Honorary Degrees Awarded by Drake University

Year

Name

Degree

1884

David R. Dungan
J. D. Greaves
H.A. Reid

A.M.
A.M.
A.M.

1885

LaFayette Higgins

A.B.C.B.

1888

Calvin S. Blackwell
George T. Carpenter (Pres.)

A.M.
LL.D.

1889

William F. Black
Edwin R. Eldredge
Mark L. Bartlett

LL.D.
LL.D.
Mus. D.

1890

H.O. Breeden

LL.D.

1891

B.O. Aylerworth (Pres.)
General F.M. Drake (Trustee)
J.H. Garrison
B.W. Johnson
B.B. Tyler

LL.D.
LL.D.
LL.D.
D.D.
D.D.

1892

D.W. Finlayson
George A. Jewett
D.R. Lucas
W.M. McFarland
R.M. Raines
Lewis Schooler

LL.D.
LL.D.
LL.D.
LL.D.
LL.D.
LL.D.

1893

Henry Sabin
George W. Sweeney

LL.D.
LL.D.

1894

J.H. Hardin

LL.D.

1896

Isaac N. McCash

LL.D.

1898

Edgar Odel Lovett

LL.D.

1899

J.B. Briney
Henry C. Long
Allen B. Philliput

LL.D.
LL.D.
LL.D.

1900

George H. Combs
Charles George Saunders

LL.D.
LL.D.

1901

Morris E. (or Daly) Daily
M.E. Harlan
Charles Reigh Scoville

1902

Eugene C. Sanderson
Bruce E. Shepperd

LL.D.
LL.D.

1904

A.B. Storms
John B. White

LL.D.
LL.D.

1905

Julius Ceasar Martinez

LL.D.

1906

Theodore Perry Shonts
Henry D. McAneney

LL.D.
LL.D.

1909

George H. Combs

LL.D.

1911

Peter Ainslie
C.S. Medbury

D.D.
D.D.

1912

Cleo Madison Chilton

D.D.

1913

Idleman F. Schuyler

D.D

1914

Abram Edward Cory
Frank Garrett

D.D
D.D

1916

George W. Clarke

LL.D.

1917

Paphael Harwood Miller

D.D

1923

Johnson Brigham
Egbert Railey Cockrell

Litt. D.
LL.D.

1924

Edward Scribner Ames

LL.D.

1925

Laurence Marcellus Larson

LL.D.

1926

Alfred John Pearson
Jay Norwood Darling

LL.D.
LL.D.

1928

Shortridge Hardesty
Elmer Ellsworth Snoddy
James John Davis
Samuel James Mathieson

LL.D.
LL.D.
LL.D.
D.D.

1929

John Henry Booth
Jesse Morn Bader

D.D.
D.D.

1930

Philip Fox

LL.D.

1931

Basil Deane Gauntlett
Paul Van Katwijk
David I. McCahill
Jay Walter Woodrow
Ellis Bagley Stouffer
Tracey Corey Drake
Gardner Cowles
Len Dorwin Cartwright
Frank G. Richard
George Alexander Campbell

D. Mus.
D. Mus.
LL.D.
LL.D.
LL.D.
LL.D.
LL.D.
D.D.
D.D.
D.D.

1932

Merlin Hall Aylesworth
Kent Cooper

LL.D.
LL.D.

1933

Henry Scholte Nollen
Oreon Earle Scott
Henry Agard Wallace

LL.D.
LL.D.
LL.D.

1934

John W. Studebaker
Walter J. Cummings
Robertson G. Hunter
Harry Y. Woodrow
Luther Sherman Ross

LL.D.
LL.D.
LL.D.
LL.D.
LL.D.

1935

John Wycliffe Black
Herbert Hoover
William Robinson

*Awarded in Leicester, England at Convocation of World Convention of Disciples of Christ

LL.D. & D.D.
LL.D.
D.D*

1937

Albert William Merrill
William Wesley Waymack
Walter Lippman

LL.D.
LL.D.
LL.D.

1939

Arcule Guilemette Sheasby
Forest Ray Moulton
Cecil Frank Cheverton

D. Mus.
LL.D.
D.D.

1940

Roy Gillispie Blakey
George Horace Gallup
John Edgar Hoover
Clarence Owen Hawley
Kirby Page

LL.D.
LL.D.
LL.D.
D.D.
D.D.

