Honorary Degrees
2023 Recipients
Stevie Wonder
Doctor of Humane Letters
Legendary Artist and Humanitarian
Faculty Sponsor: Sophie Mitra, Professor of Economics and Founding Director of Fordham’s Research Consortium on Disability
Read the Citation for Stevie Wonder
Sharon Greenberger
Doctor of Humane Letters
President and CEO of the YMCA of Greater New York
Faculty Sponsor: Janna C. Heyman, Henry C. Ravazzin Professor of Social Service and Director of Fordham’s Ravazzin Center on Aging
Read the Citation for Sharon Greenberger
Regina Pitaro
Doctor of Humane Letters
Managing Director at GAMCO Investors, Inc.
Fordham University Trustee Fellow
Fordham College at Rose Hill, Class of 1976
Faculty Sponsor: Donna M. Rapaccioli, University Professor and Dean Emerita of the Gabelli School of Business
Read the Citation for Regina Pitaro
Jennifer Jones Austin
Doctor of Humane Letters
President and CEO, Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies
Fordham University School of Law, Class of 1993
This degree will be presented at the Graduate School of Social Service diploma ceremony on Tuesday, May 23.
Read the Citation for Jennifer Jones Austin
Cardinal Michael Czerny, S.J.
Doctor of Divinity
Prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Integral Human Development
This degree will be presented at the Baccalaureate Mass at Rose Hill on Friday, May 19.
Read the Citation for Cardinal Michael Czerny, S.J.
Norman Francis
Doctor of Humane Letters
President Emeritus of Xavier University of Louisiana
Read the Citation for Norman Francis
Jeh Johnson
Doctor of Laws
Former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security
Partner, Paul, Weiss
This degree will be presented to Jeh Johnson at the School of Law diploma ceremony on Monday, May 22.
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Bill Baccaglini
Former CEO of The New York Foundling
Doctor of Humane Letters
Speaker at the Graduate School of Social Service Diploma CeremonyKim Bepler
Philanthropist and Fordham University Trustee Fellow
Doctor of Humane LettersSr. Rosamond Blanchet, R.S.H.M.
Area Leader and Former General Superior of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary
Marymount College, Class of 1962
Doctor of Humane LettersCalvin O. Butts, III
Pastor, Abyssinian Baptist Church
Doctor of Divinity
Speaker the University Commencement CeremonyMandell Crawley
Managing Director and Chief Human Resources Officer at Morgan Stanley
Gabelli School of Business, Class of 2009
Doctor of Humane Letters
Speaker at the Gabelli School of Business Graduate Diploma CeremonyPatrick J. Foye
Former Chairman and CEO of the Metropolitan Transit Authority
Fordham College at Rose Hill, Class of 1978
School of Law, Class of 1981
Doctor of Humane LettersWilton Cardinal Gregory
Archbishop of Washington
Doctor of Divinity
Celebrant and Homilist at the Baccalaureate Mass at Rose HillLaura Taylor Swain
Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
Doctor of Laws
Speaker at the School of Law Diploma Ceremony -
Lilian Fanjul de Azueta
Founder, MIR (Mission International Rescue) CharitiesAdmiral Michelle Howard
J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Visiting Professor of International Affairs at George Washington UniversitySteven Safyer
Former president and CEO, Montefiore- EinsteinEdward Stroz
Founder and Co-President, Stroz-Friedberg; Co-President, Aon's Cyber Solutions -
James Martin, S.J.
Editor at Large, America magazine; AuthorJames Dwyer
Pulitzer Prize-winning Journalist, The New York TimesRobert A. (Honorable) Katzmann
Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit -
Ellen Alemany
Chairwoman and CEO of CIT Group
CEO of CIT Bank, N.A.Bob Casey
U.S. Senator from PennsylvaniaYueh Chen
Secretary of the J.T. Tai & Company FoundationJoseph P. Parkes, S.J.
Provincial Assistant for Secondary and Pre-secondary Education for the Maryland USA Northeast Provinces of the Society of Jesus
Former Fordham TrusteeDavid Ushery
NBC News 4 New York News AnchorThe Honorable Pamela Chen
United States District Court Judge for the Eastern District of New York -
Note: All names denoted by * are Fordham alumni.
