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Furman History and Traditions

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Honorary Degree Recipients

News releases and newspaper clippings related to honorary degree recipients in the late 20th and early 21st centuries are available in the University Archives, RG 30/005 News and Media Relations.

1850-1859

1859, J. J. Brantley, Divinity
1859, Richard Furman, Divinity
1859, J. E. Ryerson, Divinity
 

1860-1869

1860, A. M. Poindexter, Divinity
1860, E. T. Winkler, Divinity
1866, J. O. B. Dargan, Divinity
1866, G. B Bealer, Divinity
1866, D. Shaver, Divinity
1866, T. E. Skinner, Divinity
1868, William Royall, Divinity
 

1870-1879

1872, C. C. Bitting, Divinity
1873, W.B. Carson, Divinity
1876, J. B. Hartwell, Divinity (B.A. 1855)
 

1880-1889

1884, W. J. Alexander, Divinity
1885, Pitman P. Bishop, Laws
1887, R. H. Griffith, Divinity
 

1890-1899

1891, T. P. Bell, Divinity
1891, Joseph Daniel Pope, Laws
1892, J. B. Gambrell, Divinity
1892, W. E. Ward, Laws
1894, E. J. Forrester, Divinity (B.A. 1876, LL.D 1922)
1894, R. W. Sanders, Divinity (Ph.B. 1871)
1894, R. T. Van, Divinity
1896, Clinton Capers Brown, Divinity
1896, C. P. Evans, Divinity
1896, C. S. Gardner, Divinity
1896, J. W. Perry, Divinity
1896, John G. Williams, Divinity (B.A.1855)
1898, E. E. Bomar, Divinity
1898, W. T. Derieux, Divinity
1898, P. H. Goldsmith, Divinity
1898, H. R. Mosely, Divinity
1898, Charles A. Stakeley, Laws
1899, E. L. House, Divinity
1899, W. J. Langston, Divinity (1873-76)
1899, A. C. Wilkins, Divinity
 

1900-1909

1900, J. R. Pentuff, Divinity (Ph. B. 1891)
1900, J. D. Pitts, Divinity (father of R. P. Pitts)
1900, J. N. Prestridge, Divinity
1901, E. C. James, Divinity
1901, I. W. Wingo, Divinity (B.A. 1874)
1902, J. A. Brown, Divinity
1902, H. T. Cook, Letters (M.A. 1873)
1902, George H. Denny, Laws
1904, J. Courtney Brown, Divinity
1904, L. M. Roper, Divinity (M.A. and M.M.Ph 1892)
1905, James J. Spinther, Letters
1905, S. C. Mitchell, Divinity
1906, C. E. Burts, Divinity (B.A. 1893)
1906, W. B. Oliver, Divinity
1906, W. L. Scruggs, Laws
1906, B. L. Whitman, Laws
1907, John A. Brunson, Divinity
1907, William M. Jones, Divinity
1907, William B. Royall, Laws
1907, R. J. Willingham, Laws
1908, Maurice Bloomfield, Laws (M.A. 1877)
1908, R. E. Gaines, Literature (M.A. and M.M.Ph. 1883)
1908, John M. Manly, Laws (M.A. 1883)
1909, Noah K. Davis, Laws
1909, Rufus Ford, Divinity
1909, Robert W. Lide, Divinity
1909, William J. McGlothlin, Laws
 

1910-1919

1910, A. A. DeLarme, Divinity
1911, E. E. Benander, Divinity 
1912, Victor I. Masters, Divinity (M.A.1889)
1912, P. J. McClean, Divinity
1913, A. T. Jamison, Divinity
1914, Bennette E. Geer, Letters (M.A. and M.M.Ph. 1896)
1915, Charles A. Jones, Divinity (B.A. 1895)
1915, John F. Lanneau, Laws
1915, Charles Manly, Laws
1916, G. Watts Cunningham, Letters (M.A. 1902, LL.D. 1933)
1916, W. E. Thayer, Divinity
1917, J. Scott Murray, Laws
1917, Edward J. Reaves, Divinity
1918, Charles S. Gardner, Laws
1919, John Broadus Watson, Laws (M.A. 1899)
 

