Honorary Graduates
Each year, following careful consideration, the University recognises the outstanding achievements of a number of distinguished individuals in a field or activity consonant with the mission of the University, with the award of an honorary degree.
Those recognised receive their degrees during our graduation ceremonies.
2020s
Doctor of Letters
- 2022 Richard Armitage
- 2022 Louise Doughty
- 2022 Constance Ejuma
- 2022 Robert Harris
- 2022 Professor Diane Reay
- 2023 Adele Parks MBE
- 2023 Jeffrey Boakye
- 2023 Lemn Sissay OBE
Doctor of Laws
- 2020 Gulnar Francis-Dehqani
- 2020 Baroness Sandip Verma
- 2020 Bob Woods
- 2022 Wasim Khan
- 2022 Ian Mattioli MBE
- 2022 Jimmy Mayer
- 2022 Bridget Towle
- 2023 Zinthiya Ganeshpanchan
- 2023 Glynis Wright MBE
- 2023 David Moore
- 2023 Simon Woolley, Baron Woolley of Woodford
Doctor of Science
- 2021 David Baker
- 2021 Professor Margaret Kivelson
- 2022 Professor Sebsebe Demissew
- 2023 Dr Nik Kotecha OBE DL
- 2023 Sam Barnett
Doctor of Music
- 2023 David Cousins
2010s
Doctor of Letters
- 2010 Ken Ford
- 2010 Michael Parkin
- 2010 Peter Wilby
- 2011 Michael David Wood
- 2011 The Most Reverend Dr Desmond Tutu
- 2012 Rex Bloomstein
- 2012 Margaret Lovell
- 2012 Philip Dodd
- 2012 Michael Shattock, OBE
- 2013 Eric Dunning
- 2013 Dame Olwen Hufton, FBA
- 2013 Almuth Tebbenhoff (text of oration)
- 2013 Sir Peter Scott
- 2013 Peter Welton
- 2013 Stephen Ball, FBA
- 2014 Rosemary Deem, OBE
- 2014 Michael Antony Aston (posthumous award)
- 2014 Jan Wilkinson
- 2015 John Simpson, OBE (text of oration)
- 2015 Greg Hicks (text of oration)
- 2016 Edward Rolland McLachlan
- 2016 Lars Broholm Tharp
- 2017 Jean (Binta) Breeze, MBE
- 2017 Anne Fine, OBE
- 2017 Gordon Roy Campbell, FBA
- 2018 Nina Stibbe
- 2018 Jonathan Philip Agnew, MBE, DL
- 2018 Fiona Stafford
- 2018 Sandra Birgitte (Sandi) Toksvig, OBE
- 2019 David Adetayo Olusoga, OBE
Doctor of Science
- 2010 Jonathan Castleman
- 2011 Ray Fairbend
- 2011 Michael Wilford, CBE
- 2012 Nigel Henbest
- 2012 Sir Mark Walport
- 2013 Sir John Edward Tooke
- 2013 M Qasim Jan
- 2014 David Phillips, CBE
- 2014 Jennifer Clack, FRS
- 2014 Richard Fortey, FRS
- 2014 Dame Sally Claire Davies, DBE
- 2014 Nilesh Jayantilal Samani
- 2015 Douglas Thomas Fearon, FRS
- 2015 Keith Mortimer Waddell, CBE
- 2015 Alfred Rodney Adams, FRS
- 2015 Robert Joyce
- 2016 Dame Ann Patricia Dowling, DBE
- 2016 Sir Godfrey Henry Oliver Palmer
- 2016 John Henry Sandford-Smith
- 2016 Timothy Nigel Peake, CMG
- 2017 Harry Eugene Stanley
- 2018 Margaret Ebunoluwa Aderin-Pocock, MBE
- 2018 Sir John Stewart Savill, FRS
Doctor of Laws
- 2010 William Stephen Goulden Bach, the Lord Bach of Lutterworth
- 2010 Hazel Osborne Byford, the Baroness Byford of Rothley, DBE
