ODU Honorary Degrees
Honorary Degrees Conferred by ODU
| Date | Recipient | Affiliation | Degree Bestowed |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 2022 | Barbara J. Smoot | President and CEO, Women for Economic and Leadership Development (WELD) | Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa |
| May 2022 | J. William Wulf, M.D. | CEO, Central Ohio Primary Care | Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa |
| August 2021 | Governor Mike DeWine | Governor of Ohio | Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa |
| August 2021 | Fran DeWine | First Lady of Ohio | Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa |
| May 2018 | Sister Janice Bachman, OP | Dominican Sisters of Peace, ODU Board Trustee | Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa |
| May 2018 | Thomas Mueller | President, Partner of Mueller Consulting Inc. Chairman, ODU Board of Trustees | Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa |
| December 2017 | Sterling W. Hedrick, M.D. | President, Columbus Arthritis Center & former ODU Board Trustee | Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa |
| May 2017 | Thomas R. Winters, Esq. | Partner, Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP, ODU Board Trustee and 1972 Ohio Dominican alumnus | Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa |
| May 2017 | Richard (Dick) W. Maxwell | Founder & CEO, Maxwell Financial Management, ODU Board Trustee and 1969 Ohio Dominican alumnus | Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa |
| December 2016 | Julia M. McNamara, Ph.D. | Former President, Albertus Magnus College and 1965 Ohio Dominican alumna | Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa |
| May 2016 | David C. Bianconi | Founder, Progressive Medical Inc. | Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa |
| December 2015 | Robert "Bob" L. Dawes | Co-Founder, Bob-Boyd Auto Family | Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa |
| December 2015 | James "Jim" F. Laird | Board Director & Corporate Secretary, Diamond Hill Investment Group | Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa |
| May 2015 | Governor John R. Kasich | Governor of Ohio | Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa |
| December 2014 | The Most Reverend Frederick F. Campbell, D.D., Ph.D. | Bishop of Columbus | Doctor of Humane Letters honoris causa |
| May 2014 | Father Wilson (Bill) Miscamble, C.S.C., Ph.D. | Professor of History, University of Notre Dame, Indiana | Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa |
| December 2013 | Beatrice E. Wolper | President, Emens & Wolper Law Firm, Columbus | Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa |
| J. Richard Emens | Partner, Emens & Wolper Law Firm, Columbus | Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa | |
| May 2013 | Stephen D. Steinour | Chairman, CEO & President, Huntington Bancshares, Inc., Columbus | Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa |
| December 2012 | Michael Curtin | Associate Publisher Emeritus, The Columbus Dispatch, and State Representative |
Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa |
| May 2012 | Gene T. Harris, Ph.D | Superintendent & C.E.O., Columbus City Schools | Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa |
| December 2011 | Dr. Adolph V. Lombardi, Jr., M.D., F.A.C.S. | President, Joint Implant Surgeons, New Albany | Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa |
| May 2011 | Sister Margaret Ormond, O.P. | Prioress, Dominican Sisters of Peace, Columbus | Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa |
| December 2010 | Ann Pizzuti | Columbus Community Leader & Former Trustee | Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa |
| May 2010 | Jeffrey Wadsworth, Ph.D. | CEO & Battelle, Columbus | Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa |
| Msgr. Joseph M. Hendricks | Pastor, St. Brigid of Kildare Church, Dublin, Ohio | Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa | |
| December 2009 | Mike Mentel | General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer, ms consultants, inc, and President, Columbus City Council | Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa |
