Dating back to the first Commencement in 1769, the Board of Fellows of the Brown Corporation has bestowed honorary degrees upon individuals of distinction and accomplishment, recognizing their leadership and contribution to society in many fields and disciplines. Honorary degree candidates are selected for both their renown and the reflection in their life and in their work of the values and mission of Brown as an academic community.
| Year | Degree | Name | Notes |
| 2023 | L.H.D. | Douglas W. Diamond | |
| 2023 | LL.D. | Elaine G. Luria | |
| 2023 | L.H.D | Bernicestine Elizabeth McLeod Bailey ('68) | |
| 2023 | L.H.D. | Kevin Mundt ('76) | |
| 2023 | L.H.D. | Ruth Oppenheim | |
| 2023 | LL.D. | Gina Raimondo | |
| 2022 | L.H.D. | Nicole Alexander-Scott (MPH'11) | |
| 2022 | D.M.S. | Seth Berkley ('78, MD'81) | |
| 2022 | L.H.D. | Guido Imbens (PhD'91) | |
| 2022 | D.F.A. | Stanley Nelson | |
| 2022 | LL.D. | Nancy Pelosi | |
| 2022 | D.F.A. | Shaggy | |
| 2022 | L.H.D. | Alice Tisch | |
| 2022 | L.H.D. | Thomas Tisch ('76) | |
| 2022 | L.H.D. | Zeynep Tüfekçi | |
| 2021 | L.H.D. | Norman Atkins ('84) | |
| 2021 | LH.D. | George H. Billings ('72) | (off cycle) |
| 2021 | L.H.D. | Steven R. Jordan ('82) | |
| 2021 | Sc.D. | David Lobell ('00) | |
| 2021 | L.H.D. | Maud S. Mandel | |
| 2021 | Sc.D. | Jessica U. Meir ('99) | |
| 2021 | LL.D. | Ojetta Rogeriee Thompson ('73) | |
| 2019 | L.H.D. | Ken Burns | |
| 2019 | L.H.D. | Sheryl Brissett Chapman ('71) | |
| 2019 | D.F.A. | John Krasinski ('01) | |
| 2019 | L.H.D. | Jennifer Anne Richeson ('94) | |
| 2019 | L.H.D. | David M. Rubenstein | |
| 2019 | L.H.D. | E. Paul Sorensen ('71, ScM'75, PhD'77) | |
| 2019 | L.H.D. | Joan Wernig Sorensen ('72) | |
| 2018 | L.H.D. | Lonnie G. Bunch III | |
| 2018 | L.H.D. | Robert J. Carney ('61) | (off cycle; in Houston) |
| 2018 | L.H.D. | Nancy D. Carney | (off cycle; in Houston) |
| 2018 | Sc.D. | John Michael Kosterlitz | |
| 2018 | L.H.D. | Beverly E. Ledbetter | |
| 2018 | L.H.D. | Nancy Northup ('81) | |
| 2018 | D.F.A. | Giuseppe Penone | |
| 2018 | L.H.D. | Sting | |
| 2018 | L.H.D. | Trudie Styler | |
| 2017 | D.F.A. | Robert De Niro | |
| 2017 | D.F.A. | Daveed Diggs ('04) | |
| 2017 | L.H.D. | Donald C. Hood (ScM'68, PhD'70) | |
| 2017 | L.H.D. | Indra K. Nooyi | |
| 2017 | L.H.D | Richard D. Parsons | |
| 2017 | Litt.D. | Rosmarie Waldrop | |
| 2016 | Sc.D. | Cornelia Isabella Bargmann | |
| 2016 | D.M.S. | Thomas G. Catena (’86) | (in absentia; accepted by Gene and Nancy Catena) |
| 2016 | D.F.A. | Umberto Crenca | |
| 2016 | L.H.D. | Angus Deaton | |
| 2016 | L.H.D. | Kevin Gover | |
| 2016 | L.H.D. | Antonia Hernández | |
| 2016 | L.H.D. | Jean Elizabeth Howard (’70) | |
| 2016 | L.H.D. | Charles M. Rosenthal | |
| 2015 | L.H.D. | Robert Anthony Corrigan (’57) | |
| 2015 | L.H.D. | Louise Lamphere | |
| 2015 | L.H.D. | David E. McKinney | |
| 2015 | D.F.A. | Tracee Ellis Ross (’94) | |
| 2015 | Sc.D. | Susan Solomon | |
| 2015 | Sc.D. | Kathryn D. Sullivan | |
| 2014 | L.H.D. | Beatrice E. Coleman (’25) | (posthumously) |