2018 Honorary Degree Recipients First Name Last Name Occupation Emanuel Chirico Chairman and CEO of PVH Corp. Patricia Clarkson Award-Winning Actress Sherrilyn Ifill President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R. Archbishop of Newark Marianne Kraft Principal of St. Athanasius School Louise Mirrer President and CEO of the New York Historical Society William S. Stavropoulos Former Chairman and CEO of the Dow Chemical Company Peter B. Vaughan Dean Emeritus of the Graduate School of Social Service Anne Wiliams-Isom CEO of the Harlem Children's Zone 2017 Honorary Degree Recipients First Name Last Name Occupation Anne Anderson Ambassador of Ireland to the United States Joseph Cammarosano Professor Emeritus of Economics, Fordham University Anthony Carter Former Vice President, Global Diversity & Inclusion, and Chief Diversity Officer, Johnson & Johnson Michael Dowling President and Chief Executive Officer of Northwell Health Jane Iannucelli President of the Sisters of Charity Gregory Long Chief Executive Officer and the William C. Steere Sr. President of the New York Botanical Garden Cardinal Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras and Head of the Pope’s Council of Cardinals Eric Schneiderman Attorney General of New York 2016 Honorary Degree Recipients First Name Last Name Occupation Judith Altmann Holocaust Survivor; Vice President of the Holocaust Child Survivors of Connecticut Robert Battle Artistic Director, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Gregory Boyle Executive Director, Homeboy Industries Henry Cobb Founding Partner, Pei, Cobb, Freed & Partners; Designer of the Fordham Law School and McKeon Residence Hall Maurice Cunniffe Chairman and CEO, Vista Capital; Fordham University Trustee Emeritus Patricia David Managing Director and Global Head of Diversity, JP Morgan Chase Carol Keehan President and Chief Executive Officer, Catholic Health Association of the United States Loretta Preska Chief Judge, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York; Fordham University Trustee Fellow David Skorton Secretary, Smithsonian Institute 2015 Honorary Degree Recipients First Name Last Name Occupation Douglas Brooks Director, White House Office of National AIDS Policy Hage G. Geingob* President, Republic of Namibia Matthew Goldstein Former Chancellor, City University of New York Judith Livingston Senior Partner, Kramer, Dillof, Livingston & Moore William Loschert* Chairman of ACE UK Limited; Nonexecutive Director of ACE Underwriting Agencies; former Fordham Trustee Nana Lordina Dramani Mahama First Lady of the Republic of Ghana Thomas Moore* Senior Partner, Kramer, Dillof, Livingston & Moore Michael Mullen Former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Jaime Lucas Cardinal Ortega Archbishop of Havana Eugene Shvidler* Chairman, Millhouse LLC; Executive Chairman, Highland Gold Mining, Ltd. Mary Anne Sullivan* Partner, Hogan Lovells Dennis Walcott* Former Chancellor, New York Public School System 2014 Honorary Degree Recipients First Name Last Name Occupation Stephen Bepler* Senior Vice President, Capital Research Global Investors, former Fordham Trustee Yvonne Cagle US Air Force Officer; NASA Senior Astronaut Physician and Researcher Denny Chin* Judge, US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Mary Alice Hannan, OP Former Executive Director, Part of the Solution Nemir Kirdar* Founder, Executive Chairman and CEO, Investcorp Reynold Levy President, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Archbishop Diarmuid Martin Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland Constantino Martinez Former Major League Baseball All-Star, New York Yankees Sonia Sotomayor Associate Justice, US Supreme Court; Author Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle Archbishop of Manila Archbishop Rowan Williams 104th Archbishop of Canterbury; Master of Magdalene College, University of Cambridge Archbishop Anastasios Yannoulatos Archbishop of Tirana, Durres, and all Albania 2013 Honorary Degree Recipients First Name Last Name Occupation Kaushik Basu Chief Economist and Senior Vice President for Development Economics, World Bank Sally Bellet* President, Stein/Bellet Foundation Preet Bharara US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Dion DiMucci Musician, Dion and the Belmonts Richard Engel Chief Foreign Correspondent, NBC News Patricia Harris First Deputy Mayor, New York City Paulette LoMonaco, RGS Executive Director, Good Shepherd Services John Tognino* Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Pepper Financial Group; former Merrill Lynch executive; former Executive VP, NASDAQ; Chair, Fordham Board of Trustees 2012 Honorary Degree Recipients First Name Last Name Occupation Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser President, United Nations General Assembly Tony Bennett Singer John Brennan* Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism and Deputy National Security Advisor Michelle DePass* Assistant Administrator, Office of International and Tribal Affairs, US Environmental Protection Agency Timothy Cardinal Dolan