Commencement and special awards
Nomination form - Special Awards - Honorary Degree
Past speakers and award recipients
December 2019
David G. Baldacci
May 2019
Andrew C. Florance
December 2018
Christy S. Coleman
May 2018
Boris Kodjoe
December 2017
Speaker William J. Howell
May 2017
Sen. Timothy M. Kaine
December 2016
Sec. Todd P. Haymore
May 2016
Pamela K. El
December 2015
Sen. Mark R. Warner
May 2015
Gov. Terence R. McAuliffe
December 2014
The Honorable Kay Coles James
May 2014
Timothy L. Reid
December 2013
Tonya Mallory
May 2013
Teresa H. Carlson
December 2012
Thomas G. Snead Jr.
May 2012
The Honorable J.C. Watts Jr.
December 2011
G. Richard Wagoner Jr.
May 2011
Gov. Robert F. McDonnell
December 2010
Mike Hughes
May 2010
Her Highness Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned
December 2009
The Honorable Robert J. Wittman
May 2009
Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D.
December 2008
The Honorable Robert C. Scott
May 2008
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine
December 2007
The Honorable Marilyn B. Tavenner
May 2007
The Honorable James H. Webb
December 2006
Nancy C. Everett
May 2006
Robert J. Grey, Jr., Esquire
December 2005
The Honorable L. Douglas Wilder
May 2005
Richard T. Robertson
December 2004
The Honorable Eric Cantor
May 2004
Gov. Mark R. Warner
December 2003
The Honorable John W. Snow
May 2003
The Honorable Roger L. Gregory
December 2002
Eugene P. Trani, Ph.D.
May 2002
James Burke
December 2001
Eugene P. Trani, Ph.D.
May 2001
David Baldacci
May 2000
David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D.
May 1999
Gov. James S. Gilmore III
May 1998
Ted Turner
May 1997
Gov. George Allen
May 1996
Terence H. Waite
May 1995
Maya Angelou
May 1994
John Kenneth Galbraith
May 1993
Louis W. Sullivan
May 1992
Stewart R. Sutherland
May 1991
Fred W. Friendly
May 1990
Clifton R. Wharton Jr., Ph.D.
May 1989
Marian Wright Edelman
May 1988
John Brademas, Ph.D.
May 1987
The Honorable John Tower
May 1986
Sen. John W. Warner
May 1985
Father Timothy S. Healy
May 1984
T. Justin Moore Jr.
May 1983
Robert A. Wilson, Ph.D.
May 1982
Malcolm S. Forbes Jr.
May 1981
Baruj Benacerraf, M.D.
May 1980
Richard C. Atkinson, Ph.D.
May 1979
The Honorable Paul G. Rogers
May 1978
Gov. John N. Dalton
May 1977
Wyndham B. Blanton Jr., M.D.
May 1976
Virginius Dabney
May 1975
Tom Brokaw
May 1974
Gov. Mills E. Godwin Jr.
May 1973
Sen. William Proxmire
May 1972
Sen. Gale McGee
May 1971
Academic Division ceremony
Ambassador John Joseph Akar
Health Sciences Division ceremony
Kinloch Nelson, M.D.
May 1970
Academic Division ceremony
Roy E. McTarnaghan
Health Sciences Division ceremony
Robert Q. Marston
May 1969
Academic Division ceremony
Francis J. Brooke
Health Sciences Division ceremony
Warren W. Brandt, Ph.D.
The honorary degree is VCU’s highest form of recognition. Presented by the president at Commencement, it recognizes those individuals who have made outstanding contributions to society through scholarship, public service, humanitarianism, science and art. The first honorary degrees were awarded in 1976.
May 2023
Mo Alie-Cox
May 2022
Charlotte Moss
May 2021
No recipients
December 2021
No recipients
May 2020
No recipients
December 2020
No recipients
December 2019
No recipients
May 2019
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Andrew C. Florance
December 2018
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Christy S. Coleman
May 2018
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Boris Kodjoe
December 2017
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Speaker William J. Howell
May 2017
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Ambassador Dana Shell Smith (Awarded at the VCU School of the Arts in Qatar Commencement exercise on May 1, 2017)
December 2016
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Sec. Todd P. Haymore
James W. and Frances G. McGlothlin
May 2016
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Pamela K. El
December 2015
No recipients
May 2015
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Gov. Terence R. McAuliffe
December 2014
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
The Honorable Kay Coles James
May 2014
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Timothy L. Reid
December 2013
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Tonya Mallory
May 2013
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Teresa H. Carlson
December 2012
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Thomas G. Snead Jr.
