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Oberlin College Commencement Award Recipients and Speakers

This guide contains listings of Commencement speakers, including for the Baccalaureate ceremony. This also contains listings of Distinguished Award and Honorary Degree recipients.

Honorary Degree Recipients, 1951-1970

Honorary Degree Recipients, 1951-1970
Name Honorary Degree Year Career if Known
Paul Howard Douglas LL.D. 1951  
Clark Barnaby Firestone, OC 1891 Litt.D. 1951  
Charles Williams Jones, OC 1926 Litt.D. 1951  
Bengal Narsing Rau LL.D. 1951  
Joseph Treloar Wearn Sci.D. 1951  
Rachel Louise Carson Sci.D. 1952  
James William Fulbright LL.D. 1952  
Lester B. Granger LL.D. 1952  
George Szell Mus.D. 1952  
Amos Niven Wilder, enr. 1913-1915 D.D. 1952  
Thornton Niven Wilder, enr. 1915-1917 Litt.D. 1952  
Robert Herbert Bainton D.D. 1953  
Frances Payne Bolton LL.D. 1953  
Arthur Vining Davis LL.D. 1953  
Wallace Kirkman Harrison D.F.A. 1953  
Paul Gray Hoffman L.H.D. 1953  
Edward Everett Horton, enr. 1901-1907 Litt.D. 1953  
Roy Arthur Hunt LL.D. 1953  
Oscar Jászi LL.D. 1953  
Frank John Lausche LL.D. 1953  
Raymond Tyson Moyer, OC 1921 Sci.D. 1953  
Grove Hiram Patterson, OC 1905 L.H.D. 1953  
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan LL.D. 1953  
Ralph Washington Sockman D.D. 1953  
Albert Spalding Mus.D. 1953  
Armstrong Alexander Stambaugh LL.D. 1953  
John Calhoun Baker LL.D. 1954  
Kenneth Stewart Cole, OC 1921 Sci.D. 1954  
Edward Roscoe Murrow LL.D. 1954  
Douglas Van Steere L.H.D. 1954  
Theodore Edwin Steinway LL.D. 1954  
Willem Aldolf Visser't Hooft D.D. 1954  
Richard Redwood Deupree LL.D. 1955  
William Mathewson Milliken D.F.A. 1955  
Willard Van Ormer Quine, OC 1930 Litt.D. 1955  
James Barrett Reston Litt.D. 1955  
Adlai Ewing Stevenson LL.D. 1955  
Alma Gracey Stokey, OC 1904 Sci.D. 1955  
Brand Blanshard LL.D. 1956  
Arthur Frank Burns LL.D. 1956  
Charles Bruce Catton Litt.D. 1956  
John Marshall Harlan LL.D. 1956  
Elmina Rose Lucke, OC 1912 L.H.D. 1956  
Jesse Feiring Williams, OC 1909 Sci.D. 1956  
Dorothy May Bell, OC 1925 LL.D. 1957  
Chester Bowles LL.D. 1957  
Clarence Henry Hilberry, OC 1924 LL.D. 1957  
Ralph Kirkpatrick Mus.D. 1957  
Edwin Oldfather Reischauer, OC 1931 Litt.D. 1957  
Charles Dunbar Sherman LL.D. 1957  
Theodore Otto Wedel, OC 1914 D.D. 1957  
Frank Whittemore Abrams L.H.D. 1958  
Marian Anderson Mus.D. 1958  
Harry Scott Ashmore LL.D. 1958  
Detlev W. Bronk L.H.D. 1958  
Aaron Copland Mus.D. 1958  
Andrew Wellington Cordner LL.D. 1958  
John William Gardner L.H.D. 1958  
Ruth Ingram, OC 1911 L.H.D. 1958  
Devereux Colt Josephs L.H.D. 1958  
James Robert Killian, Jr. Sci.D. 1958  
Joseph Ferguson King D.D. 1958  
Roy Edward Larsen Litt.D. 1958  
James Finney Lincoln LL.D. 1958  
Dale Wilmore McMillen, enr. 1899-1901 LL.D. 1958  
Agnes Elizabeth Ernst Meyer L.H.D. 1958  
Walter Godfrey Nord L.H.D. 1958  
Irving S. Olds L.H.D. 1958  
Walter Paul Paepcke L.H.D. 1958  
Charles Albert Sawyer, OC 1908 LL.D. 1958  
Mark Christopher Schinnerer LL.D. 1958  
Paul Bigelow Sears Sci.D. 1958  
Alfred Pritchard Sloan, Jr. L.H.D. 1958  
Charles James Stilwell LL.D. 1958  
Howard W. Thurman, enr. 1926-1928 D.D. 1958  
McGeorge Bundy LL.D. 1959  
John Nash Douglas Bush Litt.D. 1959  
Herbert Parker Lansdale, Jr., OC1919 L.H.D. 1959  
