Emerson College awarded honorary degrees for the first time in 1955. Eighteen people were honored as part of that inaugural group. Since then, more than 300 people have been recipients of honorary degrees.
From that first group, two received a Doctor of Laws, 12 received a Master of Arts, and three people received a Doctor of Humane Letters. Unlike honorees from the past several decades, there were no hugely famous recipients in 1955. One of the more noteworthy honorees was the founder of WERS and chair of the Broadcasting Department, Charles W. Dudley.
As the decades went along, Emerson awarded honorary degrees to many people; some were already alums, and others were connected to industries that Emerson students studied.
Depending on your cultural references, the first nationally-known honoree was Richard “Red” Skelton in 1961. He starred on television and radio starting in the 1930s, and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The majority of honorees have received a Doctor of Humane Letters. Honorees have also been awarded with a Doctor of Laws, Doctor of Literature, Master of Arts, and in 1983, Alfred D. Sensenbach became the one and only honoree to be awarded a Doctor of Fine Arts. Since 2009, Emerson has only awarded Doctor of Humane Letters to honorees.
A look back through the decades and you’ll see quite a bit of famous names. Norman Lear ’44 received a Doctor of Humane Letters in 1968. Other honorees include journalist David Frost, author John Updike, actor Alan Alda, actor Ben Vereen, actress Marlee Matlin, comedian Jerry Lewis, actor James Earl Jones, actress Jane Fonda, and comedian Carol Burnett.
Along with Lear, famous alums who received honorary degrees include Henry Winkler ‘67 (whose mentor, Professor Emerita Charlotte Lindgren, received one several years before him), Vin DiBona ‘66, Jay Leno ’73, Denis Leary ’79, and Bobbi Brown ‘79.
Noted politicians to receive degrees include current U.S. Senator Ed Markey (D-MA), former Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, the late civil rights leader and Congressman John Lewis, and in 2003, President (then-Senator) Joe Biden was honored with a Doctor of Laws.
All research to create this exhaustive list was performed by the Emerson Archives & Special Collections Department.
Check out the entire list:
1955
Julius S. Bixler
Doctor of Laws
Edna Allen Doriot
Master of Arts
George F. Doriot
Doctor of Laws
Clare Plaummer Dresser ’92
Master of Arts
Charles W. Dudley
Master of Arts
Rev. Rowland Gray-Smith
Master of Arts
Jessie Royer Greaves ’01
Doctor of Humane Letters
Lillian Rose Hartigan ’12
Master of Arts
William Howland Kenney
Master of Arts
Lynn Lunt (Lynn Fontanne)
Doctor of Humane Letters
S. Justus McKinley
Master of Arts
June Hamblin Mitchell ’35
Master of Arts
Rev. Richard Donald Pierce
Master of Arts
Samuel Dowse Robbins
Doctor of Humane Letters
Helen Volansky Rose ’38
Master of Arts
Jessie Eldridge Southwick
Master of Arts
Lowell Thomas
Doctor of Laws
Barbara Wellington ’18
Master of Arts
1956
Helen Hunt Arnold
Master of Arts
Alexander Brin
Doctor of Literature
F. Curtis Canfield
Doctor of Laws
Anna Williams Cutler
Master of Arts
Carl S. Ell
Doctor of Laws
Herbert J. Gezork
Doctor of Laws
Florence Stiles Lewis ’37
Master of Arts
Robert J. Munce
Doctor of Laws
Harriet Diven Nesbitt ’24
Master of Arts
Helen T. Patten
Master of Arts
Jacob Weslet Reeves
Master of Arts
1957
Vernon R. Alden ’45
Doctor of Laws
Sylvia Folsom Bushnell ’19
Master of Arts
Harold C. Case
Doctor of Laws
Mary A. Doehler
Master of Arts
Clara F. Fraser
Master of Arts
Claude Moore Fuess
Doctor of Laws