May 2012
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
The Honorable J.C. Watts Jr.
December 2011
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Richard M. Bracken
G. Richard Wagoner Jr.
June 2011
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
C. Kenneth Wright (Awarded at a special event on June 10, 2011)
May 2011
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Gov. Robert F. McDonnell
December 2010
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Mike Hughes
May 2010
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Ellis Marsalis Jr.
December 2009
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
The Honorable Robert J. Wittman
May 2009
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Charles F. Bryan Jr., Ph.D.
Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D.
Eugene P. Trani, Ph.D.
December 2008
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
William H. Cosby Jr. (Awarded at a special event on Dec. 5, 2008, rescinded by the VCU Board of Visitors on Dec. 7, 2018)
The Honorable Robert C. Scott
May 2008
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine
Jonathan B. Perlin, M.D., Ph.D.
December 2007
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
The Honorable Marilyn B. Tavenner
May 2007
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
The Honorable James H. Webb
December 2006
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Nancy C. Everett
May 2006
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Robert J. Grey Jr., Esq.
The Honorable Harvey B. Morgan
December 2005
No recipients
May 2005
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
William H. Goodwin Jr.
Richard T. Robertson
December 2004
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
The Honorable Eric Cantor
May 2004
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Dean Kamen
Gov. Mark R. Warner
February 2004
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Shirley Verrett (Awarded at a special event on Feb. 28, 2004)
December 2003
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
The Honorable John W. Snow
June 2003
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned (Awarded at the VCU School of the Arts in Qatar Commencement exercise on June 12, 2003)
May 2003
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
The Honorable Roger L. Gregory
December 2002
No recipients
May 2002
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
James Burke
December 2001
No recipients
May 2001
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
David Baldacci
Helen A. Thomas
Feb. 2001
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Alan G. MacDiarmid, Ph.D. (Awarded at a special event on Feb. 16, 2001)
May 2000
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D.
John M. Templeton Jr., M.D.
May 1999
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
William John Hughes Butterfield
Gov. James S. Gilmore III
Daphne Maxwell Reid
May 1998
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Robert W. Galvin
Max F. Perutz
Ted Turner
May 1997
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Gov. George Allen
May 1996
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Mary Elizabeth Carnegie
Martin Rodbell
Terence H. Waite
May 1995
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Maya Angelou
May 1994
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
The Honorable Thomas J. Bliley Jr.
John Kenneth Galbraith
Richard G. Tilghman
May 1993
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
William W. Berry
Mary Tyler Cheek
Louis W. Sullivan
The Honorable L. Douglas Wilder
April 1993
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Mikhail Gorbachev (Awarded at a special event on April 12, 1993)
May 1992
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
The Honorable Norman Sisisky
Stewart R. Sutherland
Samuel O. Thier, M.D.
May 1991
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Fred W. Friendly
Oliver W. Hill
May 1990
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Clifton R. Wharton Jr., Ph.D.
May 1989
Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts
Judith Godwin
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Arthur Ashe
Marian Wright Edelman
May 1988
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
John Brademas, Ph.D.
May 1987
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
The Honorable John Tower
May 1986
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Floyd D. Gottwald Jr.
Sen. John W. Warner
May 1985
Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts
Nell Blaine
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr.
Honorary Doctor of Humanities
Father Timothy S. Healy
May 1984
Honorary Doctor of Laws
T. Justin Moore Jr.
May 1983
Honorary Doctor of Humanities
Frances A. Lewis
Sydney Lewis
Thomas K. Wolfe
May 1982
No recipients
May 1981
Honorary Doctor of Science
Baruj Benacerraf, M.D.
May 1980
Honorary Doctor of Science
Richard C. Atkinson, Ph.D.
May 1979
Honorary Doctor of Science
Chapman H. Binford, M.D.
The Honorable Paul G. Rogers
May 1978
Honorary Doctor of Humanities
Theresa Pollak
May 1977
No recipients
May 1976
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Virginius Dabney
Honorary Doctor of Laws
Eppa Hunton IV
The Edward A. Wayne Medal was established in 1971 to honor individuals who have made outstanding contributions or provided exemplary services to VCU. Presented by the president at Commencement, the medal is named in honor of Edward A. Wayne, who was chair of the commission that led to the establishment of VCU in 1968 by the Virginia General Assembly. Mr. Wayne served as the university’s first vice rector.
