Presidential Awardees

Presidential Medal of Honor

The Presidential Medal of Honor is an exclusive award to honor those who have made significant contributions to UNT and have elevated the university. It is the highest presidential honor given to an individual.

George Dunham, 2015 Presidential Medal of Honor recipient
Norah Jones, 2016 Presidential Medal of Honor recipient
Abner Haynes, 2017 Presidential Medal of Honor recipient
Sen. Jane Nelson, 2021 Presidential Medal of Honor recipient
Pat Boone, 2022 Presidential Medal of Honor recipient
David B. Hooten, 2022 Presidential Medal of Honor recipient

President's Citation

The President’s Citation is given to individuals who have given extraordinary service and support to UNT either in enhancing the university’s reputation or in helping the university to accomplish its mission. The president selects the recipients and presents the awards as the occasion arises.

Jeanne L. Tunks, March 2016
Pete Wranga, March 2016
Jakob Vingren, March 2016
Doryce Judd, March 2016
Robert H. Grubbs, April 2016
Ambassador Jose Octavio Tripp Villanueva, May 2016
Michael Eli Young, March 2017
Christopher Thompson, March 2017
Jonathan Jones, March 2017
James Young, March 2017
Paul Gray Poston, November 2017
Randy Schekman, April 2018
Richard Dixon, September 2018
Nada Shabout, September 2021
Wynton Marsalis, November 2022
Lieutenant Nick Brauchle, May 2024

Honorary Degrees

UNT awards honorary degrees to individuals who, by their extraordinary achievements, add substantial knowledge to or better society as a whole.

Stanley Marcus, Doctor of Arts and Letters, 1982
Trammell Crow, Doctor of Humanities, 1983
Martha Gaylord, Doctor of Performing Arts, 1984
Tom Hughes, Doctor of Performing Arts, 1984
Ross Perot, Doctor of Educational Leadership, 1987
John Ardoin, Doctor of Humane Letters, 1987
Bill Moyers, Doctor of Journalism, 1988
Jack Evans, Doctor of Civics, 1988
Martin Blumenson, Doctor of Letters, 1988
E.L. "Buddy" Langley, Doctor of Humane Letters, 1989
Julian C. Stanley Jr., Doctor of Educational Excellence, 1990
Robert H. Dedman, Doctor of Laws, 1990
R.E. "Bob" Bolen, Doctor of Public Service, 1990
E. Bruce Street, Doctor of Educational Excellence, 1991
Annette Strauss, Doctor of Public Service, 1992
Mabel Peters Caruth, Doctor of Philanthropy, 1992
Ron J. Anderson, Doctor of Public Service, 1992
Norman Hackerman, Doctor of Public Service, 1993
Gene Autry, Doctor of Arts and Letters, 1994
Wilhelmina Delco, Doctor of Public Service, 1995
Edmund Pennington Pillsbury, Doctor of Fine Arts, 1996
C.A. Roberson, Doctor of Educational Leadership, 1996
Herb Ellis, Doctor of Music and Humanities, 1997
Phyllis George, Doctor of Media Arts, 1998
Lucille "Lupe" Murchison, Doctor of Public Service and Philanthropy, 1998
Jerry Farrington, Doctor of Public Service, 1999
David M. Richards, Doctor of Educational Leadership, 1999
Frances Brannen Vick, Doctor of Humane Letters, 2000
J. McDonald "Don" Williams, Doctor of Public Service, 2002
Raymond Nasher, Doctor of Fine Arts, 2002
Maya Angelou, Doctor of Humane Letters, 2004
King Bhumibol Adulyadej, Doctor of Performance and Composition, 2004
Joe Atkins, Doctor of Humane Letters, 2004
A. Tennyson Miller, Doctor of Humane Letters, 2004
William Hunt, Doctor of Humane Letters, 2005
Coretta Scott King, Doctor of Humane Letters, 2005
Patti LaBelle, Doctor of Humane Letters, 2005
Dolores Huerta, Doctor of Humane Letters, 2005
Bruce Cole, Doctor of Humane Letters, 2005
Adel A. Al-Jubeir, Doctor of Humane Letters, 2006
John E. King, Doctor of Humane Letters, 2006
Leon Breeden, Doctor of Humane Letters, 2009
Donald A. Buchholz, Doctor of Humane Letters, 2015
Paul R. Voertman, Doctor of Humane Letters, 2016
Carmen Cusack, Bachelor of Arts, 2018
James McIngvale, Bachelor of Arts, 2018
Opal Lee, Doctor of Humane Letters, 2023

UNT Community Award

The UNT Community Award honors students, faculty or staff members for outstanding service that has enriched the UNT experience for the UNT community.

Nicole Trower, 2013
Lee Pena, 2014
Mark Vosvick, 2014
Courtney Newsome, 2015
Lisa Deer, 2016
Linda Holloway, 2016
Tiffany Miller, 2017
Teresa McKinney, 2017
Barrett Cole, 2018
Margarita Venegas, 2018
Jonathan Giddings, 2019
Hitesh Adhikari, 2020
Kara Fulton, 2021
Heather Vidaurri, 2021
Matthew Fry, 2022
Kashif Saeed, 2022
Nadia Guevara, 2023
Nathan Davis, 2024
Jaime Baxter-Slye, 2024

UNT Special Recognition Award

The Special Recognition Award honors an extraordinary student, faculty or staff member (or group) who has contributed momentous, unique talent or service to the university and cultivated UNT pride. This award is given where no usual award or recognition is available due to unique quality of the contributions.

Keith Holliday, 2013
Celia Williamson, 2013
Katelyn Branson, 2014
Shelley Cushman, 2014
Gary Livingston, 2016
Richard Mabry, 2016
Richard Smith, 2017
Eryn Butler, 2018
Joseph Shortino, 2019
Rosie Ridgway, 2020
Virnin Bonner, 2021
Melissa Collini, 2021
Jason Eleazar, 2021
Kristina Caswell MacMullen, 2022
Desiree Padron, 2023
Alexandra Leavell, 2023
Monserrat Navarro, 2024

Bob Rogers Service and Community Engagement Award

The Bob Rogers Service and Community Engagement Award is given to a faculty or staff member whose talent, dedication, passion and community service enhances both UNT and the greater community and helps them maintain strong bonds.

Hank Dickenson, 2014
Darhyl Ramsey, 2016
Tom Evenson, 2017
Debbie Rohwer, 2018
Brenda Sweeten, 2019
Joey Saxon, 2020
Maureen McGuinness, 2021
Ed Reynolds, 2023
Tao Zhang, 2024