- 2010 Hilary Devey
- 2010 John Holloway, OBE
- 2010 Martin Osborne Johnson, CBE
- 2010 John Brian Sinnott
- 2010 Peter Williams, CBE
- 2010 Sir Michael Terence (Terry) Wogan, KBE
- 2011 The Rt Hon. Bruce Joseph Grocott, the Lord Grocott of Telford (text of oration)
- 2011 Katherine Elizabeth Williams
- 2011 Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton
- 2012 Joan Maureen Baxter, MBE
- 2012 Sir David Samworth
- 2012 John Florance
- 2012 Dame Janet Paraskeva, DBE
- 2012 Julie Etchingham
- 2012 Frances Patterson, QC
- 2012 Lord Justice Goldring
- 2013 Diana Garnham
- 2013 Danielle Brown
- 2014 Roger Bettles
- 2014 Laurence Howard, OBE
- 2014 Jonathan Peter Culshaw
- 2014 Richard Brucciani, OBE, DL
- 2014 Vijay Sharma
- 2014 Paul Bateman
- 2014 HH Judge Howard Morrison, CBE
- 2014 Aaron Ross Porter
- 2014 Rob Ward
- 2015 Atifeti Jahjaga
- 2015 Micheal Batty, FRS
- 2015 Anita Linsell
- 2015 Jane Esuantsiwa Goldsmith
- 2015 Jyrki Tapani Katainen
- 2015 Sir Robert Burgess, DL
- 2016 Mohammad Shahid Raza
- 2016 Michael John Smith
- 2016 Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha
- 2016 Anthony Allcock, MBE
- 2016 Graham John Beale, CBE
- 2016 The Very Revd David Robert Malvern Monteith
- 2016 Sarah Dilys Outen, MBE
- 2016 Christopher Nicholas Parsons, CBE
- 2016 The Rt Hon. David Linsay Willetts, the Lord Willetts of Havant
- 2017 Charles St Hill Bishop
- 2017 The Hon Sir Nicholas Nigel Green
- 2017 Surinder Mohan Sharma, DL
- 2018 Andrew John Bailey
- 2018 Patrick Harris
- 2018 Peter William Gregory Tom, CBE
- 2018 Dorothy Elaine Francis, MBE
- 2019 Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, Hon. GCMG
- 2019 Susan Valerie Whelan
Doctor of Music
- 2011 Jon Lord
- 2013 Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy
- 2013 Nicola Benedetti, MBE
- 2015 Alison Louise Balsom
Master of Laws
- 2011 Carole Blackburn
- 2011 Alan Birchenall
- 2011 Harvey Watson
2000s
Doctor of Letters
- 2000 Brian Simon
- 2000 Susan Campbell, MBE
- 2000 Reginald Carr
- 2000 Anthony Giddens
- 2001 Richard Pearson
- 2001 John Edward (Jack) Spence
- 2002 Maurice Beresford
- 2002 Helaine Blumenfeld
- 2002 Lynne Brindley
- 2002 Stephen Arthur Frears
- 2002 Chris d’Lacey
- 2002 Sir Howard Newby, CBE
- 2002 Timothy Peter Piggott-Smith
- 2003 Margaret Gelling, OBE
- 2003 The Rt Rev Timothy John Stevens
- 2003 Anthony Howard, CBE
- 2003 Peter Preston
- 2003 Patricia Ann Hodge
- 2003 Siobhan Davies, CBE
- 2003 Sir Martin Harris, CBE
- 2003 John Matthews, FRHistS, FSA, FBA
- 2004 Riccardo Nencini
- 2004 Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah
- 2004 Eileen Baker
- 2004 Rev James McEvoy
- 2004 Bernard Ashley
- 2004 Rosemary Cramp
- 2004 Sir William Taylor, CBE
- 2004 Sir Martin Gilbert
- 2005 Richard Deacon, CBE
