Special Alumni and Alumni Awards
Honorary Degree Recipients
During the Commencement Ceremony, Ohio Dominican confers honorary degrees on members of our community who have significantly contributed to society. Previous award recipients have made their mark through entertainment, intellectual achievements, and leadership in their city, state, and country.
Honorary Degrees conferred by Ohio Dominican (College) University from 1928 through present.
(Positions listed were accurate at the time the degree was conferred.)
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 Springs
1929
Reverend Joseph Cyprian Brady, O.P.
1930
Rhea Mansfield Knittle
1935
Sara Shanley
For outstanding social work in Nebraska
1950
Mrs. Anna Shannon McAllister
Author
Mrs. Maisie Ward Sheet
Writer, Lecturer and Publisher
1955
Mrs. Katherine Burton
Author
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Bob Hope (right) was an Honorary Degree Recipient in 1968.
Pictured (l to r) are former Ohio Dominican president, Sr. Suzanne Uhrhane, Dolores Hope and Bob Hope. |
1968
Rev. Joachim M. Bauer, O.P.
Professor Emeritus - Ohio Dominican
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.
1970
Evan Arthur Whallon
Conductor, Columbus Symphony Orchestra
H. Ross Perot
President, Electronic Data Systems, Dallas, Texas
1973
Dr. Shepherd L. Witman
President and Chairman of the Board Regional Council for International Education (1959-73)
1975
Dean Weldon Jeffers
Member of Ohio Dominican's Board of Trustees,
Nationwide Insurance
1977
John W. Galbreath
Thornton N. McClure
Financial Director, Ohio Dominican College (now Ohio Dominican University)
Sister Rose Dominica Hanks, O.P.
Dominican Sister, member of original staff at Ohio Dominican
1978
Sister Suzanne Uhrhane, O.P.
President, Ohio Dominican College (now Ohio Dominican University)
1979
Wilbert Henry Yahn
Retired, President of Columbus Division Rockwell International;
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
1982
Joseph L. Davis
Supertintendent of Public Schools, City of Columbus
The Most Reverend Edward J. Herrmann
Bishop of Columbus
1983
Tom Moody
Mayor, City of Columbus
Paul Rutter Gingher
Chairman of the Board and C.E.O.,
State Automobile Insurance Company
John G. McCoy
Chief Executive Officer, Bank One Corporation
1984
Sherwood Fawcett
President and C.E.O., Battelle Memorial Institute
Everett H. Krueger
Retired Senior Vice President, Bank One
Herbert Schiff
Chairman, SCOA Industries
1985
Margaret Grant Fielders
Library Science Faculty, Retired,
Ohio Dominican College (now Ohio Dominican University)
Helen McDaniel
Executive Director, Retired,
Catholic Social Services
1986
Monsignor Leonard J. Fick
Retired from Pontifical College Josephinum in 1985
1987
The Honorable Silvio O. Conte
U.S. Representative,
1st Congressional Dist., Massachusetts
1988
Sister Jean Patrice Harrington
Cincinnati Youth Collaborative
Arthur Kobacker
President and C.E.O.,
Kobacker Company
1989
John E. Fisher
General Chairman and C.E.O.,
Nationwide Insurance Companies
Clifford A. Tyree
Administrator, Retired,
Youth Services Bureau
1990
Sister Josephine King, O.P.
Elementary School Teacher, 54 years
Melvin L. Schottenstein
Attorney,
Schottenstein, Zox and Dunn
Bella Cabakoff Wexner
The Limited Stores, Inc.,
Board of Trustees, Secretary
1991
Arthur D. Herrmann
Retired Chairman and President of BancOhio;
Former Chairman, Ohio Dominican Board
Martin Nyeu (Class of '76)
President, Wendy's Taiwan, Inc.;
Principal, Chian Shu Senior High School
1992
Sherian Grace Cadoria
Brigadier General, USA (Ret.)
