During its 325th graduation ceremony on Monday, Yale University awarded honorary degrees to eight individuals whose achievements in their fields have benefited the common good.
This year's honorary degree recipients are Kwame Anthony Appiah, distinguished philosopher, cultural historian, and author of The New York Times Magazine's Ethicist column; Emery N. Brown, a world-renowned statistician, anesthesiologist, and neuroscientist; Katie Ledecky, a former Olympian and the most decorated woman swimmer in history; Ingrid Mattson, a Muslim scholar and interfaith leader; Lynn Nottage '89 M.F.A., an American playwright and screenwriter who is the only woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice; Robert D. Putnam '70 Ph.D., a political scientist and author whose writings have documented the value of communal connection; Kurt Schmoke '71, a pioneering lawyer, educator, and civil servant; and JoAnne Stubbe, an eminent chemist who has advanced our understanding of how life operates and evolves at the molecular level.
The awarding of honorary degrees, which has been a Yale tradition since 1702, recognizes pioneering achievement or exemplary contribution to the common good.
"The eight individuals we honor this morning serve as examples to you, our graduates, to encourage you to aspire to excellence and to value those elements of human character that they embody: creativity, curiosity, discipline, integrity, and a passion for public service," said Yale President Maurie McInnis. "Their presence here also honors you who graduate today, and all of us who are here to salute you."
The honorary degree recipients and their citations follow:
Kwame Anthony Appiah
Philosopher and writer
Doctor of Humanities
"Distinguished philosopher, cultural historian, novelist, and New York Times ethicist, your unflinching but generous spirited work has demonstrated that ideas of nationality, religion, and tradition are not walls that divide us but starting points for conversation. Equally at home in scholarship, criticism, fiction writing, and public discourse, you have given depth to a simple but demanding idea: that we are citizens not only of our nations or communities but of a shared human world. Teacher at many institutions, including Yale, and now New York University, you have inspired generations of students to think with clarity and independence.
"Cosmopolitan cartographer, whose work has enlarged our moral vocabulary while insisting on its human scale, we are pleased and honored to award you the degree of Doctor of Humanities."
Emery N. Brown
Statistician, anesthesiologist, and neuroscientist
Doctor of Medical Sciences
"World renowned statistician, computational neuroscientist, and anesthesiologist, your groundbreaking research has revolutionized how we understand the brain at its most mysterious edges. Through rigorous statistical modeling and elegant experimentation, you have revealed anesthesia not as a blunt shutdown of the mind but a structured, dynamic reorganization of brain activity. Your work has uncovered new ways to study a range of effects in the brain, including mental illness. An inspirational professorial presence at both MIT and Harvard, you are one of only 19 scientists who have been elected to all three national academies: Science, Engineering, and Medicine.
"Intrepid explorer, for illuminating the rhythms of the unconscious brain, we are proud - in full consciousness - to confer on you the degree of Doctor of Medical Sciences."
Katie Ledecky
Olympic swimmer
Doctor of Humane Letters
"A streaking comet in water, you are the most decorated woman swimmer in history, widely regarded as the greatest woman swimmer of all time, with a total of twenty-one World Championship titles and fourteen Olympic medals, including nine golds, to your credit. A student of the sport, you were also a dedicated student in school, finishing a degree at Stanford despite many lucrative lures to do otherwise. Characterized by an unquenchable competitive drive with a relentless work ethic, you are also known to be humble, kind, and gracious, a genuinely nice person, admired and liked by all.
"On behalf of Yale's varsity athletes who have worn the Yale blue, and understand what winning takes, Yale bestows the doctor of Humane Letters on a role model, whose grace outside the water is as great as her power and grace within it."
Ingrid Mattson
Scholar and interfaith leader
Doctor of Divinity
"Muslim scholar, interfaith leader, author, bridge builder, and champion of peace: a reading of the Qur'an helped transform your life and heralded your conversion to Islam. As the first woman and first convert to lead the Islamic Society of North America, and a continuing advocate for Muslims and for positive resolution of conflicts and differences everywhere, you have brought integrity, wisdom, and a steadfast commitment to dialogue across faiths. Your initiatives have consistently emphasized ethical leadership, mutual understanding, and the constructive role of Islam in pluralistic societies.
"Compassionate and powerful force for good in a troubled world, Yale wishes you a thousand blessings as it honors you with the degree of Doctor of Divinity."
Lynn Nottage '89 M.F.A.
Playwright
Doctor of Letters
"Penetrating playwright who is the only woman to have won the Pulitzer Prize for drama twice, when you write, the stage becomes a place of witness and moral clarity. With rare empathy and insight, you bring to light lives too often overlooked, rendering them with dignity, complexity, and voice. Your plays, including 'Sweat' and 'Ruined,' do more than tell stories; they excavate the hidden structures of power, memory, and survival that shape our world. You listen carefully, write fearlessly, and insist that theater remains a living forum for justice and recognition.
"Dazzling dramatist, whose efforts through the stage have enlarged our capacity to see the humanity in one another, we take this stage today to confer on you your second Yale degree, Doctor of Letters."
Robert D. Putnam '65 M.A., '70 Ph.D.
Political scientist
Doctor of Social Science
"Renowned American political scientist, you have warned us in more than fifteen influential books, translated into twenty languages, that the real health of a flourishing democracy is not in money, or physical assets, but in the value embedded in connections among people. When individuals participate in civic groups, neighborhoods, religious congregations, clubs - and perhaps even ceremonies - they are, in your words, not 'bowling alone,' as too many seem to be in recent years, but building relationships that foster the mutual obligation and trust that have a moral force greater than any other power.
"Today, when many of us are joined closely with one another in communal celebration, we extend our social capital to present you - researcher, teacher, and author extraordinaire - with your third Yale degree, Doctor of Social Science."
Kurt Schmoke '71
University president and civic leader
Doctor of Laws
"Forty-seventh mayor of your native city of Baltimore, former dean of the Howard School of Law, and current president of the University of Baltimore: as a Yale undergraduate you gained the respect of the faculty when you stood before them during political unrest and asked for their guidance and moral leadership. Since then, you have provided your own guidance and moral leadership nationally, and especially to the city you love. Co-founder of the New Haven Calvin Hill Daycare Center in 1972, you went on, in Baltimore, to initiate outstanding programs in urban renewal and neighborhood revitalization. You also have been a profound believer in education, devoting your life to institutions that empower people through learning.
"Engaged educator and steadfast civil servant, grateful for your lifelong service to Yale, which culminated in your years as Yale's senior trustee, and proud of your service to the nation, Yale rejoices in acknowledging a cherished son with a second Yale degree, Doctor of Laws."
JoAnne Stubbe
Chemist and biochemist
Doctor of Science
"Groundbreaking scientist, you have transformed our understanding of how life operates and evolves at the molecular level and reshaped how we think about the chemistry of living systems. Your deep and elegant research has revealed how enzymes harness the reactivity of free radicals - unstable entities often associated with damage and disorder - to carry out the precise chemistry required for life, enabling new targets for therapeutic development.
"Beloved and inspiring mentor and teacher, winner of a long list of impressive awards, including the National Medal of Science, the highest domestic honor for a scientist, we recognize we make a very 'unradical' decision to add to your many distinctions with a Doctor of Science degree, which we are honored to confer with the greatest admiration and pleasure."