Rev. Duncan Howlett
Doctor of Laws
Catherine Croswell Perry ’20
Master of Arts
Irene K. Thresher
Doctor of Humane Letters
1958
Dana Meserve Cotton
Doctor of Laws
H. Barrett Davi ’29
Master of Arts
Janet Yorston Goldberg ’37
Master of Arts
Donald W. Goodrich
Doctor of Laws
William Howland Kenney
Doctor of Literature
Elizabeth Wellington Lord ’57
Master of Arts
Herbert I. Margolis
Doctor of Humane Letters
Grover J. Oberle
Master of Arts
Elsie Rutherford Riddell
Doctor of Literature
John Francis Sheilds ’38
Master of Arts
Melville Smith
Doctor of Literature
Jacob Stein
Master of Arts
Joseph Nye Welch
Doctor of Laws
1959
Bernice L Caswell ’20
Master of Arts
Allen H.W. Higgins
Doctor of Laws
William Francis Keesler
Doctor of Laws
William Edgar Park
Doctor of Laws
Richard Wall
Doctor of Laws
Edward A. Weeks
Doctor of Literature
John W. Zorn ’34
Master of Arts
1960
Astrid Linnea Anderson ’29
Master of Arts
Philip G. Cashman
Doctor of Humane Letters
Bill Dana ’50
Master of Arts
Joseph Kaplan
Doctor of Laws
Asa S. Knowles
Doctor of Laws
Leslie W. Leavitt
Doctor of Laws
Ralph Lowell
Doctor of Laws
Alice Moss Lyons
Doctor of Laws
Ethel Currie Odell ’13
Master of Arts
Mary Danforth Wappker ’24
Master of Arts
Roger C. Wilder
Master of Arts
Amelia Green Wyner ’13
Master of Arts
1961
Coleman Bender
Master of Arts
Henry Stewart Carter
Doctor of Literature
Gertrude Binley Kay
Doctor of Literature
Rev. Walter D. Kring
Doctor of Laws
Anne D. MacDougall ’36
Master of Arts
Robert E. Moody
Doctor of Laws
Richard “Red” Skelton
Doctor of Literature
Douglas Sloane
Doctor of Humane Letters
Patria Gerald Winalski
Master of Arts
Erma Southard Winters ’36
Doctor of Laws
1962
Nelson W. Aldrich
Doctor of Laws
Helena Cook Beale ’25
Doctor of Laws
Margaret Just Butcher ’34
Master of Arts
Alford Carleton
Doctor of Laws
Stewart Lee Garrison
Doctor of Humane Letters
Gertrude Morrison ’15
Master of Arts
Dora Mitnick Nahum
Master of Arts
Ruth Adams Parker ’10
Master of Arts
Mary Pickford Rogers
Doctor of Humane Letters
Margaret E. Steward
Doctor of Humane Letters
Rev. Rhys Williams
Doctor of Laws
1963
Mark Bortman
Doctor of Humane Letters
Rev. Lancelot A. Garrard
Doctor of Laws
Leonidas A. Nickole ’49
Master of Arts
Elliott Norton
Doctor of Literature
George S. Richardson
Doctor of Humane Letters
Barbara Christie Samuels ’41
Master of Arts
Robert W. Sarnoff
Doctor of Literature
William B. Spink ’38
Master of Arts
Russell H. Stafford
Doctor of Literature
Malcolm R. Sutherland
Doctor of Laws
1964
Albert Bush-Brown
Doctor of Laws
Josiah Floyd Buzzard
Doctor of Laws
Hon. Charles W. Cole
Doctor of Laws
Edward F. Gilday
Doctor of Literature
Rev. Rowland Gray-Smith
Doctor of Literature
Mary Larlin Huddy ’07
Doctor of Laws
Loomis Patrick
Doctor of Laws
George Sherman
Doctor of Humane Letters
1965
Hon. Edward W. Brooke
Doctor of Laws
John F. Chapman ’24
Doctor of Laws
Rev. Canon W. David Crockett
Doctor of Laws
John Kielty
Doctor of Laws
Lt. Col. Lewis L. Millett
Doctor of Humane Letters
Harry N. Nickerson ’51
Master of Arts
Robert Pettitt
Master of Arts
Russell T. Smith
Doctor of Literature
Roger B. Tyler
Doctor of Laws
1966
Felix Forte
Doctor of Laws
Donald H. McGannon
Doctor of Laws
F. McLaughlin ’35
Doctor of Literature
Dorothy Hall Parkhurst
Doctor of Literature
Roy Messer Pearson
Doctor of Laws
Catherine Croswell Perry ’20
Doctor of Humane Letters
Rev. Richard Donald Pierce
Doctor of Laws
S. Richard Silverman
Doctor of Laws
1967
Edward Albee
Doctor of Literature
Linton Andrews
Doctor of Literature
Roger W. Arnold
Master of Arts
Paul L. Beane
Master of Arts
Ross Cannon
Doctor of Laws
Thomas H. Dahill, Jr.
