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