May 2023
Coleman “Coley” Wortham III
December 2022
Patty and Steve Worley
May 2022
Michele and Don Romano
May 2021
No recipient
December 2021
Anna Lou and Bob Schaberg
December 2020
No recipient
December 2019
Ramona S. Neifeld and James P. Neifeld, M.D.
May 2019
Marsha C. and William M. Ginther
Paul A. Gross
December 2018
Darlene B. and George P. Emerson Jr.
Laura B. and Harold E. Greer Jr., Ph.D.
May 2018
M. Virginia and Charles F. Crone
December 2017
Linwood A. Lacy Jr. and Constance C. Lacy
May 2017
Pamela K. and William A. Royall Jr.
December 2016
Olin V. and Jane Baird Hyde
May 2016
True Farr Luck and Charles S. Luck III
December 2015
William L. “Bill” Murray, Ph.D., and Jean Hovey
May 2015
No recipients
December 2014
Eva Teig Hardy
May 2014
Mary C. Doswell and John C. Dowsell II, D.D.S.
Vickie M. Snead and Thomas G. Snead Jr.
December 2013
John B. Fenn*
May 2013
Margaret and FitzGerald* Bemiss
Stuart C. Siegel
December 2012
No recipients
May 2012
Arthur Graham* and Margaret Branch* Glasgow
James W. and Frances G. McGlothlin
December 2011
No recipients
May 2011
John Sherman Jr.
December 2010
No recipients
May 2010
Ruth S. Harris and Louis S. Harris, Ph.D.
December 2009
No recipients
May 2009
Lois E. Trani
December 2008
No recipients
May 2008
The Honorable Benjamin J. Lambert III
Michael and Elizabeth Fraizer
December 2007
No recipients
May 2007
Henry S. Becker
Sam Kornblau
W. Baxter Perkinson Jr., D.D.S., and Elaine N. Perkinson
December 2006
No recipients
May 2006
Steven A. and Katherine N. Markel
Stanley F. and Dorothy A. Pauley
December 2005
No recipients
May 2005
Peter W. Brown, M.D.
Rebecca and William E. Massey Jr.
Matthew G. Thompson
December 2004
No recipients
May 2004
Fenton N. and Patricia H. Hord
Jay M. and Sondra E. Weinberg
December 2003
No recipients
May 2003
Gilbert M. and Fannie S. Rosenthal
December 2002
No recipients
May 2002
Jim* and Martha Betts
Inger V. Rice
James C. and Charlotte K. Roberts
C. Kenneth and Dianne H. Wright
December 2001
No recipients
May 2001
Bertha C. Rolfe
May 2000
Harry and Harriet Grandis
Percy Wootton, M.D.
May 1999
Richard T. Robertson
John R. Shreves Jr.
May 1998
Robert C. Bobb
French H. Moore Jr., D.D.S.
May 1997
Jeanette S. Lipman
Alan L. Wurtzel
May 1996
Douglas Brickford Rider
James E. Ukrop
Robert S. Ukrop
May 1995
John R. Cook
E. Morgan Massey
May 1994
Harry I. Johnson Jr., M.D.
May 1993
William C. DeRusha
May 1992
No recipients
May 1991
Nathan Gumenick
Sophia Gumenick
May 1990
Charles G. Thalhimer
Rhoda R. Thalhimer
May 1989
No recipients
May 1988
No recipients
May 1987
No recipients
May 1986
No recipients
May 1985
No recipients
May 1984
William E. Massey Sr.
May 1983
Robert A. Wilson, Ph.D.
May 1982
No recipients
May 1981
Wyndham Bolling Blanton Jr., M.D.
Harry Lyons, D.D.S., D.Sc., LL.D.
May 1980
No recipients
May 1979
No recipients
May 1978
E. Claiborne and Lora McGlasson Robins
H.I. Willett
May 1977
No recipients
May 1976
No recipients
May 1975
No recipients
May 1974
No recipients
May 1973
No recipients
May 1972
No recipients
November 1971
Eppa Hunton IV
*Posthumous award
The Presidential Medallion was established in 1984 by the VCU Board of Visitors to honor the outstanding contributions of members of the university community. Presented by the president at Commencement, the award recognizes these individuals for extraordinary achievement in learning and commitment to the mission of VCU.
May 2023
Faye Belgrave, Ph.D.
December 2022
Richard O. Bunce, Jr.
May 2022
No recipients
December 2021
No recipients
May 2021
No recipients
December 2020
Kenneth S. Kendler, M.D
Steven Woolf, M.D.
