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Honorary degree

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The honoris causa doctorate received by Jimmy Wales from the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands (2015)

An honorary degree or degree honoris causa ("for the sake of the honour") is an academic degree, typically a doctorate, conferred without examination to recognise the honoree's achievements and contributions to society. These are normally titular degrees, with fewer rights than substantive degrees.[1][2] It may, more broadly, be any degree awarded without examination in order to recognise a person's achievements or their status in a university.[3]

History

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The forerunner of the modern honorary degree was the degree by creation, referring to a degree "conferred ... without passing through a University course (or after passing through only a partial course) and without performing the exercises". Two of the earliest on record, in the late 15th century, were awarded by the University of Oxford to Lionel Woodville (chancellor of the university 1479–1483 and Bishop of Salisbury 1482–1484)[4] and Thomas Bourchier (Archbishop of Canterbury 1454–1486).[5]

In the late 16th century, the granting of degrees by creation at Oxford became quite common, especially on the occasion of royal visits.[5] On the visit of James I to Oxford in 1605, for example, forty-three members of his retinue (fifteen of whom were earls or barons) received the degree of Master of Arts, and the Register of Convocation explicitly states that these were full degrees, carrying the usual privileges, such as voting rights in convocation and congregation.[5]

The modern titular honorary degree grew out of the degree by creation towards the end of the 17th century, with the first degree explicitly designated honoris causa at Oxford being the honorary MA awarded to Sir Henry Hoo Keate in 1717.[5]

The DD conferred upon Increase Mather by Harvard in 1692 is sometimes cited as the first honorary degree awarded in America.[2] However, the citation for the degree shows that it was a substantive degree awarded on the basis of his published works.[6] Benjamin Franklin's honorary MA in 1753 is considered Harvard's first true honorary degree.[7]

Until 1882, degrees were only awarded without examination at Cambridge by royal mandate (referred to as mandate degrees), after which "full honorary degrees" (official degrees and dignity degrees) were awarded without examination to people appointed to university teaching posts and on Cambridge graduates that became bishops, and titular degrees on other honorees.[8]

In the United States, the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree was first conferred as an honorary degree at Bucknell University in 1852 and in 1861 Yale University awarded the first earned PhD, becoming the first American university to do so.[9] Over one hundred institutions in the United States conferred honorary PhD degrees in the 19th century, to more than seven hundred recipients.[10] However, the practice of awarding the PhD as an honorary degree drew condemnation from organizations such as the American Philological Association and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the board of regents of the University of the State of New York prohibited any university in the state from conferring an honorary PhD effective in 1897.[11] The number of honorary PhD degrees awarded in the U.S. declined in the 20th century, and surveys by the United States Office of Education found none conferred in 1940 or later years.[12] One of the last known recipients of an honorary PhD was singer Bing Crosby, from Gonzaga University in 1937.[12][13][14]

By 2001, about 21 U.S. states had begun allowing public schools to grant honorary high school diplomas to military veterans under a program called "Operation Recognition".[15] In Ohio, it was unclear whether public schools had the legal authority to grant them until 12 July 2001, when Governor Bob Taft signed a bill allowing public school districts to grant them to honorably discharged veterans of World War II.[16] Lakota East High School is believed to have awarded the first such diplomas to a group of 20 veterans in May of that year.[17]

Modern practice

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Honorary degrees are usually awarded at regular graduation ceremonies, at which the recipients are often invited to make a speech of acceptance before the assembled faculty and graduates—an event which often forms the highlight of the ceremony. Generally, universities nominate several persons each year for honorary degrees; these nominations usually go through several committees before receiving approval. Nominees are generally not told until a formal approval and invitation are made; often it is perceived that the system is shrouded in secrecy, and occasionally seen as political and controversial.[18] On occasion, organisations have been awarded honorary doctorates.[19]

Honoris causa degrees are not considered of the same standing as substantive degrees earned by the standard academic processes of courses and original research, except perhaps where the recipient has demonstrated an appropriate level of academic scholarship that would ordinarily qualify them for the award of a substantive degree.[20] Recipients of honorary degrees typically wear the same academic dress as recipients of substantive degrees, although there are a few exceptions: at the University of St Andrews, honorary graduates wear a black cassock instead of the usual full-dress gown; at Kingston University, honorary graduates wear a distinctive hood; and at the University of Northumbria the colours of the hoods and gowns are different for honorary degrees.[1] At the University of Cambridge, honorary graduates do not wear the hoods of their honorary degrees at the graduation ceremony.[21]

