1998
  • State University of New York, Institute of Technology at Utica/Rome, New York, 1999
  • Connecticut College, New London, Connecticut, 1999

1980–89

  • College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia, 1980
  • The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, 1980
  • Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey, 1980
  • Tuskegee Institute, Tuskegee, Alabama, 1980
  • Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, 1980
  • University of San Diego, San Diego, California, 1980
  • Incarnate World College, San Antonio, Texas, 1980
  • St. John Fisher College, Rochester, New York, 1981
  • Seattle University, Seattle, Washington, 1981
  • University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio, 1981
  • Saint Ambrose College, Davenport, Iowa, 1981
  • University of Scranton, Scranton, Pennsylvania, 1981
  • University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1981
  • University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1981
  • Hope College, Holland, Michigan, 1981
  • University of Brasilia, Brazil, 1981
  • New York University, New York, New York, 1982
  • Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana, 1982
  • Madonna College, Livonia, Michigan, 1982
  • Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, California, 1982
  • Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1982
  • Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 1982
  • Loretto Heights College, Denver, Colorado, 1982
  • Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 1982
  • Ramkhamhaeng University, Bangkok, Thailand, 1983 (in absentia)
  • Saint Joseph’s College, Rensselaer, Indiana, 1983
  • Rider College, Trenton, New Jersey, 1983
  • Colgate University, Hamilton, New York, 1983
  • Immaculate Conception Seminary, Darlington, New Jersey, 1983
  • St. Leo’s College, St. Leo, Florida, 1984
  • West Virginia Wesleyan College, Buckhannon, West Virginia, 1984
  • University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, 1984
  • Carroll College, Helena, Montana, 1985
  • College of Mount St. Joseph, Mount St. Joseph, Ohio, 1985
  • Holy Family College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1985
  • Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, 1985
  • Christian Brothers College, Memphis, Tennessee, 1985
  • St. Thomas University, Fredericton, New Brunswick, 1985
  • Walsh College, Canton, Ohio, 1985
  • Briar Cliff College, Sioux City, Iowa, 1986
  • Aquinas College, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1986
  • University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska, 1986
  • University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1987
  • Universidad Francisco Marroquin, Guatemala la Asuncion, Guatemala, 1987
  • University of Malta, Valletta, Malta, 1988
  • Rockhurst College, Kansas City, Missouri, 1988
  • Wheeling Jesuit College, Wheeling, West Virginia, 1989
  • Loyola University, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1989
  • Mount Saint Mary’s College, Emmitsburg, Maryland, 1989
  • Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, 1989

1970–79

  • Loyola University, Chicago, Illinois, 1970
  • Anderson College, Anderson, Indiana, 1970
  • State University of New York, Albany, New York, 1970
  • Utah State University, Logan, Utah, 1971
  • Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 1971
  • Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, 1971
  • King’s College, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, 1972
  • Stonehill College, North Easton, Massachusetts, 1972
  • Alma College, Alma, Michigan, 1972
  • Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, 1973
  • Marymount College, Tarrytown, New York, 1973
  • Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, New York, 1973
  • Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1973
  • Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1973
  • Regis College, Denver, Colorado, 1974
  • Lincoln University, Lincoln University, Pennsylvania, 1974
  • Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, 1974
  • The University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee, 1974
  • University of Portland, Portland, Oregon, 1975
  • Fairfield University, Fairfield, Connecticut, 1975
  • Davidson College, Davidson, North Carolina, 1976
  • College of New Rochelle, New Rochelle, New York, 1976
  • University of Denver, Denver, Colorado, 1976
  • Beloit College, Beloit, Wisconsin, 1976
  • Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 1977
  • Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., 1977
  • Queens College, Flushing, New York, 1977
  • Laval University, Quebec, Canada, 1977
  • Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, February 1978
  • University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, 1978
  • University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1978
  • Universite’ Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, September 1978
  • Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1978
  • St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, 1978
  • University of Evansville, Evansville, Indiana, 1979
  • Albion College, Albion, Michigan, 1979
  • University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1979
  • Assumption College, Worcester, Massachusetts, 1979

1960–69

  • University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island, 1960
  • Columbia University, New York, New York, 1961
  • Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, 1961
  • Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, 1962
  • Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, 1962
  • Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, 1963
  • Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania, 1963
  • Honorary Citizen, University of Vienna, Austria, 1965
  • University of California, Los Angeles, California, 1965
  • St. Louis University, Baguio City, Philippines, 1965
  • Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington, 1965
  • Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1965
  • University of Montreal, Canada, 1965
  • University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, 1966
  • Atlanta University, Atlanta, Georgia, 1966
  • Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Indiana, 1966
  • Fordham University, Bronx, New York, 1967
  • Manchester College, North Manchester, Indiana, 1967
  • Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Indiana, 1967
  • Providence College, Providence, Rhode Island, 1968
  • University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 1968
  • Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 1968
  • Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana, 1969
  • Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, Missouri, 1969
  • Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., 1969

1954–59

  • Le Moyne College, Syracuse, New York, 1954
  • Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois, 1955
  • Catholic University of Santiago, Chile, 1956
  • St. Benedict’s College, Kansas, 1958
  • Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania, 1958
  • Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, 1958

Selected Photos