Honorary Degrees
Honorary degree nominations are recommended by the University president with the endorsement of the Graduate Education Committee to the Board of Trustees for approval. Ball State bestows honorary degrees in recognition of life experiences. The degree is given as an honor rather than through the completion of academic requirements.
- J. Richard Emens, LLD
- Deborah Fallows, DA
- James Fallows, DA
- Shirley Brice Heath, LHD
- Eric J. Holcomb, LLD
- Freeman A. Hrabowski III, DSc
- Robert G. Hunt, LLD
- Martha De Laurentiis, HHD
- Lucina Ball Moxley, DA
- June Scheumann, DA
- Karl W. Eikenberry, LLD
- Teresa S. Lubbers, LLD
- Scott McCorkle, LLD
- Angela J. Ahrendts, DHL
- Stephen S. Bell, LLD
- Leland Boren, LLD
- David S. Broder, LLD
- Andrew H. Card Jr., LLD
- Kenneth H. Cooper, DSc
- Scott D. Dorsey, LLD
- Niel C. Ellerbrook, LLD
- Jeffrey D. Feltman, LLD
- Sutton L. Foster, DA
- David Gergen, LLD
- Marilyn Glick, DA
- Hurley C. Goodall, LLD
- Hilary Hahn, DA
- Craig W. Hartman, DA
- Steve Inskeep, DHL
- The Honorable Howard A. “Luke” Kenley, LLD
- Steve Kroft, DHL
- Arthur E. Levine, LLD
- Richard M. Linnehan, DSc
- Thomas M. Lofton, LittD
- Congressman Luke Messer, LLD
- Judy O’Bannon, DSc.
- David T. Owsley, HHD
- John Brooks Slaughter, DSc
- The Honorable Tanya Walton Pratt, LLD
- Tong Ki Woo, DHL
- J. Wayne Leonard, LLD
- Donald Neuen, HHD
- Theodore Caplow, LLD
- Chungwon Choue, LLD
- Faye J. Crosby, LLD
- Brian A. Gallagher, HHD
- David W. Orr, HHD
- Sister Helen Prejean, HHD
- W. David Trimble, LLD
- John E. Worthen, LLD
- Robert Allen, LLD
- Stefan S. Anderson, HHD
- Houston A. Baker Jr., HHD
- Rosemary Ball Bracken, HHD
- The Honorable Birch E. Bayh Jr., LLD
- Virginia Beall Ball, HHD
- Edward L. Bernays, LLD
- James H. Billington, HHD
- Baruch S. Blumberg, DSc
- Wayne C. Booth, HHD
- Herbert Charles Brown, DSc
- James M. Buchanan, HHD
- James Burke, HHD
- Richard W. Burkhardt, LLD
- Marsha J. Casey, DSc
- Joseph Costa, LLD
- Dolores E. Cross, LLD
- James “Jim” R. Davis, LLD
- Sylvia Earle, DSc
- Janelle Goetcheus, DSc
- Dale E. Graham, HHD
- The Honorable Lee H. Hamilton, LLD
- Pamela A. Hill, HHD
- Sir David Hunt, HHD
- Charles Everett Koop, DSc
- Ulrich Littmann, HHD
- The Honorable Richard G. Lugar, LLD
- Shirley Malcom, DSc
- Ellis Marsalis, HHD
- The Honorable Lynn M. Martin, LLD
- Susan Maxman, HHD
- Stanislaw Mrozowski, DSc
- Kent C. (Oz) Nelson, LLD
- Nicholas Negroponte, DSc
- The Honorable Robert D. Orr, LLD
- Sara Parkin, DSc
- Arno A. Penzias, DSc
- John J Pruis, LLD
- The Right Honorable Lord Anthony Quinton, HHD
- Suellen K. Reed, LLD
- Wynetka Ann King Reynolds, DSc
- Ian M. Rolland, LLD
- Chang-Ou Ryu, LLD
- John R. Seffrin, DSc
- The Honorable Philip R. Sharp, LLD
- Charles H. Shaw, HHD
- Twyla Tharp, HHD
- Randall L. Tobias, LLD
- Vivienne Verdon-Roe, HHD
- Reverend Dr. Ralph Waller, HHD
- John William Ward, LLD
- Gregory H. Williams, HHD
- Shaozhu Wu, LLD
- Stephen Kemp Bailey, LLD
- Terrel Howard Bell, LLD
- Kyounghee Cho, LLD
- Gordon Alexander Craig, HHD
- James Lee Fisher, HHD
- M. Paul Friedburg, DSc
- Romaldo Giurgola, DSc
- Robert M. Hoffer, LL
- Lawrence Robert Klein, DSc
- Amory Lovins, DSc
- Kevin Lynch, DSc
- Jean Mayer, DSc
- Benjamin Elijah Mays, LLD
- Allan William Ostar, HHD
- B.F. Skinner, LLD
- Sir Ronald Syme, HHD
- Isaac K. Beckes, LLD