December 2019
No recipients
May 2019
Francis L. Macrina, Ph.D.
December 2018
Jan F. Chlebowski, Ph.D.*
May 2018
No recipients
December 2017
No recipients
May 2017
No recipients
December 2016
William C. Bosher Jr., Ed.D.*
John F. Duval
Clifford W. Edwards, Ph.D.
August 2016
Michael D. Davis, Ph.D. (Awarded at the 34th Faculty Convocation on Aug. 23, 2016)
May 2016
No recipients
December 2015
Sheldon M. Retchin, M.D., M.S.P.H.
May 2015
Thomas F. Huff, Ph.D.*
December 2014
George W. Vetrovec, M.D.
Richard P. Wenzel, M.D.
August 2014
Robert L. Balster, Ph.D.
Eugene H. Hunt, Ph.D.
James H. Revere, Jr., D.D.S.
(All recipients were awarded at the 32nd Opening Faculty Address and Convocation on Aug. 20, 2014)
May 2014
Harold F. Young, M.D.
December 2013
No recipients
August 2013
Nancy F. Langston, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, ANEF
H.M. Lee, M.D.*
James P. Neifeld, M.D.
(All recipients were awarded at the 31st Opening Faculty Address and Convocation on Aug. 21, 2013)
May 2013
No recipients
December 2012
No recipients
May 2012
William L. Dewey, Ph.D.
December 2011
No recipients
May 2011
John M. Bennett
Judith B. Collins, RN, M.S., WHNP-C, FAAN
Donald C.J. Gehring, J.D.
Purusottam Jena, Ph.D.
Peter L. Wyeth
December 2010
No recipients
May 2010
Sue Ann Messmer
December 2009
No recipients
May 2009
Richard J. Rezba, Ph.D.
December 2008
No recipients
May 2008
Harold J. Fallon, M.D., M.A.C.P.
William E. Blake Jr., Ph.D.
December 2007
No recipients
May 2007
Carl R. Fischer
Hugo R. Seibel, Ph.D.
December 2006
No recipients
May 2006
JoAnne Kirk Henry, Ed.D., R.N.C.
Rupert K.A. Schmidt-Ullrich, M.D.*
Paul W. Timmreck
Paul E. Petrie (Awarded at the VCU School of the Arts in Qatar Commencement exercise on May 27, 2006)
December 2005
Richard Carlyon
May 2005
Heber H. Newsome Jr., M.D.
December 2004
No recipients
May 2004
Edward L. Flippen
December 2003
No recipients
May 2003
Leo J. Dunn, M.D.
Hermes A. Kontos, M.D.
December 2002
John E. Jones, M.D.
H. George White Jr., M.D.
May 2002
Clarence L. Townes Jr.
Jay M. Weinberg
December 2001
No recipients
May 2001
Jeffrey Levin, D.D.S.
Regenia A. Perry, Ph.D.
Lauren A. Woods, M.D.
May 2000
Walter Lawrence Jr., M.D.
Richard Newdick
W. Baxter Perkinson Jr., D.D.S.
Z. Reno Vlahcevic, M.D.
May 1999
L. Wayne Batty
Grace E. Harris, Ph.D.
W. Robert Irby, M.D.
May 1998
Edmund F. Ackell, D.M.D., M.D.
Carolyn Moore McCue, M.D.
May 1997
Virginia Ann Arnold, Ph.D.
Warren W. Brandt, Ph.D.
W. Taliaferro Thompson Jr., M.D.
May 1996
Murry N. DePillars, Ph.D.
I. David Goldman, M.D.
Richard R. Lower, M.D.
May 1995
Paul A. Gross
Louise L. Jones*
May 1994
Paule B. Marshall
John Legerwood Patterson Jr., M.D.
May 1993
Louis S. Harris, Ph.D.
Charles P. Ruch, Ph.D.
May 1992
John Andrako, Ph.D.
Howard L. Sparks, Ed.D.
May 1991
No recipients
May 1990
Wyatt S. Beazley III, M.D.
William W. Berry
J. Stewart Bryan III
Wallace Stettinius
James C. Wheat Jr.
May 1989
H. St. George Tucker Jr., M.D.
May 1988
Ernst Huf, Ph.D., M.D.
Elaine Rothenberg
May 1987
Jewett Campbell
Peter N. Pastore, M.D.
May 1986
Charles G. Thalhimer
Rhoda R. Thalhimer
May 1985
Kinloch Nelson, M.D.
May 1984
John A. Mapp
Daniel T. Watts, Ph.D.
*Posthumous award