1920-1929

1920, Zachariah T. Cody, Laws
1920, Edwin C. Dargan, Literature (M.A. 1873)
1920, Graves L. Knight, Divinity (1882-85)
1920, James H. Mitchell, Divinity (B.A. 1902)
1921, William Edwin Entzminger, Divinity (B.A. 1888)
1922, J. A. Campbell, Esq., Master of Arts (1879-80)
1922, C. Love Durham, Literature (M.A. and M.M.Ph. 1891)
1922, Waddy Hampton Hudson, Divinity (M.A. 1890)
1922, Crosswell McBee, Divinity (Litt.B. 1897)
1922, W. C. Miller, Laws (1875-1877)
1922, H. H. Watkins, Laws (M.A. 1883)
1922, Kirlman George Finley, Divinity (Litt.B. 1899)
1922, Eldred John Forrester, Laws (B.A. 1876, D.D. 1894)
1923, P. H. Anderson, Divinity
1923, Robert Hayne Pearce, Master of Arts (B.A. 1856)
1923, Thomas J. Watts, Divinity
1924, Joel I. Allen, Divinity
1925, Reginald H. Griffith, Letters (M.A. 1892)
1925, John Calhoun Sheppard, Laws (1868-71)
1926, William Owen Carver, Laws
1926, George Edward Davis, Divinity
1926, Samuel William Hughes, Divinity
1926, Enoch Walter Sikes, Laws
1926, Charles M. Furman, Letters (B.A. 1859)
1929, William Marshall Craig, Divinity (B.A. 1913)
1929, William Hershey Davis, Divinity
1929, Marshall Delph Earle, Laws (M. A. and M.M. Ph. 1889)
1929, Lincoln Hulley, Humanity
 

1930-1939

1930, John Dean Crain, Divinity (B.A. 1910)
1930, Francis Pendleton Gaines, Laws
1930, William Grayson Moore, Divinity
1931, Walter Richardson Alexander, Divinity
1931, Edwin McNeil Poteat, Laws
1932, William Cox Allen, Divinity (B.A. 1900)
1932, Samuel Broadus Earle, Laws (B.A. 1898, M.A. 1899)
1932, Orlin Ottman Fletcher, Laws
1932, Floyd Witt Putney, Divinity
1933, Julius S. Corpening, Divinity
1933, A. Mason Dupre, Laws
1933, John Garland Pollard, Laws
1933, Benjamin Kirby Truluck, Divinity (1892-95)
1934, Sidney Ernest Bradshaw, Laws
1934, John Allen Easley, Divinity (B.A. 1914)
1934, Harry John Haynsworth, Laws (Ph. B. 1879)
1934, Alva Bee Langston, Divinity (B.A. 1904)
1934, James Rion McKissick, Laws
1934, Gordon Poteat, Divinity (B.A. 1910)
1935, Eugene Beaufort Crain, Divinity (B.A. 1914)
1935, G. Watts Cunningham, Laws (M.A. 1902, Litt.D. 1916)
1935, John Fairman Preston, Divinity (B.A. 1898)
1936, Hiden Toy Cox, Laws (B.A. 1903)
1936, David Marshall Ramsay Sr., Laws
1936, Joseph James Lawton, Bachelor of Philosophy (1877-79, LLD. 1941)
1937, Robert Emmet Allen, Laws (B.A. 1909, M.A. 1914)
1937, Jesse Earle Bailey, Divinity (1894-95,96-97,98-99)
1937, Robert Greene Lee, Divinity (B.A. 1913)
1937, Mary Vardrine McBee, Letters
1937, Henry Nelson Snyder, Laws
1938, Benjamin Franklin Allen, Divinity (B.A. 1906)
1938, Marshall Lockhart Mott, Divinity
1939, Archibald Hamilton Rutledge, Letters
 