Although higher doctorates such as Doctor of Science, Doctor of Letters, etc. are often awarded honoris causa, in some countries (such as the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand) it is also possible to earn these as a substantive degrees.[22] This typically involves the submission of a portfolio of peer-reviewed research, usually undertaken over a number of years, which has made a substantial contribution to the academic field in question. The university will appoint a panel of examiners who will consider the case and prepare a report recommending whether or not the degree be awarded. Usually, the applicant must have some strong formal connection with the university in question, for example full-time academic staff, or graduates of several years' standing.

Some universities, seeking to differentiate between substantive and honorary doctorates, have a degree (often DUniv, or Doctor of the University) which is used for these purposes, with the other higher doctorates reserved for formally examined academic scholarship.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has the authority to award degrees. These "Lambeth degrees" are sometimes, erroneously, thought to be honorary; however the archbishops have for many centuries had the legal authority (originally as the representatives of the Pope, later confirmed by a 1533 Act of Henry VIII), to award degrees and regularly do so to people who have either passed an examination or are deemed to have satisfied the appropriate requirements.[23]

Between the two extremes of honouring celebrities and formally assessing a portfolio of research, some universities use honorary degrees to recognise achievements of intellectual rigour. Some institutes of higher education do not confer honorary degrees as a matter of policy—see below. Some learned societies award honorary fellowships in the same way as honorary degrees are awarded by universities, for similar reasons.

Practical use

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Letter from Ezra Stiles to George Washington announcing the awarding of an honorary degree to Washington by the president and fellows of Yale College (1781)

An example of university regulations is, "Honorary graduates may use the approved post-nominal letters. It is not customary, however, for recipients of an honorary doctorate to adopt the prefix 'Dr.'"[24] It is generally considered improper practice for an honorary doctor to use the formal title of "Doctor", regardless of the background circumstances for the award. Written communications where an honorary doctorate has been awarded may include the letters "h.c." after the award to indicate that status.

The recipient of an honorary degree may add the degree title postnominally, but it should[citation needed] always be made clear that the degree is honorary by adding "honorary" or "honoris causa" or "h.c." in parentheses after the degree title. In some countries, a person who holds an honorary doctorate may use the title "Doctor" prenominally, abbreviated "Dr.h.c." or "Dr.(h.c.)". Sometimes, they use "Hon" before the degree letters, for example, "Hon DMus".

In recent years, some universities have adopted entirely separate postnominal titles for honorary degrees. This is in part due to the confusion that honorary degrees have caused. For example, an honorary doctorate from the Auckland University of Technology takes the special title HonD since it is now common in certain countries to use certain degrees, such as LLD or HonD, as purely honorary. Some universities, including the Open University, grant Doctor of the University (DUniv) degrees to selected nominees, while awarding PhD or EdD degrees to those who have fulfilled the academic requirements.

Most American universities award the degrees of LLD (Doctor of Laws), LittD (Doctor of Letters), LHD (Doctor of Humane Letters), ScD (Doctor of Science), PedD (Doctor of Pedagogy) and DD (Doctor of Divinity) only as honorary degrees. American universities do not have the system of higher doctorates used in the UK and some other universities around the world.

Posthumous awards

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In April 2023, the President of Yale, Peter Salovey, awarded M.A. Privatim degrees posthumously to Reverend James W. C. Pennington and Reverend Alexander Crummell, the first two black students at Yale, both of whom faced numerous incidents of discrimination and left Yale without earning degrees.[25][26]

Honorary degrees in Australia

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In Australia, honorary doctorates are purely titular degrees in that they confer no rights on the recipient and carry with them no formal academic qualification. Institutions of higher education generally ask that recipients "refrain from adopting the misleading title"[27] and that a recipient of an honorary doctorate should restrict the use of the title "Dr" before their name to any engagement with the institution of higher education in question and not within the broader community.[28]

Honorary degrees in Brazil

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The title of Doctor Honoris Causa is one of the highest distinctions an educational institution can grant, intended to recognize outstanding individuals in scientific, cultural, social, artistic, or humanitarian fields. However, in Brazil, this title is honorary rather than academic in nature, meaning it does not confer rights or responsibilities equivalent to those of a stricto sensu doctorate obtained through research and thesis defense.

