Honorary Degrees

Williams has conferred honorary degrees since 1795. All members of the college community are encouraged to make nominations, from which each year the Honorary Degrees Advisory Committee recommends to the full Board of Trustees a group of potential recipients who have excelled in diverse fields and stand as inspiring examples for our graduating students. Each year one recipient delivers the Commencement address, and one delivers the Baccalaureate address.

We invite your nominations for honorary degree recipients.

First name Last name Degree Year
Nancy Kassebaum Baker LLD 1998
Philip Glass MUSD 1998
Yo-Yo Ma MUSD 1998
William D. Phillips DSC 1998
Jody Williams LLD 1998
Peter S. Willmott LLD 1998
Thomas Aceto LLD 1997
Geoffrey Canada LLD 1997
Betty Carter MUSD 1997
Sandra Faber DSC 1997
Grace Paley LITTD 1997
E. Mandell de Windt LLD 1997
Spencer B. Beebe LLD 1996
George H.W. Bush LLD 1996
Stewart Kwoh LLD 1996
Michael S. McPherson LLD 1996
Martha Nussbaum LHD 1996
Susan Solomon DS 1996
Nancy Birdsall LLD 1995
Marilyn Butler LITTD 1995
Tom R. Gerety LLD 1995
A. Leon Higginbotham LLD 1995
Syed Shahid Husain LLD 1995
Charles H. Mott LLD 1995
Bernice Johnson Reagon LHD 1995
Goh Chok Tong LLD 1995
Cornel West LHD 1995
Nannerl O. Keohane LLD 1994
Francis Oakley LITTD 1994
J. Kirk T. Varnedoe DFA 1994
Madeleine K. Albright LLD 1993
Jose A. Cabranes LLD 1993
Arne H. Carlson LLD 1993
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. LHD 1993
Louise Gluck LITTD 1993
Albert O. Hirschman LHD 1993
Madeleine M. Kunin LLD 1993
James Charles Lehrer LHD 1993
Maya Y. Lin DFA 1993
Alasdair MacIntyre LITTD 1993
Pauline Maier LHD 1993
Harry C. Payne LLD 1993
Earl A. Powell III DFA 1993
Vera C. Rubin DSC 1993
Martin C. Scorsese DFA 1993
Walter V. Shipley LLD 1993
Bruce Sundlun LLD 1993
Tsuneo Tanaka LLD 1993
David Tracy DD 1993
Preston R. Washington DD 1993