1993
Wil Haygood
Author
Chalmers P. Wylie
U.S. Congress (1966-1992)
Gerald E. Mayo
Chairman, C.E.O. and President,
The Midland Mutual Life Insurance Company
1994
Most Reverend James A. Griffin
Harold M. Nestor
President, Columbus State Community College
Floradelle Atwater Pfahl
Community Volunteer Leader
1995
Thekla Reese Shackelford
Educational Consultant
Lewis R. Smoot, Sr.
President and C.E.O., The Smoot Corporation
1996
Claude W. Willis
Past Upward Bound Project Director
Richard W. Kimball
President and a Director of The Teagle Foundation
Judith Y. Brachman
Director of the Ohio Department of Aging
1997
Dimon Richard McFerson
Chair and Chief Executive Officer,
Nationwide Insurance Enterprise
Cecilia S. Cullman
Community Volunteer Leader
Reverend Leon L. Troy, Sr.
Member of the Columbus Board of Education
1998
Dr. Kathyrn Sullivan
President and C.E.O. of the Center of Science and Industry (COSI)
Roman Johnson
Artist
1999
Rowland C.W. Brown
Consultant, Executive (Retired),
Member of Ohio Dominican's Board of Trustees
Sr. Thomas Albert Corbett, O.P.
Frm. Associate Director of the Honors Program at Ohio Dominican
2000
Dr. Rosa A. Smith
Superintendent, Columbus Public Schools
William H. Hadler
Community Leader,
Former Board of Trustees Member
Sr. Akiko Tsuji
President, Aomori Akenohoshi Junior College, Japan
2001
Sr. Mary Andrew Matesich, O.P.
President, Ohio Dominican College (now University)
Jefferson A. Thomas
Financial Specialist, Contract Pay Services
May 2002
Aminah Robinson
Artist
John P. Walters
Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy,
The White House
December 2002
Yvette McGee-Brown
President, Center for Child and Family Advocacy
Honorary Doctor of Laws Honoris Causa
May 2003
Bishop Thomas Gumbleton
Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit and Pastor of St. Leo Church
Honorary Doctor of Divinity
Sister Ruth Caspar, O.P.
Professor of Philosophy, Ohio Dominican University
Honorary Doctor of Humanities Honoris Causa
December 2003
Dr. Joyce Beatty
Member, Ohio House of Representatives
Honorary Doctor of Public Service
Otto Beatty, Jr., Esq.
Attorney
Honorary Doctor of Laws
May 2004
Helen Thomas
Former White House Bureau Chief
Honorary Doctor of Letters
Toyoshi Satow
President of Obirin University in Japan
Honorary Doctor of Higher Education
December 2004
Dr. Carl F. Kohrt
President and Chief Executive Officer, Battelle Memorial Institute
Honorary Doctor of Science
May 2005
The Reverend Nathan D. Baxter
Rector of Saint James Episcopal Church in Lancaster, PA
Honorary Doctor of Divinity
Sr. Charles Marie Brantl, O.P.
Director of Assessment and Institutional Research at Albertus Magnus College
Honorary Doctor of Higher Education
December 2005
Donald P. McConnell
Battelle Corporate Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Laboratory Operations
Honorary Doctor of Public Service
Nancy Wolfe Lane
Member of the Board of Trustees of Agricultural Lands, of Wolfe Associates and of Wolfe Enterprises.
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Spring 2006
Sr. Joan Chittister, OSB
Award-winning author and international lecturer, and founder and executive director of Benetvision
Winter 2006
Tom Fitzpatrick
Senior Chairman of Elford, Inc. and former member of ODU’s Board of Trustees
Honorary Doctor of Public Service
Spring 2006
Dr. David Hollenbach, S.J.
Director of the Center for Human Rights and International Justice at Boston College, and the Margaret O'Brien Flatley Professor of Catholic Theology
Honorary Doctor of Humanities
