List of New York University honorary degree recipients

Honorary degree recipients of NYU are typically individuals of great distinction or achievement who are nationally or internationally prominent in their subject areas or disciplines and reflect the values of New York University. Overall, the group of honorees varies in their fields of endeavor and is diverse in ethnicity, race, background, and gender. Among the distinguished recipients honored in recent years at Commence are the following:

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

• Louise Bourgeois, artist ^[1]
• David Brooks, columnist for The New York Times
• Emmanuelle Charpentier, scientist whose research led to some of the most important tools for genome “editing”, and Scientific Member and Director of the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, and Visiting Professor at Umeå University. ^[2]
• Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the United States. ^[3]
• Billy Crystal, comedian, actor, producer, writer, director, and 1970 alumnus of the Tisch School of the Arts. ^[2]
• Patrick Desbois, President, Yahad-In Unum
• Aretha Franklin (Hall of Fame artist)
• Claire Marie Fraser (Genomicist)
• Lang Lang, internationally renowned pianist
• John Lewis, courageous leader of the U.S. civil rights movement and a Member of Congress since 1986. ^[2]
• Sanna Marin, 46th Prime Minister of Finland ^[4]
• Margaret H. Marshall, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts and the first woman to hold that position, wrote the first high court opinion in the U.S. permitting same-sex marriage. ^[2]
• Omara Khan Massoudi, Afghan Museum Director and Preserver of Cultural Patrimony
• Robert Rubin, 70th United States Secretary of the Treasury
• Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice, United States Supreme Court
• Oliver Stone, film director and NYU Tisch Alum
• Taylor Swift singer-songwriter
• Dylan Tilley (Exogeologist, Mineralogist)
• Justin Trudeau, 23rd Prime Minister of Canada ^[5]
• Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation. ^[2]
• Charles Weissmann, Professor and Chairman, Department of Infectology, The Scripps Research Institute
• Janet Yellen, Federal Reserve System Chair ^[6]

References

1. Communications, NYU Web. "Louise Bourgeois Receives Honorary Doctorate From NYU". www.nyu.edu. Retrieved August 12, 2023.
2. "Darren Walker, Ford Foundation President, to Speak at NYU's Commencement".
3. Barron, James (May 16, 2016). "N.Y.U. Graduation Director to Follow Class of '16 off the Stage". The New York Times.
4. Communications, NYU Web. "Sanna Marin, Prime Minister of Finland, to Speak at NYU's 2023 Commencement". www.nyu.edu. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
5. "Honorary Degrees & Speakers".
6. "Fed Chair Janet Yellen, Yankees Pitching Great Mariano Rivera, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, Singer Aretha Franklin, and Distinguished Attorney Martin Edelman to Receive Honorary Degrees at NYU's 2014 Commencement".