- 2005 Bryan Magee
- 2005 Anna Pavord
- 2005 Vikram Seth, CBE
- 2005 Sir Donald Sinden, CBE
- 2006 Patricia Barker, CBE
- 2006 David Campton
- 2006 Richard Holmes, CBE
- 2006 Norman Rosenthal
- 2006 Laurence John (Laurie) Taylor
- 2006 Sir Michael John Tomlinson, CBE
- 2006 Marina Sarah Warner, FBA
- 2007 David Graham Blanchflower
- 2007 Deirdre Hubbard, FRBS
- 2007 Parminder Kaur Nagra
- 2007 Sir Sigmund Sternberg
- 2007 Edward Conrad (Ted) Wragg (posthumous award)
- 2008 William McGuire (Bill) Bryson
- 2008 John Carter
- 2008 Rigby Graham
- 2008 Archbishop Vincent Gerard Nichols
- 2009 Michael Attenborough
- 2009 David Weston
Doctor of Science
- 2000 Mario Illien
- 2000 Gautam Bodiwala, CBE
- 2000 Thomas Fulton Wilson McKillop
- 2000 Dame Bridget Ogilvie
- 2001 Susan Greenfield, CBE
- 2001 Bruce Smith, CBE
- 2001 Colin Humphreys FREng
- 2001 John Taylor, OBE, FRS, FEng
- 2001 Sir Liam Donaldson
- 2001 Sir Brian Follett, FRS
- 2002 Peter Briggs
- 2002 Hazel Thornton
- 2002 David Western
- 2002 Dame Julia Higgins, CBE, FRS
- 2002 Peter Atkins
- 2002 David King, FRS
- 2003 June Scobee Rodgers
- 2003 Adam Hart-Davis
- 2003 Sir Paul Nurse, FRS
- 2003 Sir Peter Bell, FRCS
- 2004 David Bradley
- 2004 Sir Alec Jeffreys, FRS
- 2005 Sir Peter Lachmann
- 2005 Sir Peter Mansfield
- 2005 Jane Plant, CBE
- 2005 Kenneth Alwyne Pounds, CBE, FRS
- 2005 Sir David Wallace, CBE
- 2006 Dame Carol Black, DBE (text of oration)
- 2006 Sir John Enderby, FRS
- 2006 Sir George Radda, CBE
- 2006 Martin Taylor, FRS
- 2007 Frances Ashcroft, FRS (text of oration)
- 2007 Sir Charles George, FRCP
- 2008 Antony Chapman
- 2009 Dame Nancy Rothwell, FRS
- 2009 Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell
- 2009 Paul Workman
Doctor of Laws
- 2000 Gerald Bernbaum
- 2000 Jules LaPidus
- 2000 Sir Herman Ouseley
- 2000 Sir John Stevens
- 2001 Sir John Robertson Young, KCMG
- 2001 Hugh Greenwood, OBE
- 2001 Gerald Cinderby
- 2002 Timothy Gerald Martin Brooks
- 2003 Sir Derek Thomas
- 2003 The Hon Lady Brooks
- 2004 Indarjit Singh
- 2004 Rita Patel
- 2004 David William Wilson
- 2005 John Ashworth
- 2005 Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, OBE
- 2005 Mark Haysom
- 2005 The Very Reverend Derek Hole
- 2005 Yasmin Jetha
- 2005 Margaret Nkrumah
- 2005 Dame Stephanie Shirley, DBE
- 2006 The Rt Hon. The Baroness Amos
- 2006 John Bloor, OBE
- 2006 Alan Race
- 2007 Sir Michael Bishop, CBE
- 2007 Damon Buffini
- 2007 Dame Hazel Genn, CBE
- 2007 Linda Jones, CBE
- 2007 Keith John Julian
- 2007 Dame Suzi Leather, MBE
- 2007 Angela Sarkis, CBE
- 2008 Nicholas Corah, OBE
- 2008 John Foster, OBE
- 2008 Tarique Ghaffur, CBE, QPM
- 2008 Philip Hammersley, CBE
- 2008 Freda Hussain, MBE
- 2008 Lord Janner of Braunstone, QC