Master of Arts
Herbert H. Harwood
Doctor of Laws
Charlotte H. Lindgren
Master of Arts
Ruth Southwick Maxfield ’15
Doctor of Literature
S. Justus McKinley
Doctor of Humane Letters
John T.G. Nichols
Doctor of Laws
Charles E. Phillips
Master of Arts
Cornelia Otis Skinner
Doctor of Literature
1968
John Edward Fenton
Doctor of Laws
Howard B. Jefferson
Doctor of Laws
Norman Lear ’43
Doctor of Humane Letters
Elma Ina Lewis ’43
Doctor of Humane Letters
Joseph E. Levine
Doctor of Humane Letters
W. Webster McCann
Doctor of Humane Letters
1969
Elmer E. Baker
Doctor of Literature
Ralph Arthur Burns
Doctor of Laws
Yousuf Karsh
Doctor of Humane Letters
Hon. Elliot L. Richardson
Doctor of Laws
Charles E. Shain
Doctor of Literature
Col. Thomas P. Stafford
Doctor of Laws
1970
Stuart Chase
Doctor of Humane Letters
David Frost
Doctor of Laws
Alanson B. Houghton
Doctor of Laws
John Updike
Doctor of Literature
1971
Erwin D. Canham
Doctor of Laws
Arthur Fiedler
Doctor of Literature
Hal Prince
Doctor of Literature
Rod Serling
Doctor of Humane Letters
1972
Richard Chapin
Doctor of Humane Letters
R. Buckminster Fuller
Doctor of Laws
Laura Cabot Hodgkinson
Doctor of Literature
DeHaven Ross
Master of Arts
Charles I. Schottland
Doctor of Laws
1973
Chester F. Collier ’50
Doctor of Humane Letters
Donald Grunewald
Doctor of Literature
Edith Bladeslee Phelps
Doctor of Literature
Agnes H. Powers
Master of Arts
Eugene Wesley Roddenberry
Doctor of Humane Letters
Frank Stanton
Doctor of Laws
1974
Louis George Cowan
Doctor of Literature
Elmer W. Lower
Doctor of Laws
Edwin Wilson Martin, Jr.
