Commencement Speakers & Honorary Degree Recipients

*Rensselaer president
Title Commencement Speakers Honorary Degree Recipients
June 9, 1950
  • Harry Stanley Rogers President, Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn
  • Lucius D. Clay Degree Received D.Eng.
  • James D. Cunningham Degree Received D.Eng.
  • John W. Doty Degree Received D.Eng.
  • C. Guy Suits Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Harry Stanley Rogers Degree Received D.Eng.
January 26, 1951
  • Brehon Burke Somervell General President, Koppers Company, Inc.
  • Austin D. Barney Degree Received D.Eng.
  • William P. Creager Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Hugh L. Dryden Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Brehon Burke Somervell Degree Received D.Eng.
  • G. Keith Funston Degree Received LL.D.
June 8, 1951
  • Earl James McGrath U.S. Commissioner of Ed.
  • Shortridge Hardesty Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Earl James McGrath Degree Received LL.D.
  • Alfredo Medina V. Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Maurice L. Tainter Degree Received D.Sc.
June 6, 1952
  • Barry Truman Leithead President, Cluett, Peabody & Company, Inc.
  • Edward D. Blackwell Degree Received C.E.
  • James M. Caird Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Sanford L. Cluett Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Crawford H. Greenewalt Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Walter E. Irving Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Charles F. Kettering Degree Received C.E.
  • Carlton S. Proctor Degree Received C.E.
  • Piero Ferrerio Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Barry Truman Leithead Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Lenox R. Lohr Degree Received C.E.
  • Roberto Vergara Degree Received D.Eng.
June 5, 1953
  • David Barnard Steinman Consulting Engineer
  • Carter Davidson Degree Received D.Sc.
  • Clarence W. Higbee Degree Received C.E.
  • Roberto N. Jafet Degree Received D.Eng.
  • David V. Steinman Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Otto H. Shade Degree Received D.Eng.
June 11, 1954
  • Emil H. Praeger '15 Consulting Engineer
  • Paul H. Conway Degree Received C.E.
  • Albert M. Kahn Degree Received C.E.
  • Kenneth R. Patrick Degree Received D.Eng.
  • William P. Tolley Degree Received LL.D.
  • Emil H. Praeger '15 Degree Received D.Eng.
June 10, 1955
  • Lewis A. Wilson President, NYS Commissioner of Education
  • Richard S. M. Emrich Degree Received LL.D.
  • Benjamin F. Fairless Degree Received D.Eng.
  • George D. Hughey Degree Received C.E.
  • Oscar Mazzei Degree Received D.Eng.
  • John Tee-Van Degree Received D.Sc.
  • Arnold J. Toynbee Degree Received LL.D.
  • Henry Cabot Lodge Degree Received LL.D.
  • Lewis A. Wilson Degree Received D.Sc.
June 8, 1956
  • John P. Myers Chancellor, Board of Regents
  • William P. Gwinn Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Ajudhia N. Khosla Degree Received D.Eng.
  • John P. Myers Degree Received LL.D.
  • Miguel Villa Degree Received D.Eng.
June 7, 1957
  • Bertram D. Tallamy '25 Federal Highway Administrator, U.S. Bureau of Public Roads
  • Mervin S. Coover Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Edward P. Hamilton Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Sheppard T. Powell Degree Received C.E.
  • Bertram D. Tallamy '25 Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Irving M. Stein Degree Received D.Sc.
June 6, 1958
  • Robert Paxton '23 President, Manager, General Electric Corp.
  • W. Averell Harriman Degree Received LL.D.
  • Carroll V. Newsom Degree Received D.Sc.
  • Robert Paxton '23 Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Robert G. Sproul Degree Received LL.D.
  • Howard I. Young Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Monroe E. Spaght Degree Received D.Sc.
June 5, 1959
  • Samuel C. Waugh President, Export-Import Bank
  • George Havas Degree Received D.Eng.
  • J. Erik Jonsson Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Samuel C. Waugh Degree Received LL.D.
June 10, 1960
  • John A. McCone Chairman, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission
  • William W. Bessell, Jr. Degree Received D.Eng.
  • John A. McCone Degree Received D.Eng.
  • George V. Robbins Degree Received C.E.
