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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, 1971-2000

Honorary Degree Recipients, 1971-2000
Name Honorary Degree Year Career if Known
Joan Ganz Cooney L.H.D. 1971 Educator
John King Fairbank LL.D. 1971 Educator
Jose Arcadia Limon D.F.A. 1971 Artist
Dorothy Maynor L.H.D. 1971 Musician
Lloyd N. Morrisett, OC 1951 L.H.D. 1971 Educator
William Edgar Stafford Litt.D. 1971 Author
Ada Louise Huxtable D.F.A. 1972 Architecture Critic
Claes Thure Oldenburg D.F.A. 1972 Artist, Sculptor
Mircea Eliade L.H.D. 1972 Religious Educator
E. Power Biggs Mus.D. 1974 Musician
Herbert Gordon May L.H.D. 1976 Biblical Scholar, Educator
George Eaton Simpson L.H.D. 1976 Sociologist, Educator
Denise Scott-Brown D.F.A. 1977 Architecture
Robert Venturi D.F.A. 1977 Architecture
Sheppard Randolph Edmonds D.F.A. 1977 Black Theater
John Stewart Service, OC 1931 LL.D. 1977 Government Service
Thomas Hastings Wilson Sci.D. 1977 Scientist, Doctor
Richard Newell Cooper LL.D. 1978 Government Service
George Henry Crumb Mus.D. 1978 Musician
Barbara Rosner Seaman, OC 1956 L.H.D. 1978 Journalist, Civil Rights Activist
Luke Eby Steiner Sci.D. 1978 Educator
Donald Ainslie Henderson Sci.D. 1979 Medical Research
Robert Louis Kroc Sci.D. 1979 Scientific Research
Jewel Stradford Lafontant LL.D. 1979 Lawyer, Civil Rights Activist
Nancy Hays Teeters LL.D. 1979 Government Service
Robert William Cairns Sci.D. 1980 Scientific Technology
Rollo Reese May L.H.D. 1980 Educator
Toni Morrison L.H.D. 1980 Educator, Author, Journalist
David Henry Pinkney H.H.D. 1980 Educator, Historian
Louis Stokes H.H.D. 1980 Lawyer, Politician
Edwin Carlos Berry H.H.D. 1981 Social Service
Dorothy Grace DeLay Mus.D. 1981 Musician
John Donald Lewis (in absentia) LL.D. 1981 Educator
George Stanley McGovern LL.D. 1981 Government Service
August Wenzinger Mus.D. 1981 Musician
Mary Dent Crisp LL.D. 1982 Politician
Erwin N. Griswold LL.D. 1982 Legal Work
Clyde A. Holbrook L.H.D. 1982 Professor of Religion
Ellen H.E. Johnson, OC 1933 D.F.A. 1982 Artist, Educator
Roger W. Sperry, OC 1935 (in absentia) Sci.D. 1982 Scientist, Nobel Prize Winner
Maya Angelou L.H.D. 1983 Author, Civil Rights Leader
Trisha Brown D.F.A. 1983 Dancer
Frederic Gomes Cassidy H.H.D. 1983 Linguistics
Charles Adams Mosher LL.D. 1983 Politician, Governmental Work
James Lawrence Powell Sci.D. 1983 Scientist, Educator
Victor Jerome Stone LL.D. 1983 Legal Educator
David Joel Zinman Mus.D. 1983 Musician
Mary Frances Berry LL.D. 1983 Educator, Civil Rights Leader
A. Bartlett Giamatti H.H.D. 1983 Educator
Elizabeth Topham Kennan L.H.D. 1983 Educator
George Frost Kennan (in absentia) LL.D. 1983 Governmental Work, Diplomatic Work
Benjamin Elijah Mays H.H.D. 1983 Educator, Civil Rights Leader
George Theophilus Walker Mus.D. 1983 Musician
Andrew Young LL.D. 1983 Politician, Civil Rights Leader
Ralph Eugene Ellsworth L.H.D. 1983 Academic Leadership
Walter King Bailey, OC 1919 H.H.D. 1984 Businessperson
Dalton Graf Baldwin, OC 1953 Mus.D. 1984 Musician
Francine du Plessix Gray Litt.D. 1984 Writer
Warren Dexter Niederhauser, OC 1939 Sci.D. 1984 Scientist
Sinichi Suzukii Mus.D. 1984 Music Educator
Anna Vivian Brown H.H.D. 1985 Administrator, Geriatric Research
Bernard Louis Gladieux LL.D. 1985 Public Administrator
Miroslav Holub L.H.D. 1985 Poet
Magdeleine Hours D.F.A. 1985 Artist
