As outlined in IGP #52, nominations for honorary degrees are welcome and should be submitted in writing with appropriate supporting materials via an email to president@eiu.edu. The criteria for nomination and selection requires recipients “…have achieved a record of major distinction at the state or national level in such areas as education, public service, research, humanities, business, or the professions. In exceptional circumstances, honorary degrees may be awarded to persons who, though they have not achieved national or statewide recognition, have made an especially outstanding and significant contribution to the University or higher education.”
| Year Awarded | Name | Degree |
|---|---|---|
| 1949 | Harry L. Huber | Doctor of Pedagogy |
| 1949 | Dr. Roscoe R. Snapp | Doctor of Pedagogy |
| 1949 | Dr. Denna F. Fleming | Doctor of Pedagogy |
| 1949 | Dr. Ferdinand H. Steinmetz | Doctor of Pedagogy |
| 1949 | Dr. Lewis H. Tiffany | Doctor of Pedagogy |
| 1949 | Dr. Earl W. Anderson | Doctor of Pedagogy |
| 1949 | Dr. Audrey M. Shuey | Doctor of Pedagogy |
| 1949 | Dr. Max G. Carman | Doctor of Pedagogy |
| 1949 | Dr. Charles L. Prather | Doctor of Pedagogy |
| 1949 | Dr. Walter M. Scruggs | Doctor of Pedagogy |
| 1956 | Dr. Edson H. Taylor | Doctor of Pedagogy |
| 1956 | Dr. Hazel Haskett | Doctor of Pedagogy |
| 1956 | Dr. Frank O. Anderhalter | Doctor of Pedagogy |
| 1956 | Dr. D. Ferrell Atkins | Doctor of Pedagogy |
| 1956 | Dr. Thomas W. Chamberlin | Doctor of Pedagogy |
| 1956 | Dr. Rolla Foley | Doctor of Pedagogy |
| 1956 | Dr. Robert E. Hallowell | Doctor of Pedagogy |
| 1956 | Dr. Leallyn B. Clapp | Doctor of Pedagogy |
| 1956 | Dr. Harold F. Cottingham | Doctor of Pedagogy |
| 1956 | Dr. Donald R. Davis | Doctor of Pedagogy |
| 1956 | Dr. Claude S. Hayes | Doctor of Pedagogy |
| 1956 | Dr. Daniel J. James | Doctor of Pedagogy |
| 1956 | Dr. Harry D. Lovelass | Doctor of Pedagogy |
| 1956 | Dr. Edward G. Rennels | Doctor of Pedagogy |
| 1956 | Dr. Rupert L. Stroud | Doctor of Pedagogy |
| 1956 | Dr. Max W. Turner | Doctor of Pedagogy |
| 1956 | Dr. Ralph Wickiser | Doctor of Pedagogy |
| 1973 | Senator Paul H. Douglas | Doctor of Laws |
| 1973 | Mr. H. Ogden Brainard | Doctor of Laws |
| 1974 | Dr. Robert G. Buzzard | Doctor of Laws |
| 1974 | Mr. Virgil Judge | Doctor of Pedagogy |
| 1974 | Mr. Paul Stine | Doctor of Science |
| 1975 | Mr. Newton E. Tarble | Doctor of Laws |
| 1975 | Mr. Richard A. Lumpkin | Doctor of Laws |
| 1976 | Mrs. Helen Douglas Hart | Doctor of Public Service |
| 1976 | Dr. William Voris | Doctor of Laws |
| 1977 | Hobart F. Heller | Doctor of Science |
| 1978 | Dorothy Leggitt | Doctor of Humane Letters |
| 1978 | Spark M. Matsunaga | Doctor of Laws |
| 1979 | Tilford E. Dudley | Doctor of Laws |
| 1980 | William L. Springer | Doctor of Laws |
| 1981 | Daniel R. Reedy | Doctor of Humane Letters |
| 1981 | Pres. Kuang-tsu Hsueh | Doctor of Humane Letters |
| 1982 | Harold D. Hoopman | Doctor of Humane Letters |
| 1982 | J. Ray Livesay | Doctor of Humane Letters |
| 1983 | Arthur S. Link | Doctor of Humane Letters |
| 1984 | John J. Willingham | Doctor of Laws |
| 1984 | Dean Fausett | Doctor of Humane Letters |
| 1985 | Burl Ives | Doctor of Humane Letters |
| 1985 | James T. Flexner | Doctor of Humane Letters |
| 1985 | Quincy V. Doudna | Doctor of Humane Letters |
