May 2024William (Bill) Frank Decker
Former UI Director of Information Services (ITS) and national leader in internet infrastructure development
Honorary Doctor of Science
 Charles Ray
Internationally esteemed sculptor
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
May 2023Oliver Lee Jackson
Internationally esteemed painter, sculptor, and printmaker
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters 
 Shirley Schermer
Inaugural Burials Program Director at the Office of the State Archaeologist, researcher, and advocate
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters 
May 2022Mark M. Johnson 
Television producer and founder of the Children’s Action Network
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters 
 Rita Dove 
Celebrated essayist and former US Poet Laureate (1993-1995)
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
May 2021Mark P. Mattson   
Former chief of the Laboratory of Neurosciences at the National Institute on Aging Intramural Research Program
Honorary Doctor of Science 
Dec 2020Ellen Stofan 
Director of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and distinguished planetary scientist 
Honorary Doctor of Science
May 2019Mary Sue Coleman
Former president of the University of Michigan and the University of Iowa 
Honorary Doctor of Science
May 2018Michèle Crider
Preeminent operatic soprano singer
Honorary Doctor of Musical Arts
December 2017Marilynne Robinson
Novelist and Pulitzer Prize recipient
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
May 2017Martín-José Sepúlveda
Health care innovator in field of public health
Honorary Doctor of Science 
 Ted Waitt
Computer entrepreneur and social philanthropist
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters 
May 2016William "Bill" Bryson
Non-fiction author and journalist
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
May 2014Leonard Hadley
Former CEO and chairman, Maytag
Honorary Degree of Humane Letters
 Manny Villifana
Health care innovator in the field of cardiac medical devices
Honorary Doctor of Science
May 2013John W. Colloton
Former CEO of UI Hospitals and Clinics 
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
 Mary Louise Petersen
Former president of the Board of Regents, State of Iowa  
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
May 2012Robert D. Ray
Former Governor of the State of Iowa
Honorary Doctor of Law
 Robert Osterhaus
Former member of the Iowa State House of Representatives
Honorary Doctor of Science
 Stanley F. Redeker
Former president of the Board of Regents, State of Iowa
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
May 2011Jerre Stead
Dedicated business and civic leader
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
 Richard Myers
Former member of the Iowa House of Representatives
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
 

Gene Wilder   
Actor, comedian, writer, and filmmaker

[Mr. Wilder's Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters was approved by the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, but was not conferred before Mr. Wilder passed away in 2016].

December 2010                  Arthur Neu
Former State senator
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
May 2010Tom Brokaw
Television journalist and author
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
 Robert Hass
Pulitzer Prize winner and former U.S. Poet Laureate
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
 C. Vivian Stringer
Former UI Women’s Basketball Coach
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
 Gregs Thomopulos
CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Stanley Consultants, Inc.
Honorary Doctor of Science
 John Pappajohn
Entrepreneur and UI Benefactor
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
December 2009Henry B. Tippie
Businessman and UI Benefactor
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
May 2009Johan Hultin
Noted pathologist and medical researcher
Honorary Doctor of Science
December 2008Himie Voxman
Clarinet legend and former director of the UI School of Music 
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
May 2008Robert M. Solow
Nobel Prize winner for Economics
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
 Orhan Pamuk  
[Mr. Pamuk's award was approved by the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, but has not yet been conferred. The university hopes to host Mr. Pamuk so the award may be conferred in person.]
Nobel Prize for Literature
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
December 2007Dr. Ignacio Ponseti
Orthopaedic Surgeon
Honorary Doctor of Science
 Marvin Pomerantz
Philanthropist
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Note: No honorary degrees were conferred from June, 1981 to 2007.
June 1981Willard (Sandy) Boyd 
President emeritus of the University of Iowa and professor of law
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
June 1969Marquis W. Childs
American journalist and Pulitzer Prize recipient
Doctor of Letters
June 1968Edward H. Levi
U.S. Attorney General
Doctor of Laws
June 1967George H. Gallup
American public opinion statistician, originator of the Gallup poll
Doctor of Laws
June 1966Walter P. Reuther
American labor union leader
Doctor of Laws
June 1965W. Willard Wirtz
U.S. Secretary of Labor 
Doctor of Laws
June 1963Dr. Richard E. Shope
Physician who discovered the virus associated with the 1918 influenza pandemic 
Doctor of Science
 Lewis L. Strauss
American financier and chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission 
Doctor of Laws
April 1962Earl Warren
Chief Justice of the United States
Honorary Doctor of Laws