There is no specific law in the Brazilian legal system regulating the awarding of the title of Doctor Honoris Causa. Because it is not a formal academic degree, its conferral does not require approval by the Ministry of Education (MEC). Therefore, any educational institution can establish its own regulations and criteria for awarding honorary degrees, as long as it operates within the university autonomy in Brazil guaranteed by Article 207 of the Federal Constitution,[29] which ensures universities freedom in teaching, science, administration, and financial and asset management.

Higher education institutions such as Faculdade do Bico, Faculdade União de Goyazes Formosa, the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and Faculdade Intervale have already awarded Doctor Honoris Causa degrees on various occasions.

Thus, by granting honorary degrees, Brazilian institutions exercise their freedom to recognize significant contributions to society and the advancement of knowledge, strengthening their institutional mission and reaffirming the symbolic and cultural value of the distinction.

Institutions that do not award honorary degrees

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Some US universities such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),[30] Cornell University,[31] Stanford University,[32][33] and Rice University,[34] do not award honorary degrees as a matter of policy. The University of Virginia (founded in 1819) was probably the first US university to explicitly have a policy of not awarding honorary degrees at the request of its founder, Thomas Jefferson.[30][35] In 1845, William Barton Rogers, then chairman of the faculty, vigorously defended this policy; in 1861, he founded MIT in Boston and continued this practice.[30][36] The University of Virginia does annually award Thomas Jefferson Medals in Architecture and in Law, as the highest honours accorded by that institution.[35][37]

The Stanford Alumni Association occasionally awards the Degree of Uncommon Man/Woman to individuals who have given "rare and exceptional service" to the university.[38] Though UCLA has imposed a moratorium on awarding honorary degrees, it honours notable people with the UCLA Medal instead.[39] St. John's College has not granted honorary degrees since 1936, but its alumni association occasionally offers honorary membership to retiring faculty, staff, and other close associates of the college.[40]

Other types of honorary or unearned degree

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The broader definition of honorary degrees used by bodies such as the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education takes in any degree that is not an "academic qualification" (i.e.,an earned degree), whether to honour an individual or to reflect their status.[3] This takes in various forms of degrees, some of which are mostly historical but are still used at a few institutions.

Degrees by inception

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MA degrees have been are awarded to BA graduates at some universities without examination since the 18th century, via a process known as inception. They have been referred to as 'honorific' and 'honorary' degrees.[41][42] However, as they are granted on the basis of having passed the BA examinations, they are sometimes considered to be earned degrees.[1]

Degrees by incorporation

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These are normally substantive degrees, awarded on the basis of having gained the same or a near-equivalent degree at another university.[1]

Official degrees

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Some universities and colleges have the custom of awarding "official degrees", normally bachelor's or master's degrees, to staff,[1] which may be considered honorary or substantive degrees. At Trinity College Dublin, any staff member (academic or non-academic) who has over ten years of continuous service may be awarded a Master of Arts jure officii.[43][44] At Oxford, these are degrees by resolution (or, historically, degrees by special resolution and degrees by decree) and at Cambridge these are degrees under Statute B II 2. At Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin, these are substantive degrees rather than honorary degrees, with the same rights as incorporated degrees, although sometimes referred to as honorary degrees by modern writers, but in most other universities these are honorary degrees.[1]

Durham awarded official degree as degrees by vote of convocation between 1901 and 1935.[45] As at Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin, these were substantive degrees with "the full rights and privileges belonging to the degrees conferred", except that membership of convocation would lapse when the recipient left the university staff and there was no right to proceed to another degree.[46] While not commonly exercised, grants of degree-awarding powers in England still enable providers to grant degrees to members of their staff in addition to earned and honorary degrees.[47]

A similar custom is followed by a few universities in the United States that grant an honorary Master of Arts degree to professors at various stages in their career (in some cases referred to as an ad eundem degree). These include on being awarded tenure, on becoming a full professor, and on retirement. Because these degrees do not involve any further study, many faculty members do not list them on their curricula vitae, although some choose to do so.[48][49][50]