| 1986 | Norman A. Graebner | Doctor of Humane Letters |
| 1986 | Donald F. McHenry | Doctor of Laws |
| 1986 | Dr. Philip W. Smith | Doctor of Science |
| 1987 | Mr. Errett Warner | Doctor of Humane Letters |
| 1987 | Mr. Tih-wu-Wang | Doctor of Humane Letters |
| 1987 | Mr. Howard E. Brown | Doctor of Public Service |
| 1988 | Mr. Rex D. Cooley | Doctor of Laws |
| 1988 | Mr. John White, Jr. | Doctor of Laws |
| 1989 | Ms. Celeste Holm | Doctor of Public Service |
| 1989 | Robert T. Wright | Doctor of Public Service |
| 1989 | Congressman Terry L. Bruce | Doctor of Public Service |
| 1989 | Hazel Watson | Doctor of Public Service |
| 1990 | Donald L. Calvin | Doctor of Laws |
| 1990 | Gwendolyn Brooks | Doctor of Humane Letters |
| 1990 | William C. Warfield | Doctor of Humane Letters |
| 1991 | Gerald Dunn | Doctor of Public Service |
| 1991 | Thelma Keller | Doctor of Public Service |
| 1991 | Bertrand P. Holley | Doctor of Humane Letters |
| 1992 | John T. Sanders | Doctor of Public Service |
| 1993 | Josephine Oblinger | Doctor of Public Service |
| 1993 | Richard A. Lumpkin | Doctor of Public Service |
| 1994 | Glenn Q. Lefler | Doctor of Public Service |
| 1994 | James Giffin | Doctor of Public Service |
| 1994 | Joan Embery | Doctor of Public Service |
| 1994 | Lucina Gabbard | Doctor of Humane Letters |
| 1995 | Ronald Davis | Doctor of Public Service |
| 1995 | Robert Ingram | Doctor of Public Service |
| 1999 | Author Hughes | Doctor of Public Service |
| 1999 | Jim Edgar | Doctor of Public Service |
| 2000 | Robert Knollenberg | Doctor of Public Service |
| 2002 | Mariane Ferber | Doctor of Humane Letters |
| 2003 | Burnham Neal | Doctor of Public Service |
| 2003 | Dario Covi | Doctor of Humane Letters |
| 2004 | Eulalee Anderson | Doctor of Public Service |
| 2004 | Randall Wright | Doctor of Public Service |
| 2005 | Richard Levi | Doctor of Public Service |
| 2006 | Patrick Coburn | Doctor of Public Service |
| 2006 | William Edward Phipps | Doctor of Humane Letters |
| 2006 | Jeffrey G. Scott | Doctor of Public Service |
| 2006 | Charles Jacobs Younger | Doctor of Public Service |
| 2007 | Sue C. Payton | Doctor of Public Service |
| 2007 | Jan Tarble | Bachelor's of Fine Arts* |
| 2008 | Jerry Griffith | Doctor of Public Service |
| 2009 | Rudolph G. Hlavek | Doctor of Public Service |
| 2009 | Matthew Polenzani | Doctor of Public Service |
| 2009 | Morrie Reece | Doctor of Public Service |
| 2009 | Robert W. Sterling | Doctor of Public Service |
| 2010 | H. Ray Hoops | Doctor of Humane Letters |
| 2010 | F. E. \Joe"Glassford""" | Doctor of Pedagogy |
| 2010 | Dr. Janet Treichel | Doctor of Public Service |
| 2011 | Steve Gosselin | Doctor of Public Service |
| 2012 | Robert Corn-Revere | Doctor of Laws |
| 2012 | Robert Holmes | Doctor of Science |
| 2012 | Julie I. Nimmons | Doctor of Public Service |
| 2013 | Gwendolyn Dungy | Doctor of Pedagogy |
| 2013 | Donald L. Gher | Doctor of Public Service |
| 2013 | Gordon L. Grado | Doctor of Science |
| 2013 | Sean Payton | Doctor of Public Service |
| 2015 | Barbara Baurer | Doctor of Public Service |
| 2015 | Victor Gene Myers | Doctor of Humane Letters |
| 2021 | Tim Burke | Doctor of Humane Letters |
| 2022 | Carl Mito | Doctor of Humane Letters |
* Recipient did not want it to read Doctorate Degree.
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