1940-1949

1941, E. Gibson Davis, Divinity
1941, Annie Dove Denmark, Letters
1941, Talmage Casey Johnson, Divinity (B.A. 1917)
1941, Joseph James Lawton, Laws 1877-79 (Ph.B. 1936)
1942, Porter Marcellus Bailes, Divinity (B.A. 1912)
1942, Alester Garden Furman, Laws (1886)
1942, Eric West Hardy, Letters (B.A. 1908)
1943, James Lee Baggott, Divinity (B.A. 1915)
1943, Curtis Vance Bishop, Letters (B.A. 1924)
1943, Charles Orrin Milford, Laws (B.A. 1914)
1943, Joseph Emory Sirrine, Laws (B.S. 1890)
1944, William Seldon Brooke, Divinity
1944, Luther Wells Courtney, Letters (B.A.1905)
1944, Elmer Francis Haight, Divinity (B.A. 1923)
1945, Daniel Malcolm Rivers, Divinity (1926-28)
1945, Leonard Kirkland Simpson, Divinity (B.A. 1910)
1945, Charles Vernon Stansell, Letters (B.A. 1907)
1946, George Smith Bryan, Letters (Litt.B. 1899, B.A. 1900)
1946, Edward Allison McDowell, Divinity (B.A. 1919)
1946, Cheatham Frank Pittman, Divinity (B.A. 1917)
1947, Samuel Hovey Jones, Divinity (B.A.1927)
1947, Albert Elias Tibbs, Letters (B.A. 1922)
1947, Paul Wheeler, Divinity
1948, Carl Grant Campbell, Divinity (B.A. 1923)
1948, Robert Norman Daniel, Laws
1948, Murphree Claude Donnan, Divinity (B.A.1924)
1948, Lawrence Peter Hollis, Laws
1949, James Francis Byrnes, Laws
1949, Duke Kimbrough McCall, Divinity (B.A. 1935)
1949, Forest Orion Mixon, Divinity (B.A. 1926)
1949, Julian H. Scarborough, Laws (B.A. 1912)
1949, David Tillerson Smith, Letters (B.A. 1918)
 

1950-1959

1950, William Clyde DeVane, Laws (1915-17)
1950, James Foster Lupo, Divinity (B.A. 1915)
1950, Robert Franklin Poole, Letters
1950, Charles Furman Sims, Divinity (B.A. 1915)
1951, Paul Otis Batson, Divinity (B.A. 1921)
1951, Joyce Alvin Bearden, Science (B.A. 1923)
1951, Eugene Ryan Crow, Laws (B.A. 1915)
1951, Fred LaFayette Jones, Letters (B.A. 1921)
1951, Reuben Burton Pitts, Laws (B.A. 1902)
1951, Julian Elmo Rawlinson, Divinity
1951, Jesse T. Anderson, Laws (B.A. 1914)
1951, Oliver Cromwell Carmichael, Humanities
1951, Charles E. Daniel, Laws
1951, Mary Gambrell, Letters (B.A. 1917)
1951, Walter K. Greene, Letters
1951, R. C. Grier, Letters
1951, Horace G. Hammett, Divinity (B.A. 1926)
1951, John M. Holmes, Humanities
1951, James Alexander Howard, Divinity (B.A. 1924)
1951, Ernest Patton, Laws (1915-18)
1951, Roger Craft Peace, Laws (B.A. 1919)
1951, Howard M. Reaves, Divinity (B.A. 1922)
1951, Sir Richard Livingston, Letters
1953, Richard Archie Ellis, Divinity (B.A. 1937)
1953, John Asa Hamrick, Divinity
1953, Mark Fant Hawthorne, Laws (B.A. 1928)
1954, John Laney Plyler, Letters (B.A. 1913)
1954, Edward L. Byrd, Divinity
1954, Lodwick Charles Hartley, Letters (B.A.1927)
1954, Davis Milton Sanders, Divinity (B.A.1926)
1955, Marion Thomas Anderson, Letters (B.A. 1929)
1955, William L. Ball Jr., Divinity (B.S.1935)
1955, Mark Rayburn Osborne, Divinity (B.A. 1917)
1956, William Robert McLin, Divinity (B.A. 1937)
1956, James Henry Simpson, Divinity (B.A. 1914)
1956, Samuel Meyer Smith, Humanities (B.A.1930)
1957, Marie Padgett Hamilton, Letters (B.A. 1916)
1957, Fred Townley Lord, Divinity
1957, James Roy Robinson, Divinity (B.S. 1933)
1957, Belton James Workman, Humanities (x-1914)
1958, Gordon Williams Blackwell, Laws (B.S. 1932)
1958, Sidney Walter Martin, Letters (B.A.1932)
1958, Roy Oliver McClain, Divinity (B.A. 1941)
1958, Dotson McGinnis Nelson Jr., Divinity
1958, William Marion Whiteside, Humanities
1959, Joseph Clarke Robert, Laws (B.A. 1927)
1959, James P. Carroll, Divinity
1959, Thomas Toliver Goldmith, Laws (B.S. 1931, Ph.D.)
1959, John Edward Rouse, Divinity (B.S. 1934)
 