1942

Gardner Cowles, Jr.
J. Arthur Dillinger
S. Grundy Fisher

LL.D.
D.D.
D.D.

1943

Elmer Kelso Higdon
Walter Beniah Zimmerman

D.D.
D.D.

1944

Newell Devin McCombs
Carl Weeks
Paul Gordon Preston
Charles Benson Tupper

LL.D.
Phar. D.
D.D.
D.D.

1945

Earl Vincent Moore
Robert Donald Blue
Hanson Wightman Baldwin
Marvin O. Sansbury
Glen McRae

D.F.A.
LL.D.
Litt. D.
D.D.
D.D.

1946

Frank Harold Spedding

LL.D.

1947

Wayne Lyman Morse
Philip Duffield Stong
Willard Morgan Wickizer

LL.D.
LL.D.
D.D.

1948

Eliel Saarinen
Warner Muir
Forest Richeson

LL.D.
D.D.
D.D.

1949

Seth B. Nicholson
Guy M. Gillette

LL.D.
LL.D.

1950

Kirk Fox

LL.D.

1952

Forrest W. Seymour
Loren E. Lair

LL.D.
D.D.

1953

Jack Finegan
Carl C. Taylor

LL.D.
LL.D.

1954

John B. Griffing
Robert Gerald Storey
Ben Charles Bobbitt
Willard M. Lampe

LL.D.
LL.D.
D.D.
D.D.

1955

J. Doyle Dewitt
Edmund M. McConney
Jan Herman Van Roijen
Herald Benjamin
Seth W. Slaughter
Wilbur Cramblett

LL.D.
LL.D.
LL.D.
LL.D.
D.D.
D.D.

1956

Fred Bohen
Richard L. Wilson
Rose Bampton
James C. Wright
Cress O. Hoyt
Joseph Edgar Stonecipher
John David Arnold
Nelson Glueck
William A. Knight
G. Samuel Nichold
Cleo Blackburn
Gerald Berneking
Wayne Greene

LL.D.
LL.D.
D.F.A.
L.H.D.
L.H.D.
L.H.D.
D.D.
D.D.
D.D.
D.D.
D.D.
D.D.
D.D.

1957

Charles W. Mayo

LL.D.

1958

Burt J. Thompson
MacKinlay Kantor
John Cowles

LL.D.
Litt.D.
L.H.D.

1959

Samuel C. Kinchloe
Fred Hoskins

D.D.
D.D.

1961

Clark Raymond Mollenhoff
Myron Melvin Cowen
Harley A. Wilhelm

Litt.D.
HH.D.
LL.D.

1963

Mae Yoho Ward
Charles Frederick Kemp
Robert Whitehall Burns

D.D.
D.D.
D.D.

1964

Ruth Elizabeth Eckert
Luigi Gino Ligutti
Fred Helsabeck
Carroll H. Lemon

HH.D.
HH.D.
D.D.
D.D.

1965

Raymond Philip Morris

D.D.

1966

Howard Hanson
Marvin C. Whatmore
Gilford E. Olmsted

D.F.A.
HH.D.
D.D.

1967

Cuthbert C. Hurd
Fletcher Knebel
Merle Curti

LL.D.
LL.D.
L.H.D.

1968

Howard R. Bowen
James W. Muacker
W. Robert Parks

LL.D.
LL.D.
LL.D.

1969

Fred H. Harrington
Ellis I. Levitt
Erling N. Jensen
John Hope Franklin

LL.D.
LL.D.
LL.D.
L.H.D.

1970

C. Lalor Burdick
Ralph C. Norris

LL.D.
L.H.D.

1971

Judge Otto Kerner
Dean William B. Lockhart
Chief Justice C. Edwin Moore
John Berryman

LL.D.
LL.D.
LL.D.
Litt.D.

1972

George H. Olmsted
Neil A. Armstrong
Joseph Chaikin
Sherrill Milnes
Daniel C. Kechel

LL.D.
Sc. D.
D.F.A.
D.F.A.
D.D.

1973

Kenneth MacDonald
Josie Gray Bain
George C. Huff

Litt.D.
L.H.D.
D.Sc.

1974

Charles L. Horn
Paul DeHart Hurd
Helen Kazantzakis
Roy Wilkins

LL.D.
D.Sc.
L.H.D.
L.H.D.