Archbishop of New York Eugenie Doyle* Professor Emerita of Pediatric Cardiology, NYU Langone Medical Center Jacqueline Novogratz Founder and CEO, Acumen Fund; Author Phylicia Rashad Tony Award Winning Actress, former Denzel Washington Professor of Theatre, Fordham Edolphus Towns Representative, US Congress; Leader of the Social Work Caucus 2011 Honorary Degree Recipients First Name Last Name Occupation Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III President, Republic of the Philippines Glorya Kaufman Philanthropist; Founder, Glorya Kaufman Dance Foundation Earle I. Mack Arts advocate; businessman; former US Ambassador to Finland Peter Pace Former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff George E. Pataki Former Governor, State of New York Steven E. Sanderson President and Chief Executive Officer, Wildlife Conservation Society; former Fordham Trustee Marian Seldes Tony Award winning actress Sviatoslav Shevchuk Head and Father of the Ukrainian Catholic Church Alex Trebek Host, Jeopardy! Brian Williams Anchor and Managing Editor, NBC Nightly News 2010 Honorary Degree Recipients First Name Last Name Occupation Francis M. Campbell United Kingdom Ambassador to the Holy See Miguel Humberto Diaz US Ambassador to the Holy See; former professor of Theology Alfonso J. "Alfy" Fanjul Jr.* Chairman and CEO, Fanjul Corporation John K. Mara* President and Chief Executive Officer, New York Giants Football Mary McAleese President of Ireland Robert M. Morgenthau Former District Attorney of New York County Richard Ravitch Lieutenant Governor of the State of New York -
2009 Honorary Degree Recipients First Name Last Name Occupation Archbishop Bartholomew Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch Michael R. Bloomberg Mayor, New York City Tom Brokaw Broadcast Journalist; former Host - Today, NBC Nightly News, Meet the Press Joel I. Klein Chancellor, Department of Education, New York City Justin Yifu Lin Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, World Bank Frank J. Macchiarola Chancellor and former President, St. Francis College Joseph H. Moglia* Chairman, TD Ameritrade; Author Kathryn Wylde President and CEO, Partnership for New York City 2008 Honorary Degree Recipients First Name Last Name Occupation Christina Seix Dow* Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Seix Advisors; former Fordham Trustee John P. Foley, SJ Founder and President, Cristo Rey High Schools Mario J. Gabelli* Founder, Gabelli and Company Zenon Cardinal Grocholewski Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education Ann Mara First Lady of the New York Giants and the NFL Rich Ross* President, Disney Channels Worldwide 2007 Honorary Degree Recipients First Name Last Name Occupation William F. Baker CEO, Educational Broadcasting Corporation John L. Damonti* President, Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation Archbishop Demetrios Primate, Greek Orthodox Church in America Richard J. Goldstone Chair, Commission of Inquiry Regarding Public Violence and Intimidation in South Africa Catherine R. Kinney President, New York Stock Exchange Archbishop Celestino Migliore Apostolic Nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations Willie Larry Randolph Manager, New York Mets Joseph Volpe Senior Vice President, Giuliani Partners; former General Manager, Metropolitan Opera
About Honorary Degrees
Each year at the University Commencement, Fordham University honors several individuals by bestowing upon them an honorary degree. In addition, honorary degrees are also awarded during the year at special ceremonies. The awarding of honorary degrees is a way of promoting and advancing the University as a whole, and giving the University prominence and recognition among her publics. All honorary degrees must be approved by the Fordham University Board of Trustees.
Past recipients have been honored for qualities and achievements including:
- Leadership in advancing the mission of Catholic and Jesuit education;
- Excellence in education and specifically in the areas represented by the University’s undergraduate colleges and graduate and professional schools;
- Contributions to furthering multi-cultural and international understanding;
- Service to Fordham University;
- Service to New York City and her communities;
- Contributions to our nation and society that advance humanistic values.
The University Commencement Committee solicits and screens nominees for honorary degrees to be conferred by Fordham University at the University Commencement. Recommendations from the University Commencement Committee are then made to the Fordham University Board of Trustees, which must approve the awarding of all honorary degrees from the University.
The membership of the University Commencement Committee includes members of the Board of Trustees, alumni, faculty, administrators, and students. The Committee is chaired by the University Secretary whose office provides staff support for the committee.
The University Commencement Committee may be contacted through the Office of the University Secretary at [email protected] or at 718-817-3010.