Honors Convocations
Speakers, Addresses, and Honorary Degrees Conferred
** Notes an Elkin Isaac Symposium Speaker.
Note: Empty fields indicate the information is unknown or in process
1951
Speaker: Dr. John L. Seaton, President Emeritus of Albion
Address: N/A
Honorary Degrees: None
1952
Speaker: Dr. Royal G. Hall, Professor at Albion College
Address: N/A
Honorary Degrees: None
1953
Speaker: Dean Emil Leffler
Address: N/A
Honorary Degrees: None
1954
Speaker: President C.B. Hilberry, Wayne University
Address: N/A
Honorary Degrees: None
1955
Speaker: President Charles L. Anspach, Central Michigan College of Education
Address: "A Pearl of Great Price"
Honorary Degrees: None
1956
Speaker: Dr. Joseph Irwin, Professor at Albion College
Address: "One Mile, or Two?"
Honorary Degrees: None
1957
Speaker: President Eugene B. Elliott, Eastern Michigan College
Address: "Education at Work"
Honorary Degrees: None
1958
Speaker: Vernon L. Bobbitt, Professor of Visual Arts at Albion College
Address: "Thoughts at the End of the Year"
Honorary Degrees: None
1959
Speaker: President Gorton Riethmiller, Olivet College
Address: N/A
Honorary Degrees: None
1960
Speaker: President David A. Lockmiller, Ohio Wesleyan University
Address: N/A
Honorary Degrees: None
1961
Speaker: Vice President Russell H. Seibert, Western Michigan University
Address: N/A
Honorary Degrees: None
1962
Speaker: Anthony Taffs, Professor of Music at Albion College
Address: N/A
Honorary Degrees: None
1963
Speaker: Dr. Stanley Idzerda
Address: "The Goals of Scholarship: Truth or Service?"
Honorary Degrees: None
1964
Speaker: Dr. John E. Hart, Professor at Albion College
Address: "The American Scholar Revisited"
Honorary Degrees: None
1965
Speaker: Dean Robert P. Lisensky, Ph.D.
Address: "Competence & Conscience"
Honorary Degrees: None
1966
Speaker: Dr. Mortimer J. Adler, Director of Institute for Philosophical Research
Address: "The Future of Man"
Honorary Degrees: None
1967
Speaker: William Arrowsmith, A.B., B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Professor of Classics at University of Texas
Address: "Towards a New University"
Honorary Degrees: None
1968
Speaker: Donald Hall, B.A., B.Litt., Professor of English at University of Michigan
Address: "The Poet Speaks"
Honorary Degrees: None
1969
Speaker: Walter W. Heller, A.B., M.A., Ph.D., LL.D., Litt.D., Professor of Economics at University of Minnesota
Address: "The New Economics and the New Nixon"
Honorary Degrees: None
1970-1978
In Process
1979-1982
None
1983
Speaker: None
Address: N/A
Honorary Degrees:
Kenneth C. Ballou, Professor Emeritus at Albion, Sc.D.
Dr. Bruno Bettleheim, Noted Child Psychologist, L.H.D.
Michael Bitar, Albion Superintendent of Schools, Doctor of Public Administration
1984
Speaker: None
Address: N/A
Honorary Degrees:
Elsie E. Munro, Associate Professor of English Emerita at Albion,’26, L.H.D.
William K. Quick, Senior Minister, Metropolitan Methodist Church in Detroit, D.D.
Thomas E. Wenzlau, Former President of Ohio Wesleyan University, LL.D.
1985
Speaker: None
Address: N/A
Honorary Degrees:
Alfred T. Bamsey, Conference Council Director of Detroit Conference United Methodist Church, ’58, D.D.
Paul Roche, Poet/Writer/Translator of Greek Verse/Professor in Residence at Albion, LL.D.
1986
Speaker: None
Address: N/A
Honorary Degrees: None
1987
Speaker: None
Address: N/A
Honorary Degrees:
Rudolf Arnheim, Professor of Psychology Emeritus from Harvard/Pioneer Scholar in Psychology of Art, D.F.A.
