Honorary degree
[5] The practice dates back to the Middle Ages, when for various reasons a university might be persuaded, or otherwise see fit, to grant exemption from some or all of the usual statutory requirements for the award of a degree.[11] The number of honorary Ph.D. degrees awarded in the U.S. declined in the 20th century, and surveys by the United States Office of Education found none conferred in 1940 or later years.Nominees are generally not told until a formal approval and invitation are made; often it is perceived that the system is shrouded in secrecy, and occasionally seen as political and controversial.An ad eundem or jure officii degree is sometimes considered honorary, although these are only conferred on an individual who has already achieved a comparable qualification at another university or attained an office requiring the appropriate level of scholarship.are often awarded honoris causa, in many countries (notably England and Scotland, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand) it is formally possible to earn such a degree as a substantive one.[21] This typically involves the submission of a portfolio of peer-refereed research, usually undertaken over a number of years, which has made a substantial contribution to the academic field in question.Usually, the applicant must have some strong formal connection with the university in question, for example full-time academic staff, or graduates of several years' standing.[22] Between the two extremes of honouring celebrities and formally assessing a portfolio of research, some universities use honorary degrees to recognise achievements of intellectual rigour.[24][25] In the United States, at Amherst, Wesleyan, and Yale, the AM ad eundem degree is conferred upon those who rise to the rank of full professor.[26][31] In 1845, William Barton Rogers, then chairman of the faculty, vigorously defended this policy; in 1861, he founded MIT in Boston and continued this practice.[26][32] The University of Virginia does annually award Thomas Jefferson Medals in Architecture and in Law, as the highest honours accorded by that institution.In 1985, as a deliberate snub, the University of Oxford voted to refuse Margaret Thatcher an honorary degree in protest against her cuts in funding for higher education.Although the university eventually passed the motion, the episode did more to draw attention to the continuing antipathy between the analytic (of which Cambridge's faculty is a leading exponent) and the post-Hegelian continental philosophical traditions (with which Derrida's work is more closely associated).Although some students objected to awarding a degree to a Muppet, Kermit delivered an enjoyable commencement address and the small college received considerable press coverage.[42] Andrew Card, who served as Bush's Chief of Staff from 2001 to 2006, ultimately chose not to speak when the University of Massachusetts Amherst awarded him an honorary degree in 2007, in response to protests from students and faculty at the commencement ceremonies.[52] In February 2012, Rosmah Mansor, the wife of the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak was controversially awarded an honorary doctorate by the Curtin University for "services to childhood education".
Honours degreedoctorateJimmy WalesUniversity of Maastrichtacademic degreeuniversityad honoremmaster's degreecurriculum vitaetitle "Dr"Middle AgesLionel WoodvilleUniversity of OxfordBishop of SalisburyCambridgeJames IbaronsMaster of ArtsConvocationCongregationJohn RuskinDoctor of PhilosophyBucknell UniversityYale UniversityAmerican Philological AssociationAmerican Association for the Advancement of ScienceUniversity of the State of New YorkUnited States Office of EducationBing CrosbyGonzaga Universityhigh school diplomasBob TaftWorld War IILakota East High Schoolgraduationfacultycommitteesacademic dressUniversity of CambridgeUniversity of St Andrewscassockad eundemhigher doctoratesDoctor of ScienceDoctor of LettersArchbishop of CanterburyLambeth degreesa 1533 ActHenry VIIIEzra StilesGeorge WashingtonYale CollegepostnominallyprenominallyAuckland University of TechnologyOpen UniversityDoctor of LawsDoctor of Humane LettersDoctor of DivinityList of honorary degreesDublintenureMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyCornell UniversityStanford UniversityRice UniversityUniversity of VirginiaThomas JeffersonWilliam Barton RogersSt. John's Collegealumni associationElena CeauşescuDoctorUniversity of ManilaPhilippineshonorificMargaret Thatcherprime ministersJacques Derridaanalytic philosophyHegeliancontinentalSouthampton CollegeLong Island UniversityStony Brook UniversityMuppetKermit the FrogenvironmentalismIt's Not Easy Bein' GreenNational Wildlife FederationNational Park ServiceGeorge W. BushcommencementAndrew CardChief of StaffUniversity of Massachusetts AmherstUniversity of Western OntarioHenry MorgentalerR. v. MorgentalerUniversity of EdinburghZimbabweanRobert Mugabehuman rights abusepolitical corruptionMichigan State UniversityMichael M. CrowBarack Obamapro-choiceembryonic stem cellRosmah MansorPrime Minister of MalaysiaNajib RazakCurtin UniversityBill CosbyrescindedSchool of the Art Institute of ChicagoKanye Westsocial conventionMaya AngelouStephen ColbertKnox CollegeThe Colbert ReportBenjamin FranklinThe College of William and MaryUniversity of St. AndrewsAlan García