At Brown and Harvard the degrees are awarded to those faculty who are granted tenure and the rank of associate professor, usually after approximately eight years of service to the university as an assistant professor or for a shorter amount of time for a professor with prior service at another university.[51][52][53][54]

At Harvard the degree is described as given ut in grege nostro numeretur ("so that (s)he may be numbered in our flock").[55][56] During the 1950s, it was noted that the degree were "not announced at Commencement, or included in the printed list of honorary degrees circulated at that time, nor is there any 'citation.'"[57] Instead, the President of Harvard would present "the diploma at the first meeting of the faculty following the recipient's appointment to permanent rank."[58]

At Brown, the degrees have been awarded as a part of the annual May commencement ceremony.[59][60]

At Amherst, Wesleyan, and Yale, the degrees are conferred upon those who rise to the rank of full professor.[61][62][63] Yale refers to this degree as the MA Privatim. During the 150th anniversary of Princeton University, in 1896, 16 full professors were awarded the MA Privatim.[64]

At Amherst, in recent years, the degrees are awarded during first-year student convocation in August, at Yale it is an "elegant, brief ceremony, usual in February or March", and at Wesleyan as part of commencement in May.[65][66][67][68][69]

Amherst College grants this degree to college faculty despite the fact that it grants only bachelor's degrees to its matriculated students.[70] However, those professors who already earned a bachelor's degree at Amherst or Wesleyan by attending as an undergraduate are not presented with a second degree.[71] In 2024, Amherst College President Michael A. Elliott called this additional rule a "custom, some might say a strange custom".[72]

Dignity degrees

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A jure dignitatis degree, or degree by diploma at Oxford (and some other institutions), was historically awarded to someone who had demonstrated eminence and scholarship by being appointed to a particular office. Thus, for example, a DD (Doctor of Divinity) might be conferred upon a bishop on the occasion of his consecration, or a judge created LLD (Legum Doctor) or DCL (Doctor of Civil Law) upon their appointment to the judicial bench.[1][43] These are, like official degrees at Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin, substantive degrees rather than honorary degrees, but are often referred to as honorary degrees by modern writers. In the modern era, only Oxford continues to award dignity degrees, and these are only conferred on heads of state, royalty, and chancellors of the university.[1]

Cambridge's 1882 statutes allowed full degrees to be awarded honoris causa to members of the royal family, peers, privy counsellors, bishops, deans of cathedrals and the royal peculiars, heads of colleges, Cambridge graduates, and holders of university offices. The statutes of 1926 removed this power.[8][73] Durham awarded degrees by diploma from 1840 until 1920.[45] After 1909, these were referred to in the regulations as honorary degrees jure dignitatis, awarded under the statute for honorary degrees, and were listed with honorary degrees rather than degrees by diploma in the calendar.[74]

Controversy

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Elena Ceauşescu becoming Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Manila, Philippines, in 1975

Some universities and colleges have been accused of granting honorary degrees in exchange for large donations.[75] Universities have also been accused of giving honorary degrees to celebrities to attract publicity rather than to recognise achievements.[76]

In 1985, as a deliberate snub, the University of Oxford voted to refuse Margaret Thatcher an honorary degree in protest against her cuts in funding for higher education.[77] This award had previously been given to all prime ministers who had been educated at Oxford.

In 1992, three members of the philosophy faculty at Cambridge placed a temporary veto on the awarding of an honorary doctorate to Jacques Derrida.[78]

In 1996, Southampton College at Long Island University (now a campus of Stony Brook University) awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Amphibious Letters to Muppet Kermit the Frog. Although some students objected to awarding a degree to a Muppet, Kermit delivered an enjoyable commencement address and the small college received considerable press coverage.[79] The degree was conferred in recognition of efforts in the area of environmentalism. The university stated: "His theme song, 'It's Not Easy Bein' Green,' has become a rallying cry of the environmental movement. Kermit has used his celebrity to spread positive messages in public service announcements for the National Wildlife Federation, National Park Service, the Better World Society, and others."[80][new archival link needed]