Doctor of Humane Letters
1975
Wallace Alger Bacon
Doctor of Humane Letters
Nancy Hanks
Doctor of Humane Letters
Ada Louise Huxtable
Doctor of Literature
John. M. Lavine
Doctor of Laws
Lee Remick
Doctor of Laws
Helvi Siplia
Doctor of Laws
Thomas Wicker
Doctor of Humane Letters
1976
Schuyler Garrison Chapin
Doctor of Literature
Bong Soo Lee
Doctor of Laws
Robert E. Leestamper
Doctor of Laws
John P. McGovern
Doctor of Humane Letters
Andrija Puharich
Doctor of Laws
Maurice H. Saval
Doctor of Laws
Richard E. Smolowe
Doctor of Laws
Robert Jospeh Wussler
Doctor of Laws
1977
Alan Alda
Doctor of Humane Letters
Morton N. Dubitsky (Dean) ’57
Doctor of Humane Letters
Patricia Neighbors ’43
Doctor of Laws
Roderick Parker ’51
Doctor of Laws
Benjamin A. Vereen
Doctor of Humane Letters
1978
Jeffrey Auer
Doctor of Laws
Art Buchenwald
Doctor of Literature
Donis Dondis
Doctor of Literature
Edna Allen Doriot
Doctor of Humane Letters
Marian Seldes
Doctor of Humane Letters
Jean Stapleton
Doctor of Humane Letters
Henry F. Winkler
Doctor of Humane Letters
1979
Hon. Paul E. Tsongas
Doctor of Laws
Pedro Thomas Vasquez
Doctor of Laws
Oliver Woodruff
Doctor of Laws
1980
Tharon Musser
Doctor of Humane Letters
Michael Schultz
Doctor of Humane Letters
Carol Burnett
Doctor of Humane Letters
June H. Mitchell
Doctor of Literature
Thomas P. O’Neill
Doctor of Laws
Cardinal Umberto Medieros
Doctor of Laws
1981
Betty W. Atherton
Doctor of Humane Letters
Coleman C. Bender
Doctor of Humane Letters
Mervyn E. Griffin
Doctor of Humane Letters
Leonard H. Goldenson
Doctor of Humane Letters
Virgil Thomson
Doctor of Literature
1982
Leo Leroy Beranek
Doctor of Laws
Daniel J. Travanti
Doctor of Humane Letters
1983
Tony Schwartz
Doctor of Humane Letters
Alfred D. Sensenbach
Doctor of Fine Arts
1984
Peggy Charren
Doctor of Humane Letters
Sylvia Richardson
Doctor of Literature
John Bernard Duff
Doctor of Laws
Jack Valenti
Doctor of Laws
1985
Dorothy E. Rowe
Doctor of Laws
Julian J. Smith
Doctor of Laws
Isabel Sanford
Doctor of Humane Letters
1986
Charlotte I. Lee
Doctor of Literature
Roger Dane
Doctor of Laws
Hon. Mark O. Hatfield
Doctor of Laws
1987
Frank A. Tredinnick
Doctor of Laws
Fred W. Friendly
Doctor of Laws
Naomi Stroh Janover
Doctor of Humane Letters
William Work
Doctor of Laws
1988
Richard A. Dysart
Doctor of Laws
Nikos Psacharopoulos
Doctor of Humane Letters
Liv Ullman
Doctor of Humane Letters
Marie Langster Boone
Master of Arts
Ruth Fritz
Doctor of Humane Letters
1989
Michael S. Dukakis
Doctor of Humane Letters
David Curtis Knapp
Doctor of Laws
George Gerbner
Doctor of Humane Letters
Steven Bochco
Doctor of Literature
1990
Pran Dith
Doctor of Laws
Kathleen Turner
Doctor of Literature
1991
Thomas J. Brokaw
Doctor of Humane Letters
Michael Jay Solomon
Doctor of Laws
1992
Lucille S. Salhany
Doctor of Humane Letters
Irma Mann Stearns
Doctor of Humane Letters
John C. Zacharis
Doctor of Humane Letters
Edward J. Markey
Doctor of Laws
Patricia McGovern
Doctor of Laws
1993
Roger Monroe King
Doctor of Laws
Jerry Lewis
Doctor of Humane Letters
Marlee Matlin
Doctor of Humane Letters
Mary E. Moore
Doctor of Humane Letters
James St. Clair
Doctor of Laws
1994
Vincent J. DiBona ’66
Doctor of Humane Letters
James Earl Jones
Doctor of Humane Letters
Kay Koplovitz
Doctor of Humane Letters
Eckhardt C. Beck
Doctor of Laws
Enrique F. Senior
Doctor of Laws
1995
Henry Hampton
Doctor of Humane Letters
Donald Thurston
Doctor of Humane Letters
Leslie Stahl
Doctor of Humane Letters
Thomas M. Menino
Doctor of Laws
1996
David Brudnoy
Doctor of Humane Letters
Jess Cain
Doctor of Humane Letters
Doris Kearns Goodwin
Doctor of Humane Letters
Alma Johnson Powell
Doctor of Humane Letters
Henry W. Foster, Jr.