1960-1969

1960, Walter Judson Heacock, Letters
1960, Clifton Judson Allen, Divinity
1960, William Austin Roberts, Divinity
1960, Charles Hard Townes, Letters
1961, Charles Anthony Arrington, Divinity
1961, William Henry Gambrell, Laws
1962, Wilton Robinson Earle,Letters
1962, John Cochran Murdoch, Divinity
1963, George Cuthbert Galphin, Laws
1963, Harris Andrew Marshall, Laws
1963, John David Hughey, Divinity
1964, Delbert Harold Gilpatrick, Letters
1964, Clement Furman Haynsworth Jr., Laws
1964, Thomas Lee Perkins, Laws
1964, Thomas Lawton Neely, Divinity
1965, James Augustus Bowers, Divinity
1965, John Richard Sampey Jr., Letters
1966, Raven Igor McDavid Jr., Literature
1966, John Edward Burnside, Laws
1966, Samuel George Lovell Jr., Divinity
1967, Archie Harold Cole, Divinity
1967, Herman Warden Lay, Laws
1967, Thomas Henry Ulmer, Laws
1968, Charles Franklin Marsh, Laws
1968, Dillard Hind Daniel Jr., Divinity
1968, Francis Moffett Hipp, Laws
1968, Robert Scott Small, Laws
1969, Earle Keith Plyler, Laws
1969, William Arthur Boyce, Laws
1969, Logan Fulrath, Laws
1969, Wilbur Washington McEachern, Laws
1969, Robert Evander McNair, Laws
1969, Timoteo Gatica, Letters
 