The awarding of an honorary degree to political figures can prompt protests from faculty or students. In 2001, George W. Bush received an honorary degree from Yale University, where he had earned his bachelor's degree in history in 1968. Some students and faculty chose to boycott the university's 300th commencement.[81] Andrew Card, who served as Bush's Chief of Staff from 2001 to 2006, ultimately chose not to speak when the University of Massachusetts Amherst awarded him an honorary degree in 2007, in response to protests from students and faculty at the commencement ceremonies.[82]

In 2005 at the University of Western Ontario, Henry Morgentaler, a gynecologist involved in a legal case decriminalizing abortion in Canada (R. v. Morgentaler), was made an honorary Doctor of Laws. Over 12,000 signatures were acquired asking the UWO to reverse its decision to honour Morgentaler.[83] Several protest rallies were held, including one on the day the honorary degree was bestowed (a counter petition to support Morgentaler's degree gained 10,000 signatures).[84]

In 2007, protesters demanded that the University of Edinburgh revoke an honorary degree awarded to Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe in 1984. The university subsequently revealed plans to review its honorary degree policy and strip certain figures of their honorary degrees who did not deserve them. When considering revoking the honorary degree of a political figure, such reasons as human rights abuse or political corruption would be considered. As a result, it was announced that Mugabe had been stripped of his honorary degree. The university also planned to have a more rigorous selection procedure regarding potential recipients of honorary degrees, in an attempt to rectify the trend of awarding degrees to celebrities.[85] Students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst also asked the university to revoke the honorary degree that was awarded to Mugabe over twenty years ago, and on 12 June 2008 the trustees unanimously rescinded Robert Mugabe's honorary degree.[86][87] Michigan State University has also rescinded its honorary degree.[88]

In April 2009, Arizona State University's president, Michael M. Crow, refused to give an honorary degree to US President Barack Obama for his lack of adequate qualifying achievements thus far.[89] Also, controversy[90] was ignited about Notre Dame awarding Obama an honorary degree, as the institution is Roman Catholic and Obama holds pro-choice views on abortion and supports embryonic stem cell research.[91]

In February 2012, Rosmah Mansor, the wife of the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak was controversially awarded an honorary doctorate by the Curtin University for "services to childhood education".[92] The university honored Rosmah for founding and driving the Permata early childhood centres in Malaysia although some alumni and students contended that the government-funded centres are "an abuse of taxpayers' money".[93]

Use of title associated with honorary doctorates

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By convention, recipients of honorary doctorates do not use the title "Dr" in general correspondence. Recipients are not addressed orally or in writing as "Dr" by other academic institutions – and not correctly addressed as "Dr" in their professional/personal life. They continue to be addressed orally and in writing with the form of address to which they entitled prior to receiving the honor. E.g., Mr/Ms/Mrs.[94][95] However, this social convention is not always scrupulously observed.[96] The custom has evolved over the years, with Debrett's advising as recently as 1992 that recipients of honorary doctorates were entitled to use the title, although this had changed to advice that "the recipient does not generally adopt the title of 'Doctor'" by 2021.[1][97] Accepted usage has also varied geographically, with the use of the title being more common in Scotland than in England.[98] Prior to around 1800, it can also be hard to determine whether an unearned degree is substantive (where there is no dispute about the right to use the title) or honorary, and modern authors will often refer to all unearned degrees as honorary.[1]

The use of the prefix by holders of dignity degrees in the 19th century was common and accepted. In Anthony Trollope's Barchester Towers, he notes in the conclusion that his character Mr Arabian is now Dr Arabin as "we suppose he must have become a doctor when he became a dean".[99] Similarly, the 18th century author and lexicographer Samuel Johnson, who had been unable to complete his undergraduate studies at Pembroke College, Oxford, due to financial considerations, received an MA from Oxford in 1755,an LLD from Trinity College, Dublin in 1765[100] and a DCL from Oxford in 1775.[101] Although Johnson's degrees are today often considered honorary, they were issued by diploma (the Oxford term for a dignity degree) rather than honoris causa, and he was commonly referred to as Dr Johnson.[102][103][1][97]

Notable people who have used the prefix while holding only an honorary doctorate include:

See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Dickson, Neil K. (21 October 2020). "Degrees of Degrees". Transactions of the Burgon Society (in None). 19 (1). doi:10.4148/2475-7799.1171. ISSN 2475-7799.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  2. 1 2 "Honorary Degrees: A Short History". Brandeis University. Archived from the original on 25 June 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  3. 1 2 "QAA Glossary" (PDF). Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education. September 2022. p. 15.
  4. ↑ "Woodville, Lionel, bishop of Salisbury". oxforddnb.com. Archived from the original on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Buxton, L. H. Dudley; Gibson, Strickland (1935). "Honorary degrees". Oxford University Ceremonies. Oxford University Press. pp. 85–88.
  6. ↑ Samuel Elliot Morison. The Tercentennial History of Harvard College and University 1636-1936. Oxford University Press. pp. 490–493.
  7. ↑ "History of honorary degrees". Harvard University. Retrieved 17 July 2026.
  8. 1 2 "Honorary degrees". Cambridge University Glossary. Retrieved 17 July 2026.
  9. ↑ Lady, R. Andrew (April 1967). "Honoris Causa: An Examination of the Doctor of Philosophy Degree". The Journal of Higher Education. 38 (4): 197, 199–200.
  10. ↑ Lady, R. Andrew (April 1967). "Honoris Causa: An Examination of the Doctor of Philosophy Degree". The Journal of Higher Education. 38 (4): 197, 200.
  11. ↑ Lady, R. Andrew (April 1967). "Honoris Causa: An Examination of the Doctor of Philosophy Degree". The Journal of Higher Education. 38 (4): 197, 203.
  12. 1 2 Lady, R. Andrew (April 1967). "Honoris Causa: An Examination of the Doctor of Philosophy Degree". The Journal of Higher Education. 38 (4): 197, 201.
  13. ↑ Smawley, Robert B. (January 1963). "Letters of Credit, Kudos, and Quackery". The Phi Delta Kappan. 44 (4): 173.
  14. ↑ Eells, Walter (1960). Academic Degrees: Earned and Honorary Degrees Conferred by Institutions of Higher Education in the United States. Washington: Government Printing Office. pp. 42–52. Archived from the original on 2 December 2024. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  15. ↑ Buehrle, Sarah (19 November 2001). "75-year-old is glad to be grad". The Cincinnati Enquirer. p. B3 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ 2002 S.B. 30 Report (PDF) (Report). Columbus, Ohio: Ohio Legislative Service Commission. 31 October 2002. p. 27. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 April 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  17. ↑ Kiesewetter, Sue (12 May 2001). "Veterans become graduates; New way to honor military service: Lakota East first to award degrees". The Cincinnati Enquirer. p. B3 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ "What are Honorary Doctorate Degrees?". Education-portal.com. Archived from the original on 1 October 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  19. ↑ "Honorary Doctorates 2022". www.shu.ac.uk. Sheffield Hallam University. 2022. Archived from the original on 26 November 2022. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  20. ↑ "Doctorates a dime a dozen?". Archives.dailynews.lk. 11 November 2008. Archived from the original on 27 January 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  21. ↑ "The ceremony". University of Cambridge. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  22. ↑ "Doctorates of the University". universidadazteca.net. Archived from the original on 5 May 2021. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  23. ↑ "Archbishop of Canterbury awards Lambeth Degrees". rowanwilliams.archbishopofcanterbury.org. 16 October 2012. Archived from the original on 17 July 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  24. ↑ "Oxford Brooks University Regulations" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
  25. ↑ "Honoring the Rev. James W. C. Pennington and the Rev. Alexander Crummell". Office of the President. 22 April 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  26. ↑ Staff, TheGrio (27 April 2023). "Black men who suffered racial injustice at Yale finally get degrees". TheGrio. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  27. ↑ McNeilage, Amy (4–5 October 2014). "Ian Thorpe now Dr Thorpedo, man of letters". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 31. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  28. ↑ "Honorary Doctorate Guidelines". University of Southern Queensland. 2012. Archived from the original on 25 July 2017.
  29. ↑ "CONSTITUIÇÃO DA REPÚBLICA FEDERATIVA DO BRASIL DE 1988" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 17 July 2026.
