Listed below are recipients from 1980 to 1989.
1989
David G. Cogan, M.D., Doctor of Science
A founder of the discipline of neuro-opthalmology
Patricia Murphy Derian, Doctor of Human Letters
Champion of human rights
Stephen J. Gould, Doctor of Science
Prominent evolutionary biologist; influential and widely read author of popular science
F. Sherwood Rowland, Doctor of Science
Pioneer in the study of ozone depletion from chlorofluorocarbon pollution
1988
Kenneth B. Clark, Doctor of Humane Letters
Psychologist and educator who studied the psychology of segregation; first African-American to be a full tenured professor at the City College of New York
John Cocke, Doctor of Science
World-leading computer scientist; member of the National Academy of Engineering
Cathleen S. Morawetz, Doctor of Science
Director of the Courant Institute; role model of achievement for women in scientific careers
Robert Shaw, Doctor of Fine Arts
Director of the Atlanta Symphony
Garry B. Trudeau, Doctor of Humane Letters
Cartoonist; creator of "Doonesbury"
1987
Mary L. Good, Doctor of Science
President of the American Chemical Society; member of the National Science Board; role model of achievement for women in science
Ted Koppel, Doctor of Humane Letters
Anchor of ABC News Nightline
Eppie Lederer (Ann Landers), Doctor of Humane Letters
Syndicated columnist; supporter of many charitable causes
Thomas E. Powell, Jr., M.D., Doctor of Science
Founder of Carolina Medical Supply; supporter of the development of Duke Marine Lab
R. David Thomas, Doctor of Laws
Business leader; proponent of higher education
1986
Lee A. Iacocca, Doctor of Laws
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the Chrysler Corporation
Robert M. Lumiansky, Doctor of Literature
President of the American Council of Learned Societies; educational administrator; Trustee Emeritus of Duke University
Kenneth C. Royall, Jr., Doctor of Laws
Member of the N.C. General Assembly; champion of mental health and higher education
Terry Sanford, Doctor of Laws
President Emeritus of Duke University; former Governor of North Carolina
Ralph O. Slatyer, Doctor of Science
Distinguished Australian botanist; teacher; scientific advisor; UNESCO Ambassador
1985
Emanuel Azenberg, Doctor of Fine Arts
Broadway producer
Martin Cummings, Doctor of Science
Former Director of the National Library of Medicine
Theodore M. Hesburgh, Doctor of Humane Letters
President of the University of Notre Dame
Carlos DuPre Moseley, Doctor of Humane Letters
Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Past President of the New York Philharmonic
Shridath Ramphal, Doctor of Humane Letters
Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Nations; former Minister of Justice and Foreign Affairs of Guyana
1984
Katharine Graham, Doctor of Humane Letters
Chairman of the Board of the Washington Post Company
Mstislav Rostropovich, Doctor of Fine Arts
Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra
J. Paul Sticht, Doctor of Laws
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of R.J. Reynolds Industries, Inc.
Mitchell Sviridoff, Doctor of Laws
President of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation; innovator of programs using both public and private resources to solve public problems
1983
Sir Isaiah Berlin, Doctor of Humane Letters
Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory at Oxford University; philosopher; author; teacher; diplomat
William Ragsdale Cannon, Doctor of Literature
Bishop of the United Methodist Church; Christian historian; former Dean of the Candler School of Theology at Emory University
Bonnie Ethel Cone, Doctor of Humane Letters
Mathematics teacher; a founder of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Helen Grey Edmonds, Doctor of Literature
Professor of History Emeritus at North Carolina Central University; participant in numerous diplomatic and cultural missions to Europe and Africa
Ernest Ludwig Eliel, Doctor of Science
William Rand Kenan, Jr. Professor of Chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; internationally renowned stereochemist
George Thomas Harrell, Doctor of Laws
Founding Dean of two medical schools; research scientist; educator; medical historian
Paul Grant Rogers, Doctor of Laws
Former Congressman from Florida; former Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Health and Environment
Mary D.B.T. Semans, Doctor of Laws
Chairman of The Duke Endowment; Trustee Emerita of Duke University; philanthropist; civic and cultural leader
Paul Taylor, Doctor of Fine Arts
Creator of the Paul Taylor Dance Company; innovative choreographer; dancer; teacher
1982
James Edward Cheek, Doctor of Humane Letters
President of Howard University; theologian; historian
Hanna Holborn Gray, Doctor of Humane Letters
President of the University of Chicago; historian; teacher; author
George Herbert Hitchings, Doctor of Science
Distinguished biochemist; pioneering research in chemotherapy; retired officer of Burroughs Wellcome Company
Geoffrey Moriaso Ole Maloiy, Doctor of Science
Professor at the University of Nairobi; animal physiologist; distinguished scientist and scholar
Donald F. McHenry, Doctor of Humane Letters
Premanent representative to the United Nations; representative to the Security Council; holder of diplomatic posts in the Department of State; scholar and teacher
Floyd Millard Riddick, Doctor of Humane Letters
Parliamentarian Emeritus of the United States Senate; author and educator
1981
Philip Hauge Abelson, Doctor of Science
Physicist; Editor of SCIENCE
Gwendolyn Brooks, Doctor of Letters
Pulitzer Prize winning poet
Harry Eagle, Doctor of Science
Professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Gerald Holton, Doctor of Laws
Professor of Physics and History of Science at Harvard University
Stanley Sebastian Kresge, Doctor of Humane Letters
Past President of the Kresge Foundation; business leader; philanthropist; churchman; friend of higher education
Edward Hirsch Levi, Doctor of Laws
Former United States Attoney General; President of the University of Chicago
Steven Muller, Doctor of Laws
President of Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Hospital
Laurence S. Rockefeller, Doctor of Humane Letters
Distinguished philanthropist
Clifton Reginald Wharton, Jr., Doctor of Laws
Chancellor, State University of New York
1980
Joseph M. Bryan, Doctor of Laws
Corporate leader with Jefferson-Pilot; one of the six original members of the North Carolina Business Hall of Fame
Milton Stover Eisenhower, Doctor of Laws
President of Johns Hopkins University
Paul Eliot Green, Doctor of Fine Arts
Pulitzer Prize winning writer; playwright of The Lost Colony
Helen Hayes, Doctor of Fine Arts
Actress; winner of Tony, Emmy, Grammy, and Academy Awards
L. Richardson Preyer, Doctor of Humane Letters
Six-term Congressman from North Carolina; former Chairman of the Select Committee on Ethics