- Malcolm S. Forbes Sr., LittD
- Dorothy Hamilton, LittD
- Grover L. Hartman, HHD
- Paul DeHart Hurd, DSc
- Estel V. Marsh, LLD
- Hamer D. Shafer, LLD
- Van P. Smith, LLD
- Otis R. Bowen, LLD
- William D. Ruckelshaus, LLD
- Sir Steven Runciman, HHD
- Jessie M. Scott, DSc
- Marshall S. Armstrong, LLD
- K. Douglas Beakes, LLD
- John Brademas, LLD
- Frederick H. Burkhardt, LLD
- Norman Burns, LLD
- Benjamin V. Cohen, LLD
- Arthur Feidler, LLD
- John W. Fisher, LLD
- Roger W. Heyns, LLD
- Richard Dorsey Irwin, LLD
- Emily Kimbrough, LLD
- Elizabeth Duncan Koontz, LLD
- Sun Keun Lee, LLD
- Eli Lilly, LLD
- Henry L. Kamphoefner, LLD
- John P. McGovern, DSc
- Bernard K. McKenzie, LLD
- J. Irwin Mille, LLD
- Lall G. Montgomery, LLD
- Charles Stewart Harding Mott, LLD
- Jane Blaffer Owen, HHD
- Nathaniel Alexander Owings, LLD
- Christopher Eugene Schenkel, HHD
- Jesse Hauk Shera, LLD
- Ara Kenneth Smith, LLD
- Clara Stanton Jones, LLD
- Jesse Stuart, LLD
- Ralph Judson Whitinger, LLD
- Chester M. Alter, LLD
- Edmund Ferdinand Ball, LLD
- George Alexander Ball, LLD
- Frank Basil Bernard, LLD
- Harold H. Dice, LLD
- Robert Marion Fetherstone, LLD
- John A. Gough, LLD
- Howard Hanson, LLD
- J. Russel Hiatt, LLD
- Frederick Lawson Hovde, LLD
- Stanley Sebastian Kresge, LLD
- Ralph Norman Angell Lane, LLD
- J. Everett Light, LLD
- John Robert Ludington, LLD
- Alexander McKnight Bracken, LLD
- John Richard, LLD
- R. Nelson Snider, LLD
- Herman B. Wells, LLD
- William Earl Wilson, LLD
- Robert H. Wyatt, LLD
President's Medal of Distinction
One of our University’s highest honors is the President’s Medal of Distinction. It is awarded by the current University president to individuals who have made significant and unselfish contributions to the advancement of the University, community, state, or nation.
- Jeffrey C. Bird
- Annie Burns-Hicks
- Kayla Davion
- Wm. Craig Dobbs
- R. Wayne Estopinal (posthumous)
- Craig W. Hartman
- Lee Ann Kwiatkowski
- James W. Lowe
- Edward McNeary Jr.
- Matthew J. Momper
- Randall E. Pond
- Joe R. Rinard
- Steven L. Smith
- Marianne Glick
- Frank Hancock
- Hollis E. Hughes Jr.
- Paul W. Parkison
- John R. Seffrin
- Rayfield Anderson (posthumous)
- David W. Bahlmann
- Blaine E. Bishop
- Dennis Bland
- Frank Bracken
- Kenneth R. Briner
- Peggy A. Briner
- Lawrence L. Buell
- Arthur Carter
- Chu-yuan Cheng
- David L. Costill
- James “Jim” R. Davis
- Thomas L. DeWeese
- Mary L. Dollison
- Harold Gaulden
- Roscoe Harkins
- Pompey Hawkins
- Mark R. Holden
- Julius Jackson
- Diane Auer Jones
- Louis Linthecome
- Senator Richard Lugar
- William A. McClain
- Armour McDaniel (posthumously)
- Bryan A. Mills
- Kent C. “Oz” Nelson
- Walter Palmer
- Barbara Phillips
- Angelina Pruis
- John J Pruis
- William L. Richards
- John B. Scheumann
- Michael P. Smith
- Ronald Venderly
- James L. Wainscott
- Moo-Nam Kim
- Kelly N. Stanley
- Sandra Worthen
- Edmund Ball
- Virginia Beall Ball
- Oliver Bumb
- J. Roberts Dailey
- Aline Emens
- Hurley C. Goodall
- Janice Fisher
- John W. Fisher
- Kajit Habanananda
- Gloria Griner
- Ned Griner
- Richard W. Hutson
- Patrick Kiely
- J. Richard Marshall
- Joanna Meeks
- Allen Neuharth
- David T. Owsley
- James Parks
- Frances Petty Sargent
- Hamer Shafer
- Phyllis Shafer
- Van P. Smith
- George Sissel
- David Sursa
- Mary Jane Sursa
- Reed Voran
- Harry Watkins
- Marjorie Zeigler