1975

Kenneth Jernigan
Arthur Poister
Harry Blackmun
Antonia Brico
Norman Cousins

L.H.D.
D.F.A.
L.L.D.
D.F.A.
Litt.D.

1976

Archie R. Boe
Laurence W. Lane
Robert D. Ray
Edward Rondthaler

LL.D.
L.H.D.
LL.D.
D.F.A.

1977

Howard L. Benshoof
Russell P. Saunders
Florance Myers Wallace

Sc.D. in Ed.
Mus.D.
L.H.D.

1978

Samuel H. Beer
Lawrence W. Bash
Ernest LeRoy Boyer

LL.D.
D.D.
LL.D.

1979

Dick Clark

LL.D.

1980

Paul F. Sharp
Mary Louise Smith

LL.D.
L.H.D.

1981

Frances Bartlett Kinne
James D. Smith
Roy L. Stephenson
Donald B. Manworren
Howard Goodrichm Jr.

D.F.A.
LL.D.
LL.D.
D.D.
D.D.

1982

Maurice J. Dingman
Dr. Leticia Perez de Guzman

Doctor of Humane Letters
Doctor of Science in Education

1983

Fred L. Turner

LL.D.

1984

Edward P. Alexander
Robert N. Houser
Robb B. Kelley
Vincent Persichetti

Doctor of Humane Letters
LL.D.
LL.D.
D. Mus.

1985

James Mitchell

Doctor of Fine Arts

1986

Bayard Rustin
Robert H. Helmick
David L. Wolper

Doctor of Humane Letters
LL.D.
Doctor of Fine Arts

1987

William L. Brown
W. Ward Reynoldson
Warren E. Burger

Sc.D.
LL.D.
LL.D.

1989

Neal E. Smith

LL.D.

1990

Madelyn L. Glazer
Dr. Sara E. Sutton
David Kruidenier

Doctor of Humane Letters
Doctor of Humane Letters
Doctor of Humane Letters

1991

Zenobia M. White
Louise R. Noun

Doctor of Humane Letters
Doctor of Humane Letters

1992

Harold E. Hughes
Lawrence C. Weaver

LL.D.
Sc.D.

1993

Donald C. Byers
Ann G. Anderson
Steve Allen

LL.D.
Doctor of Humane Letters
Doctor of Fine Arts

1994

Martin E. Marty
Simon L. Estes

Doctor of Humane Letters
Doctor of Humane Letters

1995

G. David Hurd
Thomas Urban

Doctor of Public Service
Doctor of Public Service

1996

John Chrystal

Doctor of Humane Letters

1997

Patricia Thrash
Jack Pester

Doctor of Human Letters
Doctor of Public Service

1998

Johnnie Carson
Ann Landers
Dwight Opperman
Margaret Toomey

Doctor of Public Service
Doctor of Human Letters
LL.D.
Doctor of Public Service

1999

Daniel Jorndt

Doctor of Public Service

2000

Marie Wilson
Dayton Duncan

Doctor of Public Service
Doctor of Humane Letters

2001

Michael Gartner
Bruce Brooks Preiffer

LL.D.
Doctor of Humane Letters

2002

General Wesley Clark
Douglas Brown

Doctor or Public Service
Doctor of Public Service

2003

Louis Lavorato

LL.D.

2004

Cushing Dolbeare

Doctor of Public Policy

2005

Roger Williams
Lawrence Fish
Daniel Jordan
Gwen Ifill

Doctor of Music
Doctor of Business Administration
Doctor of Humane Letters
Doctor of Letters

2006

Cloris Leachman
Alice Yost Jordan

Doctor of Fine Arts
Doctor of Fine Arts

2007

James Autry

Doctor of Humane Letters

2009

Bill Bryson

Doctor of Humane Letters

2010

Dick Oatts

Doctor of Humane Letters

2011

John Pappajohn
Mary Pappajohn

Doctor of Business Administration
Doctor of Humane Letters

2014

 Dr. Richard Deming

Doctor of Humane Letters

2015 

John Ruan
Janis Ruan

Doctor of Business Administration
Doctor of Humane Letters

2017

Ben Ullem
Larry Zimpleman

Doctor of Laws
Doctor of Humane Letters

2018

Wayne Ford

Doctor of Humane Letters

2019

Sen. Tom Harkin
Art Wittern

Doctor of Public Service
Doctor of Business Administration 

2021

2022