Doctor of Humane Letters
1997
Undergraduate
Shelton Jackson, M.F.A.
Doctor of Humane Letters
Marion Heard, M. Ed.
Doctor of Laws
Shoo Iwasaki, J.D.
Doctor of Laws
Donald Law, B.A.
Doctor of Laws
Patrick J. Purcell, M.B.A.
Doctor of Laws
Graduate
Eileen McNamara, M.S.
Doctor of Humane Letters
Jerrold Ross, Ph.D.
Doctor of Humane Letters
1998
Graduate
David Hays, M.F.A.
Doctor of Humane Letters
Anna Faith Jones, M.A.
Doctor of Humane Letters
1999
Undergraduate
Alice Hoffman, M.A.
Doctor of Humane Letters
Anthony Quinn
Doctor of Humane Letters
Morley Safer
Doctor of Humane Letters
Ted Leonsis
Doctor of Laws
Graduate
Tomie dePaola, Ph.D.
Doctor of Humane Letters
Kip Tiernan, Ph.D.
Doctor of Humane Letters
2000
Undergraduate
Jane Fonda
Doctor of Humane Letters
Doris R. Haddock
Doctor of Humane Letters
R.E. Turner, B.A.
Doctor of Laws
Graduate
Frank Newman, Ph.D.
Doctor of Humane Letters
Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, Ed.D.
Doctor of Humane Letters
2001
Undergraduate
Edmund N. Ansin, B.S.
Doctor of Humane Letters
Charles J. Beard, Esq., J.D.
Doctor of Laws
Patricia Edenfield Mitchell, M.A.
Doctor of Laws
Graduate
Stanley Kunitz, M.A., L.H.D., Litt.D.
Doctor of Humane Letters
Sue Miller, M.A.
Doctor of Humane Letters
2002
Undergraduate
Gerald Schoenfeld, L.L.B.
Doctor of Humane Letters
Sherry Lansing, B.S.
Doctor of Humane Letters
Graduate
Walter V. Robinson, B.A.
Doctor of Humane Letters
Edward Eskandarian, M.B.A.
Doctor of Humane Letters
2003
Undergraduate
Leo J. Hindery, Jr., M.B.A.
Doctor of Humane Letters
The Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., L.L.B.
Doctor of Laws
Graduate
Thomas Lux ’70, B.A.
Doctor of Humane Letters
Christopher B. Cerf, A.B.
Doctor of Humane Letters
2004
Undergraduate
Terry Semel
Michael E. Capuano
William C. Van Faasen
Graduate
David Gergen
Gish Jen
2005
Undergraduate
Denis Leary ’79, B.F.A.
Doctor of Humane Letters
Peter G. Meade ’70
Doctor of Humane Letters
Robert F. X. Sillerman, B.A.
Doctor of Humane Letters
Graduate
Jean Picker Firstenberg, B.A.
Doctor of Humane Letters
Evan Thomas, L.L.B.
Doctor of Humane Letters
2006
John Kerry
Gwen Ifill
Thomas Payzant
Robert Steele
2007
Undergraduate
Robert A Silverman, Ph.D.
Doctor of Humane Letters
Ted Cutler ’51, A.B.
Doctor of Humane Letters
Tom Freston, M.B.A.
Doctor of Humane Letters
Graduate
Ian Bowles, M.A.
Doctor of Humane Letters
Walter Mosley, B.A.