Helmut Richard Neibuhr S.T.D. 1959  
Howard Tanbman Mus.D. 1959  
Jacob Viner LL.D. 1959  
Clarence Ward LL.D. 1959  
Millar Burrows D.D. 1960  
Francis Philip Frazier L.H.D. 1960  
Alfred Maximilian Bruenther LL.D. 1960  
Harold Jantz Litt.D. 1960  
Eberhard Preussner Mus.D. 1960  
Helen Constance White Litt.D. 1960  
John Coleman Bennett S.T.D. 1961 Educator
Meribeth Elliott Cameron Litt.D. 1961 Educator
Douglas Haskell, OC 1923 D.F.A. 1961 Editor
John Schoff Millis LL.D. 1961 Educator
Henri Maurice Peyre Litt.D. 1961 Educator
Paul Anthony Samuelson LL.D. 1961 Educator
William Edwards Stevenson LL.D. 1961 Educator, Oberlin College President
Ralph Moore Besse LL.D. 1962 Businessperson
Orvil Eugene Dryfoos LL.D. 1962 Publisher
J. George Harrar LL.D. 1962 Social Welfare
Agnes Warner Mastick, OC 1891 (in absentia) L.H.D. 1962 Public Service
Seabury C. Mastick, OC 1892 (in absentia) L.H.D. 1962 Public Service
J. Irwin Miller LL.D. 1962 Businessperson
Carl Thomas Rowan Litt.D. 1962 Government Service, Journalist
Albert Szent-Gyorgyi Sci.D. 1962 Scientist
Sydney Kittridge Bunker L.H.D. 1963 Educator
Harold Terry Clark LL.D. 1963 Lawyer
Ralph Emerson McGill Litt.D. 1963 Journalist
Rosemary Park LL.D. 1963 Educator
William Howard Schuman Mus.D. 1963 Musician
John Minor Wisdom LL.D. 1963 Lawyer
Lawrence L. Durgin, OC 1944 D.D. 1964 Religion
Walter W. Heller, OC 1935 LL.D. 1964 Government Service
Frank Joseph LL.D. 1964 Lawyer
Percy L. Julian Sci.D. 1964 Scientist
Thodore M. Newcomb, OC 1924 Sci.D. 1964 Scientist
Mina Rees Sci.D. 1964 Scientist, Educator
Leona Baumgartner LL.D. 1965 Government Service
R.H. Erwin Espy L.H.D. 1965 Religion
Martin Luther King, Jr. L.H.D. 1965 Social Service, Activist
Peter Mennin Mus.D. 1965 Musician
Dean Rusk LL.D. 1965 Government Service
Frank Stanton LL.D. 1965 Businessperson
Frederick Artz, OC 1916 Litt.D. 1966 Educator
Harold Boeschenstein LL.D. 1966 Businessperson
Landrum Bolling LL.D. 1966 Educator
Germaine Bree Litt.D. 1966 Educator
Ivan Galamian Mus.D. 1966 Musician
Edith Green LL.D. 1966 Government Work
Kathrin Cawein Mastick A.M. 1966 Public Service
Paul W.W. Green D.D. 1967 Religion
Julius Molnar, OC 1937 Sci.D. 1967 Scientist, Businessperson
Rudolf Serkin Mus.D. 1967 Musician
Wolfgang Stechow D.F.A. 1967 Educator
U Thant LL.D. 1967 Public Service
Roy Wilkins LL.D. 1967 Public Service
Margaret Clapp LL.D. 1968 Educator
Kenneth Witcher Clement LL.D. 1968 Doctor, Medical Research
Wallace J. Eckert Sci.D. 1968 Scientist, Educator
Dirk A. Flentrop Mus.D. 1968 Musician
Sol M. Linowitz LL.D. 1968 Government Service
Yasuzo Shimizu D.D. 1968 Educator
Llewellyn E. Thompson, Jr. LL.D. 1968 Government Service
Andrew F. Brimmer LL.D. 1969 Government Service
Ralph F. Hirschmann Sci.D. 1969 Scientific Research
Clark Kerr LL.D. 1969 Educator
John S. Knight LL.D. 1969 Editor
Ben W. Lewis LL.D. 1969 Educator
James Long L.H.D. 1969 Businessperson
Frank Van Cleef L.H.D. 1969 Businessperson
Elliott Cook Carter Mus.D. 1970 Composer
Kenneth Bancroft Clark L.H.D. 1970 Social Service
Wilmot Norton Hess, OC 1949 Sci.D. 1970 Scientist
Kathryn Louise Hopwood, OC 1930 L.H.D. 1970 Educator
Jesse Louis Jackson L.H.D. 1970 Social Service, Activist
Sherman Emery Lee D.F.A. 1970 Artist, Public Service
Carl Burton Stokes LL.D. 1970 Public Service
Arthur Joseph Goldberg (degree not conferred) LL.D. 1970 Public Service