| September 2009 | John “Kesh” Pappas | Co-Founder, President & CEO, Dollar Federal Savings Association, New York | Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa |
| Joseph Kenefick, Ph.D. | Educator & Humanitarian | Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa | |
| May 2009 | Robert Schottenstein | Chair, CEO & President of M/I Homes | Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa |
| Father Charles Bouchard | Retired President, Aquinas Institute of Theology | Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa | |
| December 2008 | Curtis J. Moody | President/CEO of Moody Nolan, Inc. | Doctor of Fine Arts, honoris causa |
| May 2008 | Ann Schiele, Ph.D., R.N. | President, Mt. Carmel College of Nursing | Doctor of Science, honoris causa |
| December 2007 | The Most Reverend Robert J. McManus | Bishop of Worcester, MA | Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa |
| Sister Anne Kilbride, O.P. | Prioress, St. Mary of the Springs | Doctor of Divinity honoris causa | |
| May 2007 | David Hollenbach, S.J. | Margaret O'Brien Flatley Professor of Catholic Theology at Boston College |
Doctor of Humanities honoris causa |
| December 2006 | Thomas J. Fitzpatrick, '69 | Senior Chairman of Elford, Inc., Columbus | Doctor of Public Service, honoris causa |
| May 2006 | Sister Joan Chittister, O.S.B. | Co-chair of the Global Peace Initiative of Women | Doctor of Humanities, honoris causa |
| December 2005 | Donald P. McConnell | Battelle Corporate Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Laboratory Operations, Columbus | Doctor of Public Service, honoris causa |
| Nancy Wolfe Lane | Member of the Board of Trustees of Agricultural Lands, Wolfe Associates and Wolfe Enterprises | Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa | |
| May 2005 | Sr. Charles Marie Brantl, O.P. | Director of Assessment & Institutional Research Albertus Magnus College, New Haven, CT | Doctor of Higher Education, honoris causa |
| The Reverend Nathan D. Baxter | Rector of Saint James Episcopal Church, Lancaster, PA | Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa | |
| December 2004 | Dr. Carl F. Kohrt, Ph.D. | President & CEO, Battelle | Doctor of Science, honoris causa |
| May 2004 | Helen Thomas | Syndicated Columnist, Hearst Newspapers | Doctor of Letters, honoris causa |
| Toyoshi Satow | President, Obirin University, Japan | Doctor of Higher Education, honoris causa | |
| December 2003 | Dr. Joyce Beatty | Member, Ohio House of Representatives | Doctor of Public Service, honoris causa |
| Otto Beatty, Jr. Esq. | Attorney | Doctor of Laws, honoris causa | |
| May 2003 | Bishop Thomas Gumbleton | Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit & Pastor of St. Leo Church | Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa |
| Sister Ruth Caspar, O.P. | Professor of Philosophy, Ohio Dominican University | Doctor of Humanities, honoris causa | |
| December 2002 | Yvette McGee-Brown | President, Center for Child & Family Advocacy | Doctor of Laws, honoris causa |
| May 2002 |
Aminah Robinson | Artist | Doctor of Fine Arts, honoris causa |
| John P. Walters | Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, The White House | Doctor of Laws, honoris causa | |
| 2001 | Sr. Mary Andrew Matesich, O.P | President, Ohio Dominican College | |
| Jefferson A. Thomas | Financial Specialist, Contract Pay Services | ||
| 2000 | Dr. Rosa A. Smith | Superintendent, Columbus Public Schools | |
| William H. Hadler | Community Leader and Former Board of Trustees Member | ||
| Sr. Akiko Tsuji | President, Aomori Akenohoshi Junior College Japan | ||
| 1999 | Rowland C.W. Brown | Consultant, Executive (Retired), and Member of Ohio Dominican’s Board of Trustees | |
| Sr. Thomas Albert Corbett, O.P. | Associate Director of the Honors Program at Ohio Dominican | ||
| 1998 | Dr. Kathyrn Sullivan | President & C.E.O., COSI | |
| Roman Johnson | Artist | ||
| 1997 | Dimon Richard McFerson | Chair & CEO, Nationwide Insurance Enterprise | |
| Cecilia S. Cullman | Community Volunteer Leader | ||
| Reverend Leon L. Troy, Sr. | Member, Columbus Board of Education | ||
| 1996 | Claude W. Willis | Past Project Director,Upward Bound | |
