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

Pualani Kanahele, headshot

Pualani Kanakaole Kanahele

Conferred Dec. 18, 2005, UH Manoa

A loea, or expert, on Hawaiian cultural practices and a national living treasurer, Pualani Kanakaole Kanahele is an accomplished writer; educator; music, stage and film producer; dedicated commnity leader and renowned kumu hula, or master hula teacher.

Born in Keaukaha on the Big Island, she was reared in the traditions of her ancestors and has been highly influential in the resurgence of Hawaiian practices and interest in all things Hawaiian.

Daughters of the late hula and chant master Edith Kanaka‘ole, she and her sister Nalani lead the world-renowned classical Hawaiian cultural dance and dance group Halau o Kekuhi. In 1995, she co-wrote and directed the first opera-length stage hula drama, Holo Mai Pele, based on the Hawaiian literary saga of Pele and Hi‘iaka. She co-directed the film version for the Public Broadcasting Service’s Great Performance series. The production won a 2001 CINE Award-Golden Eagle for excellence in film production.

Among her many audio books and articles is Puka Kama‘ehu, a compact disk recording nominated in the Hawaiian Music Category for the 2005 Grammy Awards.

A much sought-after speaker, panelist and expert cultural consultant, she was invited by the Dalai Lama to speak on the subject of world peace in 1994 and was the Hawai‘i representative for the UNESCO advisory committee on native cultures and intellectual property rights in 1999.