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

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
Awards