  30. 1 2 3 "No honorary degrees is an MIT tradition going back to ... Thomas Jefferson". MIT News Office. 8 June 2001. Archived from the original on 14 April 2006. Retrieved 7 May 2006.:"MIT's founder, William Barton Rogers, regarded the practice of giving honorary degrees as 'literary almsgiving ... of spurious merit and noisy popularity...' Rogers was a geologist from the University of Virginia who believed in Thomas Jefferson's policy barring honorary degrees at the university, which was founded in 1819."
  31. ↑ Dear Uncle Ezra, Cornell University. "Dear Uncle Ezra – Questions for Thursday, 15 May 2003 – Cornell University". Ezra.cornell.edu. Archived from the original on 25 August 2010. Retrieved 5 September 2010.
  32. ↑ "Stanford Bulletin: Conferral of Degrees". Registrar.stanford.edu. Archived from the original on 28 December 2011. Retrieved 5 September 2010.
  33. ↑ "Stanford Bulletin 2008/2009: Conferral of Degrees". Stanford.edu. Archived from the original on 26 June 2010. Retrieved 5 September 2010.
  34. ↑ "The Rice Thresher Online | NEWS | Cosby to speak at '02 graduation". Rice.edu. 11 May 2002. Archived from the original on 18 June 2010. Retrieved 5 September 2010.
  35. 1 2 Rector and Visitors of The University of Virginia (1995). "Chapter 4: University Regulations: Honorary Degrees". Rector and Visitors of The University of Virginia. Archived from the original on 31 August 2006. Retrieved 7 May 2006. "The University of Virginia does not award honorary degrees. In conjunction with the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, the University presents the Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture and the Thomas Jefferson Award in Law each spring. The awards, recognizing excellence in two fields of interest to Jefferson, constitute the University's highest recognition of scholars outside the University."
  36. ↑ Andrews, Elizabeth; Murphy, Nora; Rosko, Tom. "William Barton Rogers: MIT's Visionary Founder". Exhibits: Institute Archives & Special Collections: MIT Libraries. Archived from the original on 12 May 2008. Retrieved 16 May 2008.
  37. ↑ "U.Va. To Bestow Annual Thomas Jefferson Medals For Architecture And Law". University of Virginia News. Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia. 3 April 2001. Archived from the original on 8 October 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
  38. ↑ "Stanford University—Degree of Uncommon Man and Uncommon Woman Award". Stanfordalumni.org. Archived from the original on 16 June 2010. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
  39. ↑ "UCLA Policy 140: Awarding of the UCLA Medal". Adminpolicies.ucla.edu. Archived from the original on 6 July 2010. Retrieved 5 September 2010.
  40. ↑ "Honorees of the Alumni Association". St. John's College. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  41. ↑ Edward Hicks (14 August 2024). "A brief history of the 'honorific' Oxbridge M.A. degree".
  42. ↑ Nicole Stansfield (17 February 2011). "Instant Oxford MAs under fire". Cherwell.
  43. 1 2 "Old Trinity: A 90-degree university". Trinity News. 23 March 2010. Retrieved 15 July 2026.
  44. ↑ "Trinity staff conferred with special masters' degrees". Trinity College Dublin. 19 June 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2026.
  45. 1 2 "Archives and Special Collections: Durham University Records: Information". Durham University Library. Degrees. Retrieved 16 July 2026.
  46. ↑ Durham University Calendar. 1924. p. 122.
  47. ↑ "Degree awarding powers (DAPs)". Regulatory framework for higher education in England. Office for Students. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  48. ↑ Lassila, Kathrin (July–August 2010). "The "private" Yale degree". Yale Alumni Magazine. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  49. ↑ Mirkinson, Jack (23 March 2006). "Profs' degrees are relics of old University tradition". Yale Daily News. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  50. ↑ Mitchell, Martha (1993). "Honorary Degrees". Encyclopedia Brunoniana. Brown University Library. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  51. ↑ "Encyclopedia Brunoniana | Honorary degrees". www.brown.edu. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  52. ↑ "Full Commencement Program 2024" (PDF). commencement.brown.edu.
  53. ↑ "University Has Broadened Idea of Honorary Degrees | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  54. ↑ "Morning Exercises". commencement.harvard.edu. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  55. ↑ "Honorary Degrees at Harvard: Quick Facts". Harvard University Archives Research Guides. 3 December 2015. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  56. ↑ Elkins, Kimball C. (1958), "Honorary degrees at Harvard", Harvard Library Bulletin, 12 (3): 326–353
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