• May 31, 2010

  The College awarded honorary degrees to distinguished biologist Bonnie Bassler, educator and labor leader John Braxton '70, Morehouse College President Robert Michael Franklin (above, with President Rebecca Chopp), and actor and author Stephen Lang '73 at the College's 138th commencement.

• May 31, 2009

  The College awarded honorary degrees to Mary Schmidt Campbell '69, dean of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and professor and chair of art and public policy, and James C. Hormel '55, a philanthropist devoted to social justice and human rights and the first openly gay ambassador in U.S. history. President Alfred H. Bloom also received an honorary degree on the occasion of his departure from the College after 18 years as president.

• June 01, 2008

  The College awarded honorary degrees to Alberto Mora '74, former general counsel of the Department of the Navy, Robert Storr '72, dean of the Yale School of Art, and Phyllis Wise '67, a renowned researcher and provost and executive vice-president at the University of Washington, at the College's 136th commencement.

• June 03, 2007

  The College awarded honorary degrees to Marcia A. Grant '60, educator and founding dean of the first liberal arts college for women in Saudi Arabia, civil rights leader and Algebra Project founder Robert Parris Moses, and J. Robert Prichard '71, president and CEO of Torstar Corporation, at the College's 135th commencement.

• May 28, 2006

  The College awarded honorary degrees to philosopher and Africana studies scholar Kwame Anthony Appiah, renowned scientist and inventor Neil Gershenfeld '81, and distinguished jurist Mary Murphy Schroeder '62 at the College's 134th commencement.

• May 29, 2005

  The College awarded degrees to 380 undergraduates and honorary degrees to critically acclaimed author Jonathan Franzen '81; noted poet and educator Daniel Hoffman, a former member of Swarthmore's English faculty; and Anne Schuchat '80, a physician at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

• May 30, 2004

  The College awarded degrees to 359 undergraduates and honorary degrees to Patrick G. Awuah, Jr. '89, founder of Ashesi University College in Ghana; Marjorie Garber '66, a renowned Shakespeare scholar and cultural critic; and Joy ('51) and Herbert Kaiser '49, founders of the non-profit Medical Education for Southern African Blacks.

• June 1, 2003

  The College awarded degrees to 360 undergraduates and gave honorary degrees to astrobiologist and public policy expert Christopher Chyba '82, child psychiatrist Margaret Morgan Lawrence, and U.S. District Court Judge Jed S. Rakoff '64.

• June 2, 2002

  The College awarded degrees to 335 undergraduates and honorary degrees to former U.N. humanitarian coordinator Denis Halliday and journalist and prominent international relations scholar Josef Joffe '65 at the College's 130th commencement.

• June 4, 2001

  The College awarded degrees to 332 undergraduates and honorary degrees to noted bioethicist and civil rights advocate Adrienne Asch '69; longtime public servant, accomplished author, and decorated veteran Ken Hechler '35; and critically acclaimed author and physician Abraham Verghese.

• May 29, 2000

  The College awarded degrees to 377 undergraduates and honorary degrees to physicist and theologian Ian Barbour '44, acclaimed dancer and choreographer Bill T. Jones, and social activist and author Elizabeth Martínez '46.

Commencement Speakers and
Honorary Degree Recipients (1888-1999)