- 2008 Manjula Sood (text of oration)
- 2009 George William Bolsover
- 2009 Guy Canivet
- 2009 Richard Everard
- 2009 Sir Arthur James Rose
- 2009 Wendi Stevens
- 2009 Adrian Robert Weston
Doctor of Music
- 2000 Dame Felicity Lott
- 2002 Tasmin Little
- 2003 Andrew Constantine
- 2003 Dame Gillian Weir, DBE
- 2004 Peter Donohoe
- 2004 Jane Glover
- 2005 John Rutter
- 2006 Engelbert Humperdinck (Arnold George Dorsey)
- 2007 Karl Jenkins, OBE
- 2009 Martyn Hill
Master of Arts
- 2001 Jean Humphreys
- 2002 Dean Richards, MBE
- 2004 Charles Palmer, CBE
Master of Laws
- 2001 Elvy Morton
- 2004 Robert Price
- 2004 Bob Collins
1990s
Doctor of Letters
- 1990 Eric Ogilvie, OBE
- 1990 Elaine Feinstein
- 1990 William Weaver
- 1990 Sir David Wilson, FBA
- 1991 Zdenek Stribrny
- 1992 Janet Suzman
- 1992 Max MacDonald Hastings
- 1992 Bronislaw Geremek
- 1992 Marilyn Spiers Butler
- 1993 Clare Hollingworth, OBE
- 1993 Frank Horace Hahn
- 1993 David John Murray Wright
- 1994 Donald English
- 1995 Albert Halsey
- 1995 Herman Frans Anna Van Der Wee
- 1995 Sir Angus Duncan Aeneas Stirling
- 1996 Sir Keith Vivian Thomas
- 1996 Christopher Hibbert
- 1996 John Edward Christopher Hill
- 1997 Sue Cook (Susan Lorraine Cook)
- 1997 Michael Saunders Watson, CBE
- 1997 Robert Neil MacGregor
- 1998 Amartya Sen
- 1998 John Sutherland
- 1999 Barry Supple, FBA
- 1999 Dame Gillian Beer
- 1999 Sir Anthony Wrigley
Doctor of Science
- 1990 Federico Mayor
- 1990 Ernest Ronald Oxburgh, FRS
- 1990 Roald Sagdeev
- 1991 Sir David John Weatherall
- 1991 Sir Michael Francis Atiyah, FRS
- 1992 Sir John Ivan George Cadogan, FRS
- 1992 Harry Smith, FRS
- 1993 Anne Laura MacLaren, DBE, FRS
- 1993 Sir Martin John Rees, FRS
- 1993 Malcolm John Frazer
- 1994 Sir Robert Kilpatrick, CBE
- 1994 Charles Wayne Rees, FRS
- 1995 Sir Neil Cossons, OBE
- 1995 Stephen Jay Gould
- 1995 Peter Michael Williams, CBE
- 1995 Raoul Bott
- 1995 Jeremy Bray
- 1995 The Rev John Polkinghorne
- 1996 Lewis Wolpert
- 1996 Patrick Caldwell Moore, CBE
- 1996 Sir Michael Richard Bond
- 1997 Raymond Baker
- 1997 Heather Anita Couper
- 1997 Jeff Hoffman
- 1997 Sir Dai Rees
- 1998 Dame Margaret Warwick, DBE
- 1998 David Hempleman-Adams, OBE
- 1998 Sir Donald Irvine
- 1998 Håkan Mogren
- 1998 Sir Harold Kroto, FRS
- 1999 Philip Campbell
- 1999 Sir Keith Peters
- 1999 Frederick Leckie
- 1999 Sir Richard Brook Sykes
Doctor of Laws
- 1990 The Rt Hon Lord Donoughue of Ashton
- 1991 The Rt Rev William John Westwood
- 1991 The Rt Hon the Lord St John of Fawsley, PC
- 1991 Baroness Turner of Camden (Muriel Winifred Turner)
- 1991 Robert Badinter
- 1991 Sir Edwin Ronald Nixon
- 1992 Anthony O'Reilly
- 1992 Frank Ephraim May
- 1993 Betty Boothroyd
- 1993 Michael Aubrey Chamberlain
- 1994 Lady Penelope Mary Braye