1988
Speaker: None
Address: "Homo-Duplex: Being There as a Polish-Jew" [Public Lecture, Jerzy Kozinski]
Honorary Degrees:
E. Maynard Aris, Doctor of Economics
Ellen A. Brubaker, Grand Rapids District Superintendent, West Michigan Conference of United Methodist Church, ’59, D.D.
Jerzy Kosinski, Award-Winning Novelist/Professor/ Human Rights Activist, L.H.D.
1989
Speaker: None
Address: N/A
Honorary Degrees:
Arlin E. Ness, President of Starr Commonwealth, LL.D.
1990
Speaker: None
Address: [Public Lecture, Aris Krainik]
Honorary Degrees:
Jack E. Giguere, Senior Pastor of Grosse Pointe United Methodist Church,’59, D.D.
Aris Krainik, General Director of the Lyric Opera House of Chicago, LL.D.
1991
Speaker: None
Address:"Making Connections: The Medicine Wheel and the Teaching / Learning Process" [Public Lecture, Peter J. Frederick]
Honorary Degrees:
Peter J. Frederick, Professor of History, Wabash, L.H.D.
Gwen Frostic, Founder & Sole Proprietor of Presscraft Papers, Benzonia, MI /Author, Artist, Lecturer, D.F.A.
1992
Speaker: None
Address: "The Gospel in the Stars" [Public Lecture, Anthony J. Taffs]
Honorary Degrees:
Thomas E. Sagendorf, Senior Pastor of Monroe Street United Methodist Church, Toledo, OH, D.D.
Anthony J. Taffs, Professor of Music Emeritus at Albion, D.M.
1993
Speaker: None
Address: [Public Lecture]
Honorary Degrees:
Bishop Peter J. Storey, District Bishop of Methodist Church of Southern Africa, LL.D.
1994
Speaker: None
Address: N/A
Honorary Degrees: None
1995
Speaker: None
Address: "Titles & Reflections" [Public Lecture]
Honorary Degrees:
Dr. William E. Bolcom, Composer/Pianist/Educator at the University of Michigan, D.M.
1996
Speaker: None
Address: N/A
Honorary Degrees: None
1997
Speaker: None
Address: N/A
Honorary Degrees:
Dr. James P. Comer, Associate Dean of Yale’s School of Medicine/Yale’s Maurice Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry, Sc.D.
1998
Speaker: None
Address: N/A
Honorary Degrees:
Joseph M. Stewart, Senior Vice President of the Kellogg Co., Doctor of Public Service
1999
Speaker: Dr. Wade Davis, Ethnobotanist
Address: N/A
Honorary Degrees:
Albert M. Sera, Doctor of Economics & Management
William R. Steers, Doctor of Economics & Management
2000
Speaker: Stephen Jay Gould, Harvard Professor of Geology
Address: "Geological Immensity and Human Insignificance: The Proper Scale of Our Ecological Crisis"
Honorary Degrees:
Stephen Jay Gould, L.H.D.
Ruth Holland Scott, Doctor of Sociology
2001
Speaker: Doris Kearns Goodwin, Author
Address: "The Moral Authority of the Presidency"
Honorary Degrees:
Bruce Kresge, Sc.D.
Doris Kearns Goodwin, L.H.D.
2002
Speaker: Kurt Vonnegut, Author **
Address: "How to Get a Job Like Mine"
Honorary Degrees:
Kurt Vonnegut, L.H.D.
2003
Speaker: Salman Rushdie, Author **
Address: "Step Across This Line"
Honorary Degrees:
Salman Rushdie, L.H.D.
2004
Speaker: Gloria Steinem, Feminist, Co-founder Ms. Magazine, founder of Ms. Foundation for Women, convener of 1971 Women’s Political Caucus **
Address: "An Evening with Gloria Steinem"
Honorary Degrees:
Gloria Steinem
2005
Speaker: Edward O. Wilson, scientist, father of the new environmentalist movement, Emeritus Pellegrino University Research Professor at Harvard University **
Address: "The Future of Life"
Honorary Degrees:
Edward O. Wilson
2006-Present
In Progress