"That the Reverend President be desired to accept Doctoratus in Theologica, and that A Diploma be drawn up by the Corporation & presented to him.... That Mr Jno Leverett & Mr Wm Brattle be by ye President admitted ad gradum Baccalaureatus in Theologica, they first making each of them A Sermon in Latin in Ye Colledge Hall, & Responding to A Theologicall Question."

The quaint language of this citation graces the first of the 1750 Harvard honorary degrees awarded since the days of President Increase Mather. Since 1692, the College has given special awards--M.A., S.T.D., LL.D., M.D., D.M.D., S.D., Art D Litt. D., Mus. D., and D.H.L.--to outstanding men and, since 1955, to women also. The honorary degree thus ranks as one of Harvard's longest-standing traditions--one that arouses the most national interest of any Commencement exercise in the country.

In the 267 years since the first honorary doctorate, given to President Mather, the character of the degrees and the qualifications of the recipients have changed. Once reserved almost exclusively for New England theologians, honorary degrees have since been awarded to historians, critics, poets, philosophers, military heroes, and nuclear scientists. Degrees have been democratized and those honored have come increasingly from non-theological professions.

Changed Emphasis

The change in emphasis from recognition of other-worldly to more secular men can be shown by one simple statistic. In the quartercentury 1775-1800, fully 28 per cent of the honorary degrees awarded were S.T.D.'s--the doctorate of theology. President Mather himself became an S.T.D. But in the 184 years since 1875, a mere four and one-half per cent of the total number of honorary degrees have been awarded to theologians.

Harvard's increased recognition of statesmen, scientists, or educators can be traced to the change in character of the College as a whole. No longer a training school for the Congregational ministry. Harvard has evolved almost steadily toward greater variety of interests--and this has been reflected in the distribution of honoraries given out each June.

Another major change in the honorary degrees lies in the grade of award accorded. Once the master's degree--the M.A.--was given more often than the doctorate, and until the Revolutionary War, honorary M.A.'s outnumbered any of the types of degrees. On Thursday morning, however, the newly-recognized doctors will far outnumber those receiving an M.A. diploma.

Master's Degree

The honorary Master's certainly is not a relic of the past. Although definitely secondary to doctorates on Commencement Day, the M.A. award still fulfills two major functions. First, the M.A. may be used to honor those without a college education who have completed noteworthy service. Ernie Pyle, famed World War II correspondent, was voted an honorary M.A. before his death: since he had not graduated from any college, the Corporation awarded him a Master's degree. The M.A. is often given to those distinguishing themselves in areas little noticed by the public, especially those within the confines of the University.

The Master's degree has a second, more symbolic purpose at Harvard. The ranks of the professors are traditionally somewhat chilly toward colleagues from other institutions. And so, "ut in grege nostro numeretur," each Assistant Professor gaining tenure receives an M.A. Since 1942, this degree has been awarded automatically unless the new Associate Professor has already earned his M.A. at the University.

Strange as it may seem, Harvard has even awarded honorary Bachelor's degrees--but these are probably the rarest of the rare honors. Only five such awards were ever made, and the most recent was given in 1834. Honorary B.A.'s have bowed to the times, for recognition by the College merits more than the humble Bachelor's degree.

Despite, or perhaps on account of the long history of honorary degrees at Harvard, there is no real agreement on the first recipient of a special award. Intellectual historians point to Nathaniel Appleton, a Cambridge minister who received the S.T.D. in 1771, as the first undisputed honorary doctor. They eliminate seventeenth-century tutors William Brattle and John Leverett, for they were required to prepare a "Theological" dissertation; President Mather received his award to enhance his position atop the Harvard hierarchy.

Appleton, whose name has been preserved in the chapel portion of Memorial Church, thus became the first honorary degree holder for services rendered outside the University. This trend--recognition of gifted men for work in all areas of knowledge, perhaps beyond the confines of the Yard--has been maintained and expanded to the present day.

Fitting the Awards

John Winthrop, then a member of the faculty, later President, received the first Harvard honorary LL.D. in 1773. When given at the College, especially in the last century, the LL.D. covered far more than civil and canon law, as shown by John Greenleaf Whittier's recipience of this degree. The citations on the LL.D. degrees referred to "laws of nation," "divine laws," "laws of art," or other such euphemisms during this century to square the degree with the achievement of the recipient.