1970-1979

1970, Herman Neel Hipp '35, Laws
1970, Ruth Provence '27, Letters
1970, DuPre Rhame '24, Letters
1971, Robert Charles Dean '26, Laws
1971, John Lawrence Slaughter, Divinity
1971, George Brown Tindal '42, Letters
1972, Thomas Signor Hartness, Laws
1972, John Edwin Johns '42, Laws
1972, John Elgin Roberts '51, Laws
1973, Ronald Charles Tress, Laws
1973, Stewart Broadus Simms, Divinity
1973, Johnnie McKeiver Walters '42, Laws
1973, George S. Wise '28, Laws
1973, Homer Edwin Young, Divinity
1974, Homozel Mickel Daniel, Letters
1974, Robert Wesley Major '37, Divinity
1974, William Joseph McGlothlin, Jr., Laws
1975, Arthur Crosswell McCall '36, Laws
1975, Loulie Latimer Owens '35, Letters
1975, Henry Keith Townes, Laws
1975, Max Heller, Laws
1975, Jesse Cordell Maddox '54, Laws
1976, Jefferson Boone Aiken '34, Laws
1976, Elija Maxie Hicks Jr. '41, Laws
1976, Arthur Francis Magill, Laws
1976, Marion Buel Webb '27, Divinity
1977, Lois Aileen Coggins '19, Letters
1977, Alastair Cameron Walker, Divinity
1978, Stanley W. Wells, Letters (England)
1978, Benjamin Lewis Barnett Jr. '46, Laws
1978, William Horace Benjamin '45, Divinity
1978, Charles Dillard Blalock, Jr. '36, Laws
1979, Flynn Thomas Harrell, Laws
1979, Richard W. Riley '54, Laws
1979, Shirley Sidney Ulmer '52, Laws
 

1980-1989

1980, Irby Bruce Cauthen Jr. '40, Literature
1980, Marguerite Moore Chiles '40, Humanities
1980, Robert Lee Deneen, Divinity
1980, Thomas Anderson Roe '48, Laws
1981, Paul Otis Batson Jr. '49, Divinity
1981, James A. Rogers '27, Laws
1981, Ray Pearce Rust, Humanities
1982, Ilene Eleanor Avery, Humanities (Madrid, Spain)
1982, Posey Belcher '54, Divinity
1982, Francis Wesley Bonner, Literature
1982, David Clyde Garrett Jr. '42, Laws
1983, George H. W. Bush, Laws (U.S. Vice President)
1983, Benjamin Franklin Hawkins '41, Divinity
1983, Eugene E. Stone III, Laws
1983, Richard K. Webel, Laws
1984, Sir Georg Solti, Humanities (Conductor Chicago Symphony)
1984, Sadato Tanimoto, Laws (Osaka, Japan)
1984, Mary Seawell Metz '58, Humanities
1984, Ernest F. Hollings, Laws
1984, Maurice Bernard "Bobby" Morrow, Jr. 51, Divinity
1985, J. Peter Grace, Laws
1985, R. E. Littlejohn '35, Laws
1985, Fred Samuel Miller Jr. '53, Divinity
1985, Strom Thurmond, Laws
1986, James H. Billington, Humanities
1986, J. Martin England '27, Divinity
1986, Marion Herbert Hare, Divinity
1986, Peter Rickett, Humanities
1987, Lloyd Ellis Batson '47, Divinity
1987, Jean Galloway Bissell, Laws
1987, Carolyn Weatherford, Laws
1988, William Lockhart Ball III, Laws
1988, Jimmie Elsma Harley '58, Divinity
1988, Virginia Short Uldrick '50, Humanities
1989, Douglas N. Baker '54, Divinity
1989, David R. Gregen, Humanities
1989, Thomas E. Kerns, Letters
 

