Board of Regents

Recognition

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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.

UH Executive Policy on awarding of honorary degrees.

2023 Recipients

2022 Recipient

2019 Recipients

2017 Recipient

2016 Recipient

2015 Recipients

2014 Recipients

2013 Recipients

2012 Recipients

2011 Recipients

2010 Recipients

2009 Recipients

2006 Recipients

2005 Recipients

2004 Recipients

2003 Recipients

2002 Recipients

2001 Recipient

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, UH 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, UH 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, UH regent (chair), 1961 (LLD)
  • Charles H. Edmondson, UH 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, UH research associate, 1960 (DSc)
Harry Truman receiving degree

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, UH president emeritus, 1957 (LLD)
  • Carlos P. Garcia, Philippines president, 1957 (LHD)
  • Ezra T. Benson, U.S. secretary of agriculture, 1956 (LLD)
  • Ralph S. Kuykendall, UH historian, 1956 (LHD)
  • Gregg M. Sinclair, UH 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. ÄHacker, 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, UH regent, 1943 (DLitt)
  • Arthur R. Keller, UH 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, UH 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, UH professor, 1924 (MS)
  • Frederick Krauss, UH professor, 1921 (DSc)
  • Sanford B. Dole, governor of Hawai‘i, 1919 (LLD)
  • Marion M. Scott, DPI, 1919

Honorary Degree Conferee

Henk Brouwer Rogers, headshot

Henk Brouwer Rogers

Conferred May 16, 2015

Henk Brouwer Rogers is recognized for his lifelong commitment to the environment, his significant contributions to the field of software development, and his philanthropic work that continues to positively impact the state of Hawai‘i and beyond.

Rogers is the principal and visionary philanthropist of the Blue Planet Foundation, through which he has demonstrated his commitment to a mission of stewarding the environment through developing non-carbon, clean energy sources. He is personally devoted to helping the planet reduce and eventually eliminate its dependence on fossil fuels.

Rogers is also a renowned global leader in the gaming industry. One of his software companies holds the exclusive intellectual property rights to Tetris, the world’s most popular video game. Rogers revolutionized the industry when he brought the now legendary game to the U.S. and world markets almost two decades ago. In the 1980s, his ground-breaking work in Japan’s fledgling computer game industry led to the development of Japan’s first-ever role playing game (RPG), Black Onyx. He is known in Japan as “the father of RPG.”

Additionally, Rogers has also greatly influenced the hand-held game systems market via his facilitation of one of the industry’s most fruitful partnerships, between Tetris and Nintendo’s Game Boy. His achievements in the gaming industry, as well as his accomplishments as an environmental activist make him a leading member of the community, in Hawai‘i and abroad.