Doctor of Humane Letters
2008
Undergraduate
Andrew Sarris
Doctor of Humane Letters
Doug A. Herzog ’81
Doctor of Humane Letters
Graduate
Charles V. Willie
Doctor of Humane Letters
Rebecca Newberger Goldstein
Doctor of Humane Letters
2009
Undergraduate
Miloš Forman, MA
Doctor of Humane Letters
Blair Underwood, BFA
Doctor of Humane Letters
Graduate
Fernando M. Reimers, EdD
Doctor of Humane Letters
Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), BA
Doctor of Laws
2010
Undergraduate
Melvin b. Miller, JD
Doctor of Humane Letters
Bernard Cornwell, BA
Doctor of Humane Letters
Graduate
Mark Samels, BS
Doctor of Humane Letters
Vicki S. Freimuth, PhD
Doctor of Humane Letters
2011
Undergraduate
Janet Langhart Cohen
Doctor of Humane Letters
Kevin Bright, BA ‘76
Doctor of Humane Letters
Marilyn Zacharis, MA
Doctor of Humane Letters
Jacqueline W. Liebergott, PhD
Doctor of Humane Letters
Richard LaGravenese, MFA
Doctor of Humane Letters
Graduate
Janet Yuen-Mei Wu, BA
Doctor of Humane Letters
Clifford Christians, PhD
Doctor of Humane Letters
2012
Undergraduate
Tony Kushner, MFA
Doctor of Humane Letters
Bobbi Brown, BFA ‘79
Doctor of Humane Letters
Robert Pinsky, PhD
Doctor of Humane Letters
David Gregory, BA
Doctor of Humane Letters
2013
Undergraduate
Debbie Allen, BFA
Doctor of Humane Letters
Rita Dove, MFA
Doctor of Humane Letters
Eugene Lang, MS
Doctor of Humane Letters
Max Mutchnick, BS ‘87
Doctor of Humane Letters
2014
Undergraduate
Scott Simon
Doctor of Humane Letters
Catherine D’Amato, BA
Doctor of Humane Letters
Don Lemon, BA
Doctor of Humane Letters
Jay Leno, BSSp ‘73
Doctor of Humane Letters
2015
Undergraduate
Robin Roberts
Doctor of Humane Letters
Cheri Blauwet, MD
Doctor of Humane Letters
Natasha Tretheway
Doctor of Humane Letters
Anne Hawley
Doctor of Humane Letters
2016
Alice Sebold
Doctor of Humane Letters
Danielle Legros Georges ‘86
Doctor of Humane Letters
Juan Gonzalez
Doctor of Humane Letters
2017
Undergraduate
Anita Hill, JD
Doctor of Humane Letters
David McCullough, BA
Doctor of Humane Letters
Claudia Rankine, MFA
Doctor of Humane Letters
Dennis Lehane, MFA
Doctor of Humane Letters
2018
Undergraduate
Elspeth Cypher, BA ’80, JD
Doctor of Humane Letters
Tom Perrotta, MA
Doctor of Humane Letters
Deeyah Khan
Doctor of Humane Letters
Billy Collins, PhD
Doctor of Humane Letters
2019
Eduardo Padrón, PhD
Doctor of Humane Letters
Nell Irvin Painter, PhD
Doctor of Humane Letters
Jose Antonio Vargas, BA
Doctor of Humane Letters
Soledad O’Brien, BA
Doctor of Humane
Letters
2022
Undergraduate
Adele Lim ’96
Toshi Reagon
Steve Samuels
Doctor of Humane Letters
2023
Undergraduate
Meghan Irons ’90
Pamela Abdy ’95
Dulcia Meijers
Jeff Greenhawt ’68
Doctor of Humane Letters
2024
Undergraduate
Randy Barbato ’82
Doug Holloway ’76
Al Jaffe ’68
Doctor of Humane Letters
2025
Jennifer Coolidge ’85
Margaret “Peggy” Ings ’75
2026
Helen Credle
Eric Alexander ’78