Annette Kaufman Mus.D. 1985 Musician
Louis Kauffman Mus.D. 1985 Musician
Maynard Mack Litt.D. 1985 Educator
Janet Taylor Spence Sci.D. 1985 Scientist, Educator
Andrei Voznesensky L.H.D. 1985 Poet
John Roland Brown, Jr., OC 1933 Sci.D. 1986 Scientist
Cristoph von Dohnanyi Mus.D. 1986 Musician
Wilbur James Gould H.H.D. 1986 Doctor, Musician
Erich Bloch (in absentia) Sci.D. 1987 Scientist
John Halle Gutfreund H.H.D. 1987 Businessperson
Bishop Desmond Tutu D.D. 1987 Statesman, Bishop
Ellen Taafe Zwillich Mus.D. 1987 Composer
James Arthur Campbell Sci.D. 1988 Scientist, Educator
John Harold Kander, OC 1951 Mus.D. 1988 Musician, Composer
Steven Alan Monter H.H.D. 1988 Community Service
Donald James Pease LL.D. 1988 Governmental Service
Gardner Calvin Taylor, OC 1940 D.D. 1988 Preacher
Jesse Philips, OC 1937 H.H.D. 1988 Businessperson, Philanthropist
Niara Sudarkasa, OC 1957 H.H.D. 1988 Civil Rights Activist, Educator
Stanley Cohen, OC 1945 Sci.D. 1989 Scientist
Audre Lorde Litt.D. 1989 Writer, Professor
Montgomery Nelson McKinney H.H.D. 1989 Businessperson, Philanthropist
Howard Morton Metzenbaum LL.D. 1989 Governmental Service
Jack Warner Schaefer Litt.D. 1989 Governmental Service
Gunther Alexander Schuller Mus.D. 1989 Composer, Educator
John Noot Stern, OC 1939 H.H.D. 1989 Businessperson, Philanthropist
Lawrence William Funkhouser, OC 1943 Sci.D. 1990 Scientist
Bronislaw Geremek H.H.D. 1990 Businessperson, Philanthropist
Trinh Minh-ha D.F.A. 1990 Fine Artist
Eric Thomas Nord Sci.D. 1990 Scientist, Businessperson
Tatayana Ivanova Zaslavskaya LL.D. 1990 Sociologist, Economist
Hans Haacke D.F.A. 1991 Sculptor
Half David Hotchkiss, OC 1969 Sci.D. 1991 Inventor, Humanitarian
Robert Nathaniel Mann Mus.D. 1991 Musician, Educator
Fay Wattleton H.H.D. 1991 Administrator, Humanitarian
Jon Carter Covell D.F.A. 1992 Asian Art Historian
Antonia Hernandez LL.D. 1992 Human Rights Lawyer
David Weikart Sci.D. 1992 Psychologist, Educator
June E. Osborn, OC 1957 Sci.D. 1993 Educator, Humanitarian
Amartya Sen L.H.D. 1993 Philosopher, Economist
Muhammad Yunus H.H.D. 1993 Economist, Humanitarian
Romulus Z. Linney, OC 1953 Litt.D. 1994 Playwright, Teacher
Sheldon S. Wolin, OC 1944 LL.D. 1994 Political Theorist
Johnnetta B. Cole, OC 1957 H.H.D. 1995 Educator, Humanitarian
Peter T. Flawn, OC 1946 Sci.D. 1995 Geologist, Educator
Robert Shaw Mus.D. 1995 Choral Musician, Educator
Avery F. Brooks, OC 1970 D.F.A. 1996 Actor, Educator
Robert Coles H.H.D. 1996 Psychiatrist, Educator
Harry Barkus Gray Sci.D. 1996 Chemist/Researcher
Christopher Rouse, OC 1971 Mus.D. 1996 Composer, Educator
Philip Hanawalt, OC 1954 Sci.D. 1997 DNA Researcher, Educator
Allan Spear, OC 1958 H.H.D. 1997 Legislator, Human Rights Leader
Edith Wiens, OC 1975 Mus.D. 1997 Singer, Educator
Jerry Greenfield, OC 1978 H.H.D. 1998 Humanitarian in Business
Denyce Graves, OC 1985 Mus.D. 1998 Singer
The Hon. Damon J. Keith LL.D. 1998 U.S. Circuit Judge, Activist
F. Champion Ward, OC 1932 H.H.D. 1998 Statesman, Educator
Frederick S. Cross, OC 1942 Sci.D. 1999 Surgeon, Inventor
Robert M. Kingdon, OC 1949 H.H.D. 1999 Historian
John J. Sweeney LL.D. 1999 Labor Leader, Activist
Oscar Arias Sanchez LL.D. 2000 World Leader, Peace Advocate
Louis Lane Mus.D. 2000 Conductor
Eleanor Gould Packard, OC 1938 (in absentia) H.H.D. 2000 Grammarian, Editor
William R. Perlik, OC 1948 LL.D. 2000 Board Chair, Lawyer, Mediator