- 1994 Peter Ellwood
- 1994 David Arthur Walmsley
- 1994 Mario Alberto Nobre Lopes Soares
- 1994 Catherine Trautmann
- 1994 Stephen Tumim
- 1995 Sir Roy Harding, CBE
- 1995 The Rt Rev. Leo McCartie
- 1995 The Rt Rev. Thomas Frederick Butler
- 1995 Sir Robert Yewdall Jennings
- 1996 Lord MacKay of Clashfern
- 1996 Tan Sri Dato' Seri Jeffrey Cheah
- 1996 William Alsop
- 1996 Laxmi Mall Singhvi
- 1997 Carol Galley
- 1997 Dame Rosalyn Higgins, DBE
- 1997 The Rt Hon Sir Stephen Brown
- 1997 Patrick Coldstream, CBE
- 1997 Sir Richard George
- 1998 Sir John Lowther, CBE, JP
- 1998 Martin Gaskell
- 1998 Helena Ann Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of the Shaws
- 1998 David Jones
- 1998 Justice A M Ahmadi
- 1998 Wendy Elizabeth Hickling
- 1999 The Honorable Raymond Seitz
- 1999 Kenneth John Richard Edwards
Doctor of Music
- 1993 Jeffrey Philip Tate, CBE
- 1997 Evelyn Glennie, OBE
- 1998 The Lindsays
Master of Arts
- 1990 William Henry Hare, MBE
- 1991 Susan Lillian Townsend
- 1992 Gary Winston Lineker, OBE
- 1992 Terence Garfield
- 1994 Nigel Barnard Hawthorne, CBE
- 1995 Charlotte Mary Stott, OBE
- 1995 Michael Thomas Nicholson, OBE
- 1995 Josette Simon
- 1996 Norman Colin Dexter
- 1996 Derek Robert Nimmo
- 1996 James William Anscomb
- 1997 Jack Birkenshaw
- 1999 Rachel Sullivan
Master of Science
- 1999 Tim Appleton
Master of Laws
- 1996 Sara Elkes
- 1996 The Rev Margaret Jane Morris
- 1997 Anita Tasker, OBE
- 1999 Christopher Moon, MBE
1980s
Doctor of Letters
- 1981 Jonathan Wolfe Miller
- 1981 Stanley John Sadie
- 1981 Alan Arthur Walters
- 1982 Mark Girouard
- 1982 Jean Iris Murdoch (Mrs J O Bayley, CBE)
- 1982 Margaret Mary Gowing
- 1983 Sheppard Sunderland Frere, CBE, FBA, FSA
- 1983 Sir Lawrence Burnett Gowing, CBE
- 1984 Lord Bullock, FBA
- 1985 Harold Bryan Organ
- 1985 Sir William Arthur Shapland
- 1985 Irene Joan Thirsk, FBA
- 1986 Kenneth Ellison Horne
- 1986 Malcolm Stanley Bradbury
- 1986 Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie
- 1986 David Terence Puttnam, CBE
- 1988 Herbert Richard Hoggart
- 1989 Francois Crouzet, OBE
Doctor of Science
- 1980 Sir Douglas Andrew Kilgour Black
- 1980 Kenneth Fowler Wood
- 1980 Dame Alice Josephine Mary Taylor Barnes, DBE
- 1980 Sir Nicholas John Walton
- 1981 Sir William John Granville Beynon, CBE
- 1982 Sir Edward Anthony John Alment
- 1982 Silvio Weidmann, FRS
- 1982 Stephen William Hawking, FRS
- 1983 Sydney Brenner, FRS, FRSE
- 1984 Sir George Malcolm Brown, FRS, FRSE
- 1984 Sir Edward Walter Parkes
- 1985 Raymond Hide, FRS
- 1985 Sir Raymond Hoffenberg, PRCP
- 1985 Robert Joseph Paton Williams, FRS
- 1986 Sir John Henry Harvey-Jones, MBE
- 1987 Eric Albert Ash, CBE, FRS
- 1987 The Hon Miriam Louisa Rothschild, CBE, FRS
- 1988 Norman Curtis
