Honorary Degrees
The Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters is awarded by the Board of Regents to individuals distinguished by their national or international reputations or accomplishments in scholarship, public service, profession, industry or other areas.
on awarding of honorary degrees.
2023 Recipients
- Kumu Edith Kekuhikuhipu‘uoneonaali‘iokohala Kenao Kanaka‘ole, Contributions to the revitalization of Hawaiian language and culture
- Kumu Frank Kawaikapuokalani Hewett, Contributions to Hawaiian music and hula, and promotion of Hawaiian culture and arts
- Kumu Jerald Kimo Alama Keaulana, Contributions as an historian, educator, leader, kumu hula and advocate for the Hawaiian arts, language, culture and history
2022 Recipient
- Chef Tylun Pang, contributions to UHMC culinary program
2019 Recipients
- President Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States
- General Eric Shinseki, public servant and military commander
2017 Recipient
- Richard R. Clifton, judge
2016 Recipient
- Charles Nainoa Thompson, navigator
2015 Recipients
- Robert Masuda, public servant
- Martha Nussbaum, professor of law and philosophy and author
- Thomas Ervin Moffatt, Lifetime commitment and work in the entertainment industry for the state of Hawai‘i
- U Than Oo, Education leader in Myanmar
- Henk Brouwer Rogers, Lifetime commitment to the environment
2014 Recipients
- Richard Kekuni Blaisdell, Lifetime commitment to Native Hawaiian health
2013 Recipients
- Edward “Eddie” Leilani Kamae, Musician and filmmaker
2012 Recipients
- Daniel Akaka, Former United States Senator
- Haruki Murakami, writer
- W.S. Merwin, Poet Laureate
2011 Recipients
- Shinichi Maehara, Okinawan scholar
- Gordon E. Moore, Intel Corp founder
2010 Recipients
- Patti Lyons, family and child advocate
- Dale Chihuly, glass artist
- Bernard and Barbro Osher, community leaders
2009 Recipients
- Abigail Kawananakoa, cultural preservationist
- Jerry Yang, search engine co-founder
- Agnes Cope, culture and health advocate
- Albert Wendt, educator and writer
2006 Recipients
- Shen Xiaomei, Jingju master
- Tommy Lasorda, baseball great
2005 Recipients
- Pualani Kanahele, kumu hula
- Genoa Keawe, legendary Hawaiian musician
- Kaoru Kashiwagi, Japanese attorney
2004 Recipients
- Earl E. Bakken, pioneer pacemaker designer
- David C. Cole, executive and environmentalist
- Charles K. Nishioka, self-made businessperson
2003 Recipients
- Henry Kuualoha Giugni, Congressional figure
- Richard Dean Parsons, AOL Time Warner CEO
2002 Recipients
- Marcel Marceau, French mime
- Elizabeth M. Birch, civil rights advocate
- Robert R. Midkiff, businessman/philanthropist
2001 Recipient
- Edward G. Seidensticker, Japan scholar
2000
- Kim Dae Jung, president of South Korea and Nobel Prize winner
1990–1999
- Lech Walesa, human rights supporter, former Poland president and Nobel Peace Prize recipient, 1999
- Toshiko Takaezu, master potter, 1993
- Thomas Yagi, 1993
- Monsignor Charles Kekumano, priest, 1993
- Richard Wong, state senator, Bishop Estate trustee, 1993
- Robert Oshiro, co-founder, Hawai‘i Democratic Party and state legislator, 1993
- Calvin Sia, Kapiolani Medical Center trustee, 1992
- Betty Vitousek, Family Court judge, 1992
- Danny Kaleikini, entertainer, 1991
- Alfred Preis, founder, State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, 1991
- Masaru Pundy Yokouchi, chair, State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, 1991
- Hubert Everly, dean emeritus, 麻豆传媒College of Education, 1991
- Ralph Kosaki, superintendent of education, 1991
- Shimeji Kanazawa, Kuakini Health System trustee, 1990
- Saburo Okita, chair, Institute for Domestic and International Policy Studies, 1990
- Lloyd R. Vasey, founder, Pacific Forum, 1990
- William Fulbright, U.S. senator, 1990
1980–1989
- Herbert C. Cornuelle, James Campbell Estate trustee, 1989
- Hung Wai Ching, retired businessman, 1989