  • Sherrod E. Skinner Degree Received D.Eng.
June 9, 1961
  • Frederick Russell Kappel President, American Telephone & Telegraph Co.
  • Richard P. Gowdy Degree Received C.E.
  • Frederick Russell Kappel Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Edwin M. McMillan Degree Received D.Sc.
  • Minoru Yamasaki Degree Received D.F.A.
  • Frederick Seitz Degree Received D.Sc.
June 8, 1962
  • Warren Weaver President, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
  • James H. Hait Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Lars Onsager Degree Received D.Sc.
  • Edward H. Prentice Degree Received C.E.
  • Warren Weaver Degree Received D.Eng.
June 7, 1963
  • Courtlandt S. Gross Chairman of the Board, Lockheed Aircraft Corporation
  • J. Paul Geotcheus Degree Received C.E.
  • Courtlandt S. Gross Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Augustine R. Marusi Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Richard S. Perkin Degree Received D.Sc.
June 12, 1964
  • Chauncey Starr '32 President, Atomics International Division of North American Aviation, Inc.
  • Chester F. Carlson Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Chauncey Starr '32 Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Edward S. Tallmadge Degree Received C.E.
  • Thomas J. Watson, Jr. Degree Received LL.D.
June 11, 1965
  • Augustus Braun Kinzel President, The National Academy of Engineering
  • Werner Ammann Degree Received D. Eng
  • Craig W. Angell Degree Received C.E.
  • Beatrice Alice Hicks Degree Received D. Eng.
  • Augustus Braun Kinzel Degree Received D.Eng
  • Donald F. Hornig Degree Received D.Sc.
June 10, 1966
  • John Herbert Hollomon Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Science and Technology
  • Eugene G. Fubini Degree Received D.Sc.
  • Michael L. Haider Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Floyd D. Hall Degree Received D.Eng.
  • J. Herbert Hollomon Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Sol Spiegelman Degree Received D.Sc.
  • James E. Webb Degree Received LL.D.
  • John D. Harper Degree Received D.Eng.
June 9, 1967
  • Emilio Quincy Daddario Congressman, U.S. House of Representatives
  • Louis H. Aricson Degree Received C.E.
  • Emilio Quincy Daddario Degree Received LL.D.
  • Mark O. Hatfield Degree Received LL.D.
  • Alexander C. Husband Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Thomas L. Martin, Jr. Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Charles S. Humphrey Degree Received C.E.
June 7, 1968
  • Nelson A. Rockefeller NYS Governor
  • William O. Faylor Degree Received C.E.
  • Eugene Ormandy Degree Received D.Mus.
  • John T. Potter Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Philip Sporn Degree Received D.Eng.
June 13, 1969
  • Nelson A. Rockefeller NYS Governor
  • James E. Allen, Jr. Degree Received LL.D.
  • John Bardeen Degree Received D.Sc.
  • George M. Low George M. Low Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Nelson A. Rockefeller Degree Received LL.D.
June 12, 1970
  • Lee Alvin DuBridge Science Advisor to the President
  • Milton Brumer Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Lee Alvin DuBridge Degree Received D.Sc.
  • Livingston W. Houston Livingston W. Houston Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Eduard C. Pestel Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Calhoun Norton Degree Received C.E.
June 11, 1971
  • Isaac Asimov Science Writer
  • Isaac Asimov Degree Received D.Sc.
  • Clay P. Bedford Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Royden C. Sanders, Jr.'38 Degree Received C.E.
June 9, 1972
  • Alvin Toffler Social Historian
  • Ray Palmer Baker Degree Received D.Sc.
  • Kenneth A. Gibson Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Patrick E. Haggerty Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Jerome B. Wiesner Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Alvin Toffler Degree Received D.Sc.
May 25, 1973
  • Walter Joseph Hickel Environmentalist
  • David M. Darrin Degree Received C.E.
  • Richard Gilman Folsom Richard Gilman Folsom Degree Received LL.D.
  • R. Buckminister Fuller Degree Received D.F.A.
  • Eugene McDermott Degree Received D.Sc.
  • Rodolfo Patron Degree Received D.Eng.
  • Casper W. Weinberger Degree Received LL.D.
  • Walter J. Hickel Degree Received LL.D.
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