- 1988 Jack Lewis, FRS, FRSC
- 1989 Franklyn Perring
- 1989 Hugh Huxley, MBE, FRS
- 1989 Sir Alexander Turnbull, CBE
- 1989 Montague Goldberg
Doctor of Laws
- 1980 Sir Patrick Dalmahoy Nairne, KCB, MC
- 1980 Rene David
- 1980 Sir Sydney Percy King, OBE
- 1982 David Bethell
- 1982 Christian, Lady Hesketh, OBE
- 1982 Charles Randolph Quirk, CBE
- 1982 Sir Henry Albert Skinner
- 1983 Dame Cicely Mary Strode Saunders, DBE
- 1983 Kenneth William Bowder, OBE
- 1984 John Patrick Lowry, CBE
- 1984 Col Robert Andrew St George Martin, OBE
- 1984 The Hon Sir Jean-Pierre Frank Eugene Warner, QC
- 1985 Sydney Kentridge
- 1986 The Rev Gordon Reginald Dunstan
- 1986 Sir Alexander Johnston, GCB, KBE
- 1987 Maurice Shock
- 1987 Robert Ribblesdale Thornton, CBE
- 1988 Lord Sieff of Brimpton, OBE
- 1989 Ward Jack Timken
- 1989 Helen Scott, OBE
Doctor of Music
- 1982 William Alwyn, CBE
- 1984 Malcolm Henry Arnold, CBE
Master of Arts
- 1981 Christopher Adolph, MBE
- 1982 Michael Turner
- 1982 James Lloyd Carr
- 1982 Derrick William Dunn
- 1984 Dora Phylis Oxenham, (Mrs D R Harper, CBE)
- 1984 Margaret Harrison
- 1985 Brenda Bruce, OBE
- 1985 Peter John Wheeler, MBE
- 1986 Denys James Watkins-Pitchford
- 1987 Leslie Cooper Skelton
- 1988 Joan Hickson, OBE
- 1988 Herald Goddard
- 1988 Joan Goddard
- 1988 Neville Stack
Master of Science
- 1982 Molly Badham, MBE
- 1986 Geoffrey Perry, MBE
- 1987 William Coates, MBE
Master of Music
- 1983 Ian William Edward Imlay
Master of Laws
- 1982 Harold Gibson
- 1982 Leslie Milliard
1970s
Doctor of Letters
- 1970 Philip Arthur Larkin
- 1970 Thomas Humphrey Marshall, CMG
- 1970 Ellis Kirkham Waterhouse, CBE, FBA
- 1970 David Frederick Attenborough
- 1970 Richard Samuel Attenborough, CBE
- 1971 Eric Birley, MBE, FBA
- 1971 Edward John Mostyn Bowlby
- 1971 Henry Spencer Moore, OM, CH
- 1971 Maurice Herbert Dobb
- 1972 Moses Finley
- 1973 Marcus Felix Brundenell Fitch
- 1973 Marie Jahoda
- 1973 Lionel Trilling
- 1974 Basil Bernstein
- 1974 Kathleen Jessie Raine
- 1974 Arnold Roger Manvell
- 1974 Sir (James William) Francis Hill, CBE
- 1975 Carlo Dionisotti-Casalone, FBA
- 1975 Sir Harry Garner, KBE, CBE
- 1975 Doris May Lessing
- 1976 Dorothy Mary Emmett
- 1976 Anthony Dymoke Powell
- 1976 Sylvere Monod
- 1976 Charles Ray Richeson
- 1977 Sir Peter Hall, CBE
- 1977 Angus Frank Johnstone Wilson, CBE
- 1978 Astrid Lindgren
- 1978 Arthur Geoffrey Dickens, CMG, FBA
- 1979 John Innes Mackintosh Stewart
Doctor of Science
- 1970 Sir George Edward Raven Deacon, CBE, FRS, FRSE
- 1972 Eleanor Margaret Burbidge, FRS
- 1970 Sir Henry Frank Harding Jones, KBE
- 1971 Sir Alan Lloyd Hodgkin, KBE, OM, FRS
- 1971 Cyril Astley Clarke, CBE, FRS
- 1972 Sir George Porter, FRS
- 1972 Sir Percy Edward Kent, FRS
- 1972 Richard E Reason, FRS