- Dai Ho Chun, retired educator, 1989
- Kan Jung Luke, chairman, Hawai‘i National Bank, 1989
- Edward Nakamura, Supreme Court associate justice, 1988 (DH)
- Ah Quon McElrath, social worker, 1988 (DH)
- Soedjatmoko, United Nations University rector, 1988 (DH)
- Yehan Numata, founder, Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai, 1988 (DH)
- Kenneth F. Brown, architect, former legislator, 1987 (DH)
- Beatrice Krauss, ethnobotanist, 1987 (DH)
- Mau Piailug, navigator and explorer, 1987 (DH)
- Claude DuTeil, founder and head, Institute for Human Services, 1987 (DH)
- Bhumibol Adulyadej, king of Thailand, 1986 (DH)
- Robert J. Pfeiffer, chairman and CEO, Alexander & Baldwin, 1986 (DH)
- George R. Ariyoshi, governor of Hawai‘i, 1986 (DH)
- D. Carleton Gajdusek, laboratory chief, National Institutes of Health, 1986 (DH)
- George Fukunaga, chairman, Servco Pacific, 1985
- Wallace Fujiyama, attorney, 1985
- Baron Goto, 1985
- Masaji Marumoto, justice, 1985
- Allen Neuharth, chairman and CEO, Gannett Company, 1985
- Mike Mansfield, ambassador, 1983 (DH)
- Chinn Ho, businessman, 1983 (DH)
- Soshitsu Sen, grand tea master, 1983 (DH)
- Spark M. Matsunaga, U.S. senator, 1983 (LD)
- John D. Bellinger, chairman, First Hawaiian Bank, 1982 (LLD)
- Arthur Joseph Goldberg, justice, 1982 (LLD)
- Richard K. Lyman Jr., Bishop Estate trustee, 1982 (LLD)
- MasayukiTokioka, businessman, 1982 (LLD)
- Emma Farden Sharpe, educator, 1981
- Gladys Aiona Brandt. educator, 1981
- Abraham K. Akaka, pastor, Kawaiahao Church, 1980 (HHD)
1970–1979
- Daniel K. Inouye, U.S. senator, 1979 (LLD)
- Yasunari Kawabata, Nobel Prize in Literature, 1970 (LittD)
- Earl Warren, former chief justice, U.S. Supreme Court, 1970 (LLD)
1960–1969
- Georg Von Bekesy, 麻豆传媒Hawaiian Telephone Co. Chair in Science and Nobel Prize winner, 1969 (LLD)
- Hubert H. Humphrey, U.S. vice president, 1966 (LLD)
- Ferdinand Marcos, Philippines president, 1966 (LLD)
- John Anthony Burns, governor of Hawai‘i, 1964 (LLD)
- Taizo Ishikawa, Japanese businessman, 1964 (LLD)
- Clark Kerr, University of California president, 1964 (LLD)
- Diosdado Macapagal, president of The Philippines, 1964 (LLD)
- Joseph Francis C. Rock, botanist, 1962 (DSc)
- David Timmins Fullaway, entomologist, 1962 (DSc)
- Robert Leavitt Cushing, PRI, 1962 (DSc)
- Leonard David Baver, Hawaii Sugar Planters Association, 1962 (DSc)
- Herbert A. R. Austin, 1962 (DSc)
- Arturo Frondizi, president of Argentina, 1962 (LLD)
- Philip E.Spalding, 麻豆传媒regent (chair), 1961 (LLD)
- Charles H. Edmondson, 麻豆传媒professor emeritus, 1961 (DSc)
- Lyndon B. Johnson, U.S. vice president, 1961 (LLD)
- Dwight D. Eisenhower, former U.S. president, 1960 (LLD)
- James H. Shoemaker, Bank of Hawai‘i, 1960 (LLD)
- Mary K. Pukui, Bishop Museum, 1960 (DLitt)
- Max Levine, 麻豆传媒research associate, 1960 (DSc)
President Harry Truman receiving degree, 1953
1950–1959
- Daisetz T. Suzuki, Japan author, 1959 (LLD)
- Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, vice president of India, 1959 (LHD)
- Hu Shih, ambassador to U.S., 1959 (HHD)
- Alexander Spoehr, Bishop Museum, 1959 (DSc)
- Arthur E. Orvis, retired industrialist, 1959 (HHD)
- Albert J. Mangelsdorf, Hawaii Sugar Planters Association, 1959 (LHD)
- Robert P. Griffing Jr., director, Honolulu Academy of Arts, 1959 (DFA)
- Raymond Coll, Editor, Honolulu Advertiser, 1959 (LittD)
- Mayling S. Chiang, Chinese intellectual, 1959 (LLD)
- Riley H. Allen, editor, Honolulu Star Bulletin, 1959 (LittD)
- Fred A. Seaton, U.S. secretary of interior, 1959 (LLD)
- Felix B. Stump, CINPAC administrator, 1958 (LLD)
- David L. Crawford, 麻豆传媒president emeritus, 1957 (LLD)
- Carlos P. Garcia, Philippines president, 1957 (LHD)
- Ezra T. Benson, U.S. secretary of agriculture, 1956 (LLD)
- Ralph S. Kuykendall, 麻豆传媒historian, 1956 (LHD)
- Gregg M. Sinclair, 麻豆传媒president emeritus, 1956 (HHD)
- Walter F. Dillingham, president, O.R. & L., 1955 (LLD)
