Support Page Content
Honorary Degrees
About Honorary Degrees
The California State University awards honorary degrees to individuals who have demonstrated excellence in areas that benefit humanity, CSU campuses, the state, nation and/or world. Recipients are recognized and honored for their exemplary contributions. The degrees are given by the CSU Board of Trustees in the name of the California State University and in the name of the campus. The CSU awarded its first honorary degree to then-President John F. Kennedy in June 1963 at San Diego State University.
For more information, view the California State University Board of Trustees policy for awarding honorary degrees.
Submissions
Things to consider before submitting a nomination:
The submission form must be submitted completely. Partially complete submissions will not be accepted.
Questions that will be asked when submitting a nomination (* means required)
- Nominator contact information (*name, *email, *phone, *address)
- Nominee contact information (*name, *organization, *affiliation to Sac State, email, address, phone)
- Additional information about nominee
* How does the nominee demonstrate inspirational character, excellence and extraordinary achievement in significant areas of human endeavor that reflect the objectives and ideals of the California State University?
* What is your nominee's community involvement?
* How does your nominee's life, conduct, and significant achievements serve as examples of the California State University's aspirations for its diverse student body?
* Please provide any additional information that supports your nominee’s selection.
Nominations without any additional supporting documentation or letters of recommendation are often not sufficient enough for the Selection Committee to evaluate compared to complete submissions.
Deadline to submit a nominee for the 2021/22 Honorary Doctorate was October 22, 2021
2022 Recipients

Esteban Villa
Emeritus Professor of Art, Sacramento State and Founding Member, Royal Chicano Air Force (RCAF)
2022 Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts
Esteban Villa was born in 1930 in Tulare, California. He began his career as a high school teacher, but soon became a professor of art at Sacramento State, where he taught for over two decades. Professor Villa is best known for his work founding the Royal Chicano Air Force (RCFA), an iconic art collective focused on social justice during the civil rights era.
The RCAF was described in the Sacramento Bee as “a collection of artists-turned activists who used their words, music, and images to fight for justice and equality for farmworkers and other marginalized Americans.” The group was founded in 1969 to express the goals of the Chicano civil rights and labor organization movement of the United Farmworkers. The group’s early work and activism was in support of the United Farmworkers Union, and their art and talent inspired UFW leadership...

May O. Lee
Founding Director, Asian Resources, Inc.
2022 Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
May O. Lee has been a pillar in the community since moving to Sacramento from Seattle in 1975. She is the founding director of Asian Resources, Inc. (ARI) and she has dedicated her personal and professional life to community service.
While a graduate student at Sacramento State, Ms. Lee recognized that the burgeoning Asian immigrant and refugee communities had critical needs for job assistance, English classes, youth and senior programs, and health education. She helped evolve the Asian Resource Center Senior Services into a nonprofit that could meet all of these needs, and became its founding director in 1981, where she served until 2006. Ms. Lee was instrumental in starting My Sister’s House (MSH) in 2000, which serves Asian and Pacific Islander and other underserved women and children impacted by domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking. MSH has expanded to includes My Sister’s Café, a social enterprise to support MSH job training programs, as well as the MSH Housing First program...

Tim Collom
Owner, House Real Estate and Tim Collom Gallery
2022 President’s Medal for Distinguished Service
Tim Collom’s life is a blend of both the business and philanthropic values taught at Sacramento State, and his career is truly a reflection of the ideals of the California State University.
After leaving college, Mr. Collom began his real estate career, eventually founding House Real Estate. Starting with just four agents, House has grown to include 17 agents, listing 141 houses and selling $170 million in real estate this year alone, and was recently ranked by the Wall Street Journal as the Number One Small Real Estate Team in Sacramento. Mr. Collom is also an accomplished artist, and he has parlayed his success in art and business into helping others in California.
During the fires that devastated much of Northern California in 2020 and 2021, he designed a special California print which he sold throughout the state, donating more than $200,000 to the California Fire Foundation. These funds helped the residents of Paradise begin to rebuild their lives and their community. In 2019, he won the Hero Award from the California Fire Foundation, which is only given to three people every year in California.
Previous Recipients
Lee Ritchey
Founder and President, Speeding Edge
Doctor of Science 2021
Kevin Michael Nagle
Chairman & CEO, Sac Soccer & Entertainment Holdings
Doctor of Humane Letters 2020
Lorenda T. Sanchez
Executive Director, California Indian Manpower Consortium, Inc.
Doctor of Humane Letters 2020
Marlene Marie von Friederichs-Fitzwater
Emeritus Faculty and Founder of the Health Communication Research Institute Inc.
Doctor of Humane Letters 2019
Hazel Witten Mahone
Emeritus Faculty, Author, and Advocate
Doctor of Humane Letters 2019
Alice A. Huffman
Political Activist
Doctor of Humane Letters 2018
Ruth M. Rippon
Distinguished Artist
Doctor of Fine Arts 2018
Ernest E. Tschannen
Philanthropist
Doctor of Humane Letters 2018
Cheryl Dell '82 (Communication Studies)
Former newspaper executive
Doctor of Humane Letters 2017
Ephraim Williams
Pastor
Doctor of Humane Letters 2017
Gregory Kondos '51, MA '57 (Art)
Artist
Doctor of Fine Arts 2016
David Lucchetti '67 (Physical Education), Credential '68
Business Leader
Doctor of Humane Letters 2016
Lester Holt
News anchor, NBC Nightly News and Dateline NBC
Doctor of Humane Letters 2015
Joyce Raley Teel
Businesswoman
Doctor of Humane Letters 2015
Dale Carlsen '84 (Business Administration)
Doctor of Humane Letters 2013
Hugo Noe Morales Rosas
Doctor of Fine Arts 2011
Cruz Reynoso
Doctor of Laws 2012
Marcy Friedman
Doctor of Fine Arts 2010
Mario G. Obledo
Doctor of Laws 2010
Frederick Teichert '95 MBA
Doctor of Humane Letters 2009
Winnie Leung, MS '97 (Accountancy)
Doctor of Humane Letters 2007
Roger Valine '73 (Sociology)
Doctor of Humane Letters 2007
Robert T. Matsui
Doctor of Laws 2006
Hans J.A. Van Ginkel
Doctor of Letters 2003
Ingrid Moses
Doctor of Letters 2003
Phillip L. Isenberg '61 (Social Science)
Doctor of Letters 2002
Richard W. Riley
Doctor of Humane Letters 2001
Grantland Johnson '74 (Government)
Doctor of Humane Letters 2001
Dorothy Stevens Enomoto
Doctor of Humane Letters 2001
Steven Lee Yamshon '77 (Envrionmental Resources)
Doctor of Humane Letters 1999
Angelo K. Tsakopoulos '60 (History)
Doctor of Humane Letters 1998
Wayne Thiebaud '51, MA '53 (Art)
Doctor of Fine Arts 1998
Heitor Gurgulino de Souza
Doctor of Laws 1996
Sisbusiso M.E. Bengu
Doctor of Laws 1996
Federico Mayor
Doctor of Laws 1996
Anna Deavere Smith
Doctor of Fine Arts 1996
George Perle
Doctor of Fine Arts 1996
Lou Harrison
Doctor of Fine Arts 1993
Nathaniel S. Colley, Sr.
Doctor of Laws 1988
Albert S. Rodda
Doctor of Laws 1987