- 1972 Sir Kingley Charles Dunham, OBE, FRS
- 1972 Sir Vivian Fuchs
- 1972 Kenneth Mellanby, CBE
- 1973 Sir Brian Flowers, FRS
- 1973 Wilhelmina Iwanowska
- 1973 Sir Andrew Kay
- 1974 David Chilton Philips, FRS
- 1974 Nikolaas Tinbergen, FRS
- 1975 Rudolf Ludwig Mossbauer
- 1976 Antony Hewish, FRS
- 1977 Sir Frederick Stewart, FRS
- 1978 Sir Rex Richards, FRS
- 1978 Nicholas Saul Mair
- 1979 Arthur Hafford Cooke, MBE
- 1979 Sir Hans Leo Kornberg, FRS
Doctor of Laws
- 1970 Edward Moss Hutchinson
- 1971 Mac Goldsmith
- 1972 Elfed Thomas
- 1973 Harold Bernard Martin
- 1973 Sir Otto Kahn-Freund, FBA
- 1975 Sir Kenneth Berrill, KCB
- 1975 Jacob Festus Ade Ajayi
- 1976 The Rt Rev Ronald Ralph Williams
- 1976 Nigel David Walker
- 1976 Sir Fraser Noble, MBE
- 1977 Sir Mark Henig
- 1978 The Rt Hon Sir Roger Ormrod, PC
- 1979 Frederick Alfred Thorpe, OBE
- 1979 The Rev Prebendary Edward Chad Varah, OBE
Doctor of Music
- 1970 Beryl Grey (Mrs S G Svenson, CBE)
- 1972 Paul Tortelier
- 1974 Janet Abbott Baker (Mrs J K Shelley, CBE)
- 1977 Sir David Willcocks, CBE
- 1978 Alfred Deller, OBE
Master of Arts
- 1974 Geoffrey Burton
- 1975 John Henry Hopkins
- 1978 John Robin Midgley
Master of Science
- 1977 Jack Otter
- 1979 Ronald Arthur Overton Hickling
Master of Music
- 1975 Kenneth Douglas Page
- 1975 James Walker
1960s
Doctor of Letters
- 1960 John Piper
- 1961 Sir Frank Adcock, OBE, FBA
- 1962 Michael Clive Knowles, OSB, FBA, FSA
- 1963 Sir Basil Spence, OM, RA
- 1964 Dame Peggy Ashcroft, DBE
- 1965 Graham Vivian Sutherland, OM
- 1965 Edmund Charles Blunden, CBE, MC
- 1965 Louis Booker Wright
- 1966 Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, CBE, FBA, FSA
- 1967 Joan Violet Robinson, FBA
- 1968 The Rt Hon The Earl Spencer
- 1968 John Harold Plumb
- 1968 Wilfred Patrick Thesiger, CBE
- 1969 Sir John Richard Hicks, FBA
- 1969 Sir Charles Tennyson, CMG
Doctor of Science
- 1960 The Rt Hon Lord Todd, FRS
- 1960 Sir Frank Whittle, KBE, CB, FRS
- 1961 Sir Bernard Lovell, OBE, FRS
- 1962 Dame Kathleen Lonsdale, DBE, FRS
- 1963 Sir Hans Krebs, FRS
- 1964 Sir Harrie Massey, FRS
- 1965 Sir Michael James Lighthill, FRS
- 1966 William Hayes, FRS
- 1967 Alexander Romanovich Luria
- 1967 Sir Christopher Sydney Cockerell, CBE, FRS
- 1967 Andrew Fielding Huxley, FRS
- 1968 Sir John Baker, OBE, FRS
- 1968 Thomas Archibald Bennet-Clark, CBE, FRS
- 1968 Sir Lindor Brown, CBE, FRS
- 1968 Guido Pontecorvo, FRS, FRSE
- 1968 Frederick Sanger, CBE, FRS
- 1968 Sir Michael Meredith Swann, FRS, FRSE
- 1969 Charles Alfred Coulson, FRS
- 1969 Warner Tjardus Koiter
Doctor of Laws
- 1960 The Rt Hon The Lord Morrison of Lambeth, CH, PC
- 1961 The Rt Hon The Lord Robbins of Clare Market, CB, FBA
- 1961 Sir David Alexander Cecil Low
- 1961 Sir Charles Haynes Wilson