- Carlos P. Romulo, ambassador to U.S., 1955 (LHD)
- Harry David Gideonse, president, Brooklyn University, 1955 (HHD)
- Mme. Vijaya Lakshmi, Indian intellectual, 1954 (HHD)
- Charles F. Chillingworth, legislator, 1954 (LLD)
- George Barati, conductor, Symphony Orchestra, 1954 (DMus)
- Arthur H. Sulzberger, editor, New York Times, 1954 (HHD)
- Samuel W. King, governor of Hawai‘i, 1953 (LLD)
- Louis M. 腍acker, dean, Columbia, 1953 (LLD)
- Hiram L. Fong, legislator, 1953 (LLD)
- Adna G. Clarke, ROTC, alumni secretary, 1953 (LLD)
- Harry S. Truman, U.S. president, 1953 (HHD)
- Milburn L.Wilson, director, U.S. Extension, 1953 (HHD)
- Frederick Ohrt, Department of Water Supply, 1952 (DSc)
- Oren E. Long, Superintendent, DPI, 1952 (LLD)
- Colin G. Lennox, Department of Agriculture, 1952 (DSc)
- Rufus C. Harris, president, Tulane University, 1952 (DCL)
- Elbert D. Thomas, high commissioner, Trust Territory, 1951 (LLD)
- Cyril E. Pemberton, Hawai‘i Sugar Planters Association, 1951 (DSc)
- Leslie A. Hicks, president, Hawaiian Electric Co., 1951
- Daniel L. Marsh, president, Boston University, 1951 (HHD)
- Oliver C. Carmichael, university president, 1950 (LHD)
1940–1949
- Mary D. Frear, 麻豆传媒regent, 1943 (DLitt)
- Arthur R. Keller, 麻豆传媒administrator, 1942 (DSc)
1930–1939
- George G. Wilson, Harvard professor, 1937 (LLD)
- Walter F. Frear, governor of Hawai‘i, 1937 (LLD)
- Alexander Meiklejohn, president, Amherst, 1937 (LLD)
- Helen S. Carter, patron, 1937 (MA)
- C. Montague Cooke, Bishop Museum, 1936 (DSc)
- Edwin R. Embree, Rosenwald Foundation, 1936 (DLitt)
- Col. Allen W. Guillon, U.S. Army, 1934 (LLD)
- Margaret Bergen, 麻豆传媒professor, 1934 (MA)
- Nell Findley, department head, 1933 (MA)
- Stanley D. Porteus, Psychology Clinic director, 1933 (DSc)
- Edward M. Ehrhorn, Board of Water Supply, 1932 (MS)
- Tatsuki Harada, president, Doshisa University, 1932 (LLD)
- Anna C. Cooke, art patron, 1931 (MA)
- Ethel M. Damon, author, 1931 (MA)
- Thomas G. Thrum, author and editor, 1931 (MA)
1919–1929
- Frederick E. Muir, Hawai‘i Sugar Planters Association, 1924 (DSc)
- G. Howard Hitchcock, painter, 1924 (MA)
- Gerrit Wilder, 麻豆传媒professor, 1924 (MS)
- Frederick Krauss, 麻豆传媒professor, 1921 (DSc)
- Sanford B. Dole, governor of Hawai‘i, 1919 (LLD)
- Marion M. Scott, DPI, 1919
Honorary Degree Conferee
Abigail Kawananakoa
Conferred May 17, 2009
The great grand niece of King David Kalakaua and Queen Kapi‘olani, Her Royal Highness Princess Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kawananakoa is a philanthropist who has helped sustain authentic Hawaiian history, music, hula, literature and language.
As president of the Friends of ‘Iolani Palace for nearly 30 years, she was the moving force behind the palace’s monumental and historic restoration project. She has supported many projects throughout the state, from Hawaiian language immersion schools to the historic renovation of The Hawaiian Hall at Bishop Museum.
She established the Abigail K. Kawananakoa Foundation to continue her commitment to the preservation of Hawaiian culture and a wide range of charities throughout the world, and she formed Na Lei Ali‘i Kawananakoa, which serves and represents the interests of Native Hawaiians and has preserved many Hawaiian artifacts.
Known globally for her love of horses and her support of animal rights, Princess Kawananakoa endowed a university chair with a gift of $3 million for research on equine orthopedics at the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Colorado State University. More than 160 Hawai‘i students have graduated from the Colorado State veterinary program through the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education program, which allows students from states without veterinary programs, such as Hawai‘i, to compete for slots at participating universities with fees paid by their state of residency.