Campus Awards
Campus Awards
Honorary Degrees
The University of Michigan Board of Regents conferred the honorary doctoral degrees listed below. Degrees were bestowed at UM-Dearborn commencement ceremonies.
May 1975 - Martha Wright Griffiths - Doctor of Laws
April 1991 - Rosa Parks - Doctor of Laws
April 1994 - Don Herbert (“Mr. Wizard”) - Doctor of Science
May 1998 - Dr. Mae C. Jemison - Doctor of Science
May 2002 - Steven K. Hamp - Doctor of Laws
Dec. 2007 - Dr. Charles H. Tilly - Doctor of Humane Letters
April 2009 - Ismael Ahmed ('75 B.A.) - Doctor of Laws
April 2009 - Arthur Kochoff ('92 B.A., '96 B.A.) - Doctor of Laws
April 2013 - Jeffrey D. Sachs - Doctor of Science
May 2016 - Michael Brown - Doctor of Laws
April 2017 - Shirley Stancato - Doctor of Laws
Distinguished Leadership Awards
The University of Michigan-Dearborn recognizes and honors individuals who have made a significant contribution to the welfare and development of the University of Michigan-Dearborn for an extended period of time. The contribution may be service to the campus, financial support, political support, or any combination of these, or any other activity judged to be a significant contribution by a recommending panel.
Any person not employed by the University of Michigan or serving in a governing capacity to the University is eligible to receive the award, provided the association with and contributions to the University of Michigan-Dearborn cover an extended period of time. Scholarly achievement and eminence are not bases for the award. Preference will be given to residents of southeastern Michigan, but will not be restricted to this group. The recipient must be present to receive the award, but he or she does not have to be a principal in the UM-Dearborn commencement exercises.
Any member of the UM-Dearborn community may nominate someone for the award. Nominations will be sent forward to be evaluated by the campus’ Honorary Degree Committee. Senior officers will review recommendation(s) and the chancellor will make the decision.
1986 - Allan D. Gilmour, VP and CFO, The Ford Motor Company
1986 - Alfred Berkowitz, art collector and philanthropist
1987 - Richard A. Young, State Representative, 32nd District
1987 - Peggy Campbell, President, Kean Manufacturing Corporation
1988 - Alex Neshkes, retired retailer, art collector, volunteer and entrepreneur
1992 - Edward H. McNamara, Wayne County Executive
1993 - John D. Dingell, Member of Congress, 16th District
1995 - Stephen T. Economy ('65 B.A.), Deputy Director, Wayne County Detroit Metropolitan Airport; former Vice President for External Relations, Ameritech
1995 - Harold K. Skramstad Jr., President, Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village
1996 - Heinz C. Prechter, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive, ASC Incorporated
1996 - Michael A. Guido, Mayor, City of Dearborn
1998 - Wayne S. Doran, Vice President, Ford Motor Company and Chairman of the Board, Ford Motor Company Land Development Corporation
2000 - Steven K. Hamp, President, Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village
2003 - Timothy J. O’Brien ('76 B.A.), Vice President of Corporate Relations, The Ford Motor Company
2006 - Roman Krygier, Ford Motor Company, Group Vice President, Global Manufacturing (retired)
2006 - Anthony G. Viscogliosi ('84 B.A.), Co-founder and Principal, Viscogliosi Bros., LLC and Chairman & CEO, Small Bone Innovations, Inc.
2008 - Ismael Ahmed ('75 B.A., '09 LL.D.Hon.), Director, Michigan Department of Human Services
2008 - Arthur Kochoff ('92 B.A., '96 B.A., '09 LL.D.Hon.), Manufacturing Engineering, Ford Motor Company (retired)
2012 - Carol A. Goss, President and CEO of The Skillman Foundation
2015 - Eugene A. Gargaro, Jr., Secretary, Richard and Jane Manoogian Foundation, and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Detroit Institute of Arts
2016 - Ron A. May, Executive Vice President, Major Enterprise Projects, DTE Energy
Distinguished Career Metropolitan Impact Award
The Distinguished Career Metropolitan Impact Award recognizes and honors a UM-Dearborn faculty or staff member who has made an exceptional career-long contribution to the improvement of life in southeastern Michigan.
Any member of the UM-Dearborn community may nominate someone for the award. Nominations will be sent forward to be evaluated by the campus’ Honorary Degree Committee. Senior officers will review recommendation(s) and the chancellor will make the decision.
April 2013 - Dr. Sidney Bolkosky
Bolkosky was a professor of history at the UM-Dearborn since 1979, until his retirement in 2012. Bolkosky also served as director of the UM-Dearborn Honors Program for 25 years. Since 1981 he directed and conducted interviews with more than 300 survivors of the Holocaust. His work with Holocaust survivors expanded into a project housed at UM- Dearborn called the Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive, which currently contains taped interviews of more than 150 survivors. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. has received copies of these interviews. Bolkosky received all three of UM-Dearborn’s major faculty awards for distinguished teaching, research and service.
Off campus, Bolkosky received the Distinguished Faculty Award from the Michigan Association of Governing Boards in 1986. In 2001, he was the recipient of the Michigan Jewish Historical Society Leonard N. Simons Award as well as the inaugural Benard Maas Foundation Award for Continuity in Jewish Education in the Humanities category.
Sidney died June 14, 2013.