1990-1999

1990, Pat Conroy, Letters
1990, Robert Edward Cuttino '77, Divinity
1990, Dorothy Pedrick Peace, Humanities
1991, Gordon Rae Herring '65, Laws
1991, William Gregory Horton 58, Humanities
1992, Robert Lewis Blocker '68, Humanities
1992, Clarence Day, Laws
1992, Samuel Ruthven Williamson Jr., Laws
1992, John Henry Crabtree Jr., Humanities
1992, Mary Duke Biddle Semans, Laws
1993, James L. Crenshaw '56, Divinity
1993, Minor Herndon Mickel, Humanities
1993, Nick Andrew Theodore '52, Laws
1993, B. O. "Tommy" Thomason, Laws
1993, Edward Booker Bagby, Divinity
1993, Clemmie Dixon Spangler Jr., Laws
1994, Martin Gardner, Science
1994, C. Ray Wylie Jr., Science
1994, Hardy Clemons, Divinity
1994, Martha Mauney Johns '47, Humanities
1994, Schaeffer Kendrick '37, Laws
1995, John Hope Franklin, Humanities
1995, Karl-Heinz Walter, Divinity
1995, Max Steele, Letters
1995, William R. Timmons Jr., Laws
1995, Sir John Marks Templeton, Humanities
1996, James Lehman Hamrick 50, Humanities
1996, Josephine Humphreys, Humanities
1996, Joseph Chesley Mathews '27, Humanities
1996, Hedrick Laurence Smith, Letters
1997, Sarah Belk Gambrell, Humanities
1997, Robert Shaw, Humanities
1997, C. Thomas Wyche, Humanities
1997, Edna Gladden Hartness, Humanities
1998, Alice Hollingsworth Magill, Humanities
1998, James C. Self, Laws
1998, Bennie Lee Sinclair '61, Humanities
1998, Roger Milliken, Laws
1999, Ted Tidwell Ellett, Humanities
1999, Alester Garden Furman III, Humanities
1999, Joseph A. DeFrancesco, Humanities
1999, Robert E. Stillwell '67, Divinity
1999, Trude S. Heller, Humanities
1999, James Furman Bisher '38, Letters
1999, Robert Keith Parks, Humanities
 

2000-2009

2000, Keith Lockhart '81, Humanities
2000, Irwin Belk, Humanities
2000, Ralph S. Hendricks, Humanities
2000, Joab Mauldin Lesesne, Laws
2001, William Levy Carpenter, Humanities
2001, Marshall Clement Sanford Jr. '83, Laws
2001, Sarah Weaver Herring '66, Humanities
2001, Mary Patterson McPherson, Humanities
2001, Donald T. Regan, Laws
2002, Betsy McDavid Campbell '38, Humanities
2002, James Milton Dunn, Divinity
2002, Peter John Gomes, Divinity
2002, Mary Peace Sterling, Humanities
2002, Werner Kratschell, Humanities
2002, Inez Moore Tenenbaum, Humanities
2002, Darla D. Moore, Humanities
2003, Karen E. Foreman, Humanities
2003, Archie Vernon Huff Jr., Humanities
2004, Beatrice D. Plyler, Humanities
2004, Elizabeth H. Locke, Humanities
2004, Leighan R. Rinker, Humanities
2006, Minor Mickel Shaw, Humanities
2006, Bradford W. Wyche, Humanities
2006, Arthur M. Blank, Humanities
2007, Mary Simms (Oliphant) Furman '64, Humanities
2007, Adam Lewis, Humanities
2007, Elizabeth P. Stall, Humanities
2008, Rubye Hopkins Jones, Humanities
2009, John A. Floyd, Humanities
2009, Carl F. Kohrt '65, Science
2009, David W. Orr, Science
2009, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Humanities
2009, Irvine "Buck" Welling, Jr., Humanities

2010-2019

2010, Roger Stevenson '62, Science
2010, Juan Johnson, Humanities
2011, Maime Bruce, Humanities
2011, Dr. Susan T. Shi '71, Humanities
2011, Gillaine Warne, Humanities
2012, Charles Brewer, Humanities
2013, Margaret Ann O'Neill, Humanities
2013, Peter Wexler, Humanities
2014, Lillian Brock Fleming '71, Humanities
2014, Sarah Reese '71, Humanities
2015, Dr. Jerry R. Thomas '63, Science
2016, Harold C. Warlick, Jr. '68, Humanities
2017, Alexander Stubb '93, Laws
2018, Frances Ligler '72, Science
2019, Eleanor Beardsley '86, Humanities

2020-2029

2021, Rev. Deb Richardson-Moore, Divinity
2021, Angela L. Walker Franklin, Ph.D. '81, Laws
2022, Pearlie Harris '83, Humanities
2022, Cynthia L. Davis '84, Laws
2023, Tomiko Brown-Nagin '92, Doctor of Humane Letters