- 1962 The Rt Hon The Lord Bridges, GCB, GCVO, MC, PC, FRS
- 1962 Horace James Oram, OBE
- 1963 Sir Charles Robert Keene, CBE
- 1963 Sir Chintaman Dwarkanath Deshmukh, CIE
- 1964 David Daube, FBA
- 1964 Sir William Arthur Lewis
- 1965 Sir Thomas Percival Creed, KBE, MC, QC
- 1964 The Rt Hon Lord Murray of Newhaven, KCB
- 1965 Sir (John) Leslie Martin
- 1965 Sir Leon Radzinowiez, FBA
- 1966 The Rt Hon Lord Devlin of Westwick, PC, FBA
- 1966 The Rt Hon Lord Robens of Woldingham, PC
- 1967 John Newton Frears, CBE
- 1968 Sir Robert Aitken
- 1968 Lady Plowden
- 1968 John William Gardner
- 1969 Sir Anthony Reay Mackay Geddes, KBE
Doctor of Music
- 1964 Sir John Barbirolli, CH
- 1965 Benjamin Britten, OM, CH
- 1965 Yehudi Menuhin, Hon KBE
- 1966 Dame Alicia Markova, DBE
- 1968 Joan Sutherland, CBE
- 1968 Sir Michael Tippett, OBE
- 1969 Colin Rex Davis, CBE
- 1969 Sir Geraint Llewellyn Evans, CBE
Master of Arts
- 1965 Richard Lester Ager
- 1965 Gerald Benney
- 1965 Norah Waddington
- 1967 Hugh Collinson
- 1967 George Edmund Dearing, MBE
- 1967 Clive Perry
- 1969 Francis Kelly, OBE
- 1969 Edgar Tyler
Master of Science
- 1965 Trevor Alfred Walden
Master of Music
- 1965 George Charles Gray
Master of Laws
- 1967 Sir Robert Mark
1950s
Doctor of Letters
- 1958 Edward Morgan Forster, OM, CH
- 1959 Sir John Newenham Summerson, CBE
- 1959 John Dover Wilson, CH
Doctor of Science
- 1958 The Rt Hon The Lord Adrian, OM, FRS
- 1958 Sir John Cockcroft, KCB, OM, CBE, FRS
- 1959 Sir William Vallance Douglas Hodge, FRS
Doctor of Laws
- 1958 The Rt Hon The Viscount Alanbrooke, KG, GCB, OM, GCVO, DSO
- 1958 Harry Percy Gee, CBE
- 1958 Sir John Francis Lockwood
- 1959 Sir Robert Edmund Martin, CMG
- 1959 Edmund Rubbra, CBE
- 1959 The Rt Hon Lord Snow, CBE
- 1959 Joan Wake, CBE
Distinguished Honorary Fellows
Distinguished Honorary Fellowships are awarded only to persons who have a substantial record of personal service to the University and who already hold an honorary degree of the University. There are a maximum of 24 Distinguished Honorary Fellows at any one time. (* indicates deceased)
- 2005 Frank Ephraim May, MBE
- 2005 Helen Scott, OBE *
- 2006 Sir David Frederick Attenborough, CH
- 2006 Richard Samuel Attenborough, CBE, Lord Attenborough of Richmond upon Thames *
- 2007 Sir Michael Atiyah, OM, FRS, FRSE *
- 2008 Wendy Elizabeth Hickling, OBE *
- 2008 Jean Humphreys *
- 2008 Sir Patrick Moore, Hon FRS *
- 2008 Sue Townsend, FRSL *
- 2009 Michael Chamberlain, OBE
- 2009 John Foster, OBE
- 2009 Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys, CH, FRS
- 2013 Ian Imlay *
- 2013 Kenneth Alwyne Pounds, CBE, FRS
- 2014 Adrian Weston *
- 2015 Roger Bettles
- 2017 Michael John Attenborough, CBE
- 2019 Professor Sir Peter Bell