Penn State's Committee on Honorary Degrees is seeking suggestions for potential honorary doctoral degree recipients from the University. The list of potential nominees will include eminent scholars, performers, artists and practitioners in academic fields, and individuals who have made particularly distinguished contributions to society in areas such as public service, business or government.
The committee welcomes nominations of individuals eligible to receive a Penn State honorary degree. The guidelines, developed and approved by the University’s Board of Trustees, include the following criteria for eligibility for an honorary degree:
-- Sustained achievement and distinction of national or international significance in an activity consonant with the mission of the University.
-- The nomination of individuals whose achievements and distinction have not been similarly recognized by a number of other institutions is encouraged.
-- Alumni of the University are eligible.
-- People serving as administrators, faculty or staff of Penn State are not eligible, nor are persons currently serving as members of the Board of Trustees, as officials of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and its subordinate units or members of the Legislature, during their terms of office; nor are spouses or immediate family members of the mentioned people eligible.
A list of honorary degree recipients awarded under the process approved by Penn State's Board of Trustees can be found at http://www.psu.edu/ur/poole/honorary.html online.
Nominations should include the name and a short biography, if one is readily available, and be sent to Tom Poole, Vice President for Administration, by mail to 201 Old Main, University Park, or by email to tgp1@psu.edu, by Friday, April 20.