In 1895 the trustees amended their bylaws to provide that thereafter no honorary degree should be conferred except upon a recipient present in person. The Sesquicentennial Celebration the following year was the first occasion when honorary graduands assembled for the formal conferring of their degrees. There were fifty-six, the largest company ever honored at one time.*
In 1905 Dean West inaugurated the practice of reading a formal citation as he presented each graduand; he continued to do this through 1925. Others who followed him as University Orator were Deans William F. Magie, Augustus Trowbridge, Luther P. Eisenhart, and Donald B. Aldrich; and trustees Roland S. Morris, Walter E. Hope, Frederick H. Osborn, Fordyce B. St. John, James F. Oates, Jr., and John B. Coburn.
A few persons have received two honorary degrees. John Gilbert Winant '13 received an A.M. in 1925 while governor of New Hampshire and an LL.D. in 1943 as ambassador to Great Britain. The first woman to receive an honorary degree was Willa Cather (Litt.D. 1931). Ralph J. Bunche, Undersecretary of the United Nations, was the first black to receive a degree honoris causa (LL.D. 1951).
CITATIONS
Excerpts from a few citations follow:
GEORGE WASHINGTON GOETHALS, chief engineer of the Panama Canal: Cleaving the rugged isthmus to join the severed oceans, he has opened a safe and stately roadway for the ships of every sea. (1915)
ALBERT EINSTEIN: So today for his genius and integrity we, who inadequately measure his power, salute the new Columbus of science, ``voyaging through strange seas of thought alone.'' (1921)
FERDINAND FOCH, Marshal of France: When shall his glory fade? Not till free men forget their measureless debt to France. Not till they forget that energy of soul in accord with truth and honor is the one superlative mark of manhood. (1921)
WILDER GRAVES PENFIELD '13, neurosurgeon: A strong and gentle man, with extraordinary dexterity he penetrates the recesses of the human brain and restores to lives of usefulness and happiness those who had been facing the future without a single ray of hope. (1939)
HAROLD R. MEDINA '09, presiding judge at the 1949 Communist conspiracy trial: In one of the most turbulent trials, in the face of vehement provocation, he maintained the rules of jurisprudence with patient resolve, dignity, and justice. (1951)
FRANCIS CLARK WOOD '22, heart specialist: For more than four decades he has fulfilled literally the divine exhortation to ease the hearts of men. (1964)
ANDREW WYETH, artist: . . . Probing past the facade of nature he has made the peculiarly American banks of the Brandywine and the bony skeleton of Maine serve as universal metaphors for the mystery of existence. (1965)
ROBERT OPPENHEIMER, director, Institute for Advanced Study: Physicist and sailor, philosopher and horseman, linguist and cook, lover of fine wine and better poetry, he has added distinction to an already great Institute and strengthened the Princeton community of learning. (1966)
MARIANNE MOORE: From baseball to basilisks to Brooklyn, the subjects of her poetry have the great breadth of life itself . . . [she contemplates] the world around her, with a glance at once keen and compassionate. (1968)
JOHN M. DOAR '44, civil rights advocate (later chief counsel for the House Judiciary Committee at the impeachment hearings in 1974): To [his] integrity, skill, and . . . courage . . . the slow but inexorable march of civil rights owes much of its progress. . . . Undramatically braving mobs, . . . this nonviolent man has never feared violence in the pursuit of noble goals. (1968)
RUSSELL W. BAKER, New York Times columnist: His persuasive blend of amusement and outrage puts him in danger of becoming the very thing he so often takes to task, a revered American institution. (1969)
BOB DYLAN: . . . one of the most creative popular musicians of the last decade. . . . Although he is now approaching the perilous age of 30, his music remains the authentic expression of the disturbed and concerned conscience of young America. (1970)
JOAN GANZ COONEY, creator of Sesame Street: It has been said that the devil ought not have all the good tunes, and she has shown that the admen need not have all the fun. (1973)
SERETSE KHAMA, President, Republic of Botswana: The evenhandedness of his policies and the example of his life make him an inspiration to all who look upon his troubled region of the world with the anxiety of hope. (1976)
*One hundred thirteen honorary degrees were conferred during the year-long celebration of the Bicentennial in 1946-1947; the largest number at any one convocation was thirty-six.