| Richard W. Kimball | President & Director, The Teagle Foundation | ||
| Judith Y. Brachman | Director, Ohio Department of Aging | ||
| 1995 | Thekla Reese Shackelford | Educational Consultant | |
| Lewis R. Smoot, Sr. | President & C.E.O., The Smoot Corporation | ||
| 1994 | The Most Reverend James A. Griffin | ||
| Harold M. Nesto | President, Columbus State Community College | ||
| Floradelle Atwater Pfahl | Community Volunteer Leader | ||
| 1993 | Wil Haygood | ||
| Chalmers P. Wylie | U.S. Congress (1966-1992) | ||
| Gerald E. Mayo | Chairman, C.E.O. & President, The Midland Mutual Life Insurance Company | ||
| 1992 | Sherian Grace Cadoria | Brigadier General, USA (Ret.) | |
| 1991 | Arthur D. Herrmann | Retired Chairman & President of BancOhio, and Former Chairman, Ohio Dominican Board | |
| Martin Nyeu, '76 | President, Wendy’s Taiwan, Inc., and Principal, Chian Shu Senior High School | ||
| 1990 | Sr. Josephine King, O.P. | Elementary School Teacher, 54 years | |
| Melvin L. Schottenstein | Attorney, Schottenstein, Zox and Dunn | ||
| Bella Cabakoff Wexner | The Limited Stores, Inc., and Board of Trustees, Secretary | ||
| 1989 | John E. Fisher | General Chairman & C.E.O., Nationwide Insurance Companies | |
| Clifford A. Tyree | Administrator, Retired, Youth Services Bureau | ||
| 1988 | Sr. Jean Patrice Harrington | Cincinnati Youth Collaborative | |
| Arthur Kobacker | President & C.E.O., Kobacker Company | ||
| 1987 | The Honorable Silvio O. Conte | U.S. Representative, 1st Congressional Dist., MA | |
| 1986 | Monsignor Leonard J. Fick | Retired from Pontifical College Josephinum in 1985 | |
| 1985 | Margaret Grant Fielders | Library Science Faculty, Retired, Ohio Dominican College | |
| Helen McDaniel | Executive Director, Retired, Catholic Social Services | ||
| 1984 | Sherwood Fawcett | President & C.E.O., Battelle Memorial Institute | |
| Everett H. Krueger | Retired Senior Vice President, Bank One | ||
| Herbert Schiff | Chairman, SCOA Industries | ||
| 1983 | Thomas Moody | Mayor, City of Columbus | |
| Paul Rutter Gingher | Chairman of the Board & C.E.O., State Automobile Insurance Company | ||
| John G. McCoy | CEO, Bank One Corporation | ||
| 1982 | Joseph L. Davis | Superintendent of Public Schools, City of Columbus | |
| The Most Reverend Edward J. Herrmann | Bishop of Columbus | ||
| 1979 | Wilbert Henry Yahn | Retired, President of Columbus Division Rockwell International, and Past President of the Ohio Dominican Board of Trustees | |
| S. Robert Davis | Board Chairman & President, Orange-Co. | ||
| Sister Francis de Sales Heffernan, O.P. | Mother General, St. Mary of the Springs | ||
| 1978 | Sister Suzanne Uhrhane, O.P. | President, Ohio Dominican College | |
| 1977 | John W. Galbreath | ||
| Thornton N. McClure | Financial Director, Ohio Dominican College | ||
| Sister Rose Dominica Hanks, O.P. | Dominican Sister, member of original staff at Ohio Dominican | ||
| 1975 | Dean Weldon Jeffers | Member of Ohio Dominican’s Board of Trustees, Nationwide Insurance | |
| 1973 | Dr. Shepherd L. Witman | President & Chairman of the Board Regional Council for International Education (1959-73) | |
| 1970 | Evan Arthur Whallon | Conductor, Columbus Symphony Orchestra | |
| H. Ross Perot | President, Electronic Data Systems, Dallas, TX | ||
| 1968 1955 | Rev. Joachim M. Bauer, O.P. | Professor Emeritus – Ohio Dominican, and Member of Ohio Dominican’s Advisory Board | |
| Edward F. Wagner | Vice President, Nationwide Insurance, Inc. | ||
| Charles Y. Lazarus | F. & R. Lazarus Company | ||
| Bob Hope | The World's Friend | ||
| Bernard C. Lang, Sr. | President, McNally Lumber Company and Member of Ohio Dominican’s Advisory Board | ||
| Mrs. Katherine Burton | Author | ||
| 1950 | Mrs. Anna Shannon McAllister | Author | |
| Mrs. Maisie Ward Sheet | Writer, Lecturer & Publisher | ||
| 1935 | Sara Shanley | For outstanding social work in Nebraska | |
| 1930 | Rhea Joseph Cyprian Brady, O.P. | ||
| 1928 | Mrs. Anne O'Hare McCormick | Social Editor of the New York Times | |
| John Daniel Logan | Head of the English Dept., Marquette University | ||
| Dr. John Becker | A member of the Music Dept. of St. Mary of the Spring | ||