Each year Otis College selects one or two individuals to receive the Honorary Doctorate degree at the Commencement Ceremony in May. One of the recipients also serves as Commencement
Speaker. Recommended individuals should meet some combination of the following criteria:
- Have a background and experiences that reflect the College mission and its programs..
- Have influenced professional practice, and have a background and experiences that
place
the recommended individuals at the pinnacle of their field. - Contribute to the College's reputation.
- Serve as a role model for students.
- Reflect the College's aspirations.
- Have served, or could serve, as a friend and ambassador of the College.
- Are good public speakers (if selected to speak on Commencement Day).
Honorary Degree Recipients
1960's
- Milard Sheets (1962)
1980's
- Peter Voulkos (1980)
- Elmer Bischoff (1983)
- Ray Eames (1984)
- Millard Sheets (1984)
- David Hockney (1985)
- Josine Ianco-Starrels (1985)
- Harold Williams (1985)
- Saul Bass (1986)
- Charles Moore (1986)
- Edmund Edelman (1986)
- Dorothy Jeakins (1987)
- Earl A. Powell (1987)
- Ruth Waddy (1987)
- Paul Conrad (1987)
- Cliff May (1988)
- Ed Ruscha (1988)
- Kurt W. Forster (1988)
- Frank Gehry (1989)
- Bella Lewitzky (1989)
1990's
- Sister Karen Boccalero (1990)
- Helen Lundeberg (1990)
- John Baldessari (1990)
- John Lautner (1991)
- Joel Wachs (1991)
1990's (Cont'd)
- Emerson Woelffer (1991)
- David Gebhard (1992)
- Robert Irwin (1992)
- Betye Saar (1992)
- Rudy Perez (1993)
- Beatrice Woods (1993)
- John Outterbridge (1994)
- Ed Moses (1995)
- Kent Twitchell (1996)
- Richard Martin (1997)
- Elaine Goldsmith (1998)
- Robert Greenberg (1999)
- Kerry James Marshall (1999)
2000's
- Jay Chiat (2000)
- Neil Hoffman (2000)
- Kathleen Ahmanson (2001)
- Alexis Smith (2001)
- Clifford Einstein (2002)
- Anne Ayres (2003)
- Jim Rygiel (2003)
- Graham Nash (2004)
- Bob Mackie (2005)
- Marcia Tucker (2005)
- Bill Viola (2006)
- Cheech Marin (2007)
- John Hughes (2008)
- Mark Parker (2009)
2010's
- Alison Saar (2010)
- Isabel Toledo (2010)
- Rubin Toledo (2010)
- Sheila Levrant de Bretteville (2011)
- Eli Broad (2012)
- Lucy Lippard (2013)
- Christopher Guy (2014)
- Harrison Samuel Hoi (2014)
- Lynda Weinman (2015)
- John Mason (2015)
- Rick Lowe (2016)
- Masami Teraoka (2016)
- Thomas Mayne (2017)
- Mark Bradford (2018)
- Rosemary Brantley (2018)
- Elizabeth Streb (2019)
- Gajin Fujita (2019)
2020's
- Enrique Martínez Celaya (2020)
- Lauren Halsey (2021)
- Bobby Berk (2022)
- Miranda Kerr (2022)
- Evan Spiegel (2022)
- Miky Lee (Mie Kyung Lee) (2023)
- Kulapat Yantrasast (2023)
- Njideka Akunyili Crosby (2024)
- Janet Marie Smith (2024)
Commencement Speakers
1960's
- Fredrick Hard (1962)
1970's
- Edmund Edelman (1978)
- David Levy (1979)
1980's
- Peter Voulkos (1980)
- Josine Ianco-Starrels (1981)
- Stephan Garrett (1982)
- Millard Sheets (1984)
- Harold Williams (1985)
- Saul Bass (1986)
- Paul Conrad (1987)
- Kurt W. Forster (1988)
1990's
- John Baldessari (1990)
- Phil Joanou (1993)
1990's
- John Outterbridge (1994)
- Stanley Grinstein (1995)
- Kent Twitchell (1996)
- Richard Martin (1997)
- Elaine Goldsmith (1998)
- Robert Greenberg (1999)
- Kerry James Marshall (1999)
2000's
- Jay Chiat (2000)
- Neil Hoffman (2000)
- Alexis Smith (2001)
- Clifford Einstein (2002)
- Anne Ayres (2003)
- Joan Takayam Ogawa (2004)
- Marcia Tucker (2005)
- Bill Viola (2006)
- Khoi Vinh (2007)
- John Hughes (2008)
- Mark Parker (2009)
2010's
- Alison Saar (2010)
- Isabel Toledo (2010)
- Rubin Toledo (2010)
- Sheila Levrant de Bretteville (2011)
- Eli Broad (2012)
- Lucy Lippard (2013)
- Christopher Guy Harrison (2014)
- Lynda Weinman (2015)
- Rick Lowe (2016)
- Thomas Mayne (2017)
- Mark Bradford (2018)
- Elizabeth Streb (2019)
2020's
- Enrique Martínez Celaya (2020)
- Lauren Halsey (2021)
- Miranda Kerr, Evan Spiegel (2022)
- Miky Lee (Mie Kyung Lee) (2023)