Call for Honorary Degree Nominations

USC's Bovard Auditorium

As we begin our Spring semester, the Honorary Degrees Committee requests your nominations. The USC honorary degree is a wonderful opportunity to acknowledge those we regard as most outstanding for their work by bestowing the university’s highest external honor.

Please use the Honorary Degrees submission form which is available on the Honorary Degrees website. Please have the names of the nominator and a co-nominator, a summary statement of the proposed candidate, and any supplementary information about the proposed nominee available. Proposed nominations reviewed this academic year would be eligible no earlier than the 2026 Commencement. As a reminder, only USC faculty, staff, students, alumni, or trustees, may submit a nomination.

Confidentiality is crucial. Nominees must not know that they are under consideration. No letters of support should be solicited from anyone outside USC. Any breach of confidentiality will disqualify the nominee.

Awards of the USC Honorary Degrees demonstrate to the world what USC values, including extraordinary achievements in research, scholarship, the professions, other creative activities, or outside any established discipline, or those who have made outstanding contributions to their communities or to the welfare and development of USC.

The committee welcomes nominees from all backgrounds, as well as those whose accomplishments highlight areas in which the university has special strength, although direct connection to USC is not a requirement for consideration. Current USC faculty and staff are not eligible, except if proposed by the President.

The Honorary Degrees Committee considers every nomination, and each year proposes a slate of candidates to the President and the Board of Trustees, who select the final recipients. The commencement speaker is selected through a different process.

Please visit the website for more information about the process, the nomination form, and a list of past recipients.

Sincerely,
Margo K. Apostolos
Chair, Honorary Degrees Committee