| 2014 | L.H.D. | Lee Eliot Berk (’64) | |
| 2014 | Litt.D. | Jeffrey Eugenides (’82) | |
| 2014 | D.M.S. | Arthur L. Horwich (’72, MD’75) | |
| 2014 | Sc.D. | Mary Lou Jepsen (’87, PhD’97) | |
| 2014 | L.H.D. | Debra L. Lee (’76) | |
| 2014 | Litt.D. | Lois Lowry(’58) | |
| 2014 | Sc.D. | Nalini Moreshwar Nadkarni (’76) | |
| 2014 | LL.D. | Thomas E. Perez (’83) | |
| 2013 | D.F.A. | Affleck, Benjamin | |
| 2013 | Litt.D. | Díaz, Junot | |
| 2013 | Sc.D. | Falkow, Stanley (’61) | |
| 2013 | L.H.D. | Hogan, Beverly Wade | |
| 2013 | D.M.S. | Lavizzo-Mourey, Risa J. | |
| 2013 | L.H.D. | Padrón, Eduardo J. | |
| 2012 | Sc.D. | Bertozzi, Carolyn | |
| 2012 | D. F. A. | Davis, Viola | |
| 2012 | LL.D. | Lewis, John Robert | |
| 2012 | Litt.D. | Robinson, Marilynne Summers (’66) | |
| 2012 | Mus.D. | Ruth, Sebastian A. (’97) | |
| 2012 | Litt.D. | Sawyer, Diane | |
| 2012 | L.H.D. | Sharp, Gene | |
| 2012 | L.H.D. | Simmons, Ruth J. | |
| 2012 | Sc.D. | Yang, Wei (’85) | |
| 2011 | L.H.D. | Kaplan, Herbert | (off cycle; Medical School building dedication) |
| 2011 | L.H.D. | King Crowley, Katie (’97) | |
| 2011 | L.H.D. | Huffington, Arianna | |
| 2011 | Litt.D. | Kristof, Nicholas D. | |
| 2011 | Sc.D. | Mumford, David B. | |
| 2011 | D.F.A. | Nicholson, John J. (Jack) | |
| 2011 | D.F.A. | Nottage, Lynn Ida (’86) | |
| 2011 | Sc.D. | Randall, Lisa | |
| 2011 | L.H.D. | Roth, Kenneth (’77) | |
| 2011 | Sc.D. | Scott, David R. | |
| 2011 | Litt.D. | Zhenkai, Zhao (Bei Dao) | |
| 2010 | D.F.A. | Freeman, Morgan | |
| 2010 | Sc.D. | Liskov, Barbara | |
| 2010 | LL.D. | Mandela, Nelson | (in absentia; accepted by Johnny Moloto) |
| 2010 | Litt.D. | Parsipur, Shahrnush | |
| 2010 | L.H.D. | Richards, Cecile (’80) | |
| 2010 | Litt.D. | Rohde, David S. (’90) | |
| 2010 | L.H.D. | Thapar, Romila | |
| 2010 | Litt.D. | Wood, Gordon S. | |
| 2009 | L.H.D. | Barker, Richard C. (’57) | |
| 2009 | L.H.D. | Elmendorf, Mary L. | |
| 2009 | Sc.D. | Fishman, Jerald G. | |
| 2009 | L.H.D. | Gruman, Jessie C. | |
| 2009 | D.M.S | Kim, Jim Yong | |
| 2009 | L.H.D. | Saltzman, David E. | |
| 2009 | LL.D. | Zakaria, Fareed | |
| 2009 | Sc.D. | Dothan, Trude | (off cycle; in Jerusalem) |
| 2008 | Litt.D. | Danticat, Edwidge (’93) | |
| 2008 | D.F.A. | Jamison, Judith | |
| 2008 | L.H.D. | Mallow, Matthew J. (’64) | |
| 2008 | D.F.A. | Redford, Charles Robert | |
| 2008 | Sc.D. | Shih, Choon Fong | |
| 2008 | L.H.D. | Strothman, Wendy J. (’72) | |
| 2008 | Sc.D. | Zuber, Maria T. (’86) | |
| 2008 | LL.D. | Sirleaf, Ellen Johnson | (off cycle; lecture) |
| 2007 | D.M.S. | Aronson, Stanley M. | |
| 2007 | L.H.D. | Berman, Christopher J. (’77) | |
| 2007 | D.F.A. | Burton, Kate (’79) | |
| 2007 | LL.D. | Cowen, Scott S. | |
| 2007 | LL.D. | Francis, Norman C. | |
| 2007 | LL.D. | Hughes, Marvalene | |
| 2007 | Mus.D. | King, Riley "B.B." | |
| 2007 | Sc.D. | Mello, Craig C. (’82) | |
| 2007 | L.H.D. | Power, Samantha | |
| 2006 | L.H.D. | Canada, Geoffrey | |
| 2006 | L.H.D. | Garcia, Juliet V. | |
| 2006 | D.M.S. | Jamison, Kay Redfield | |
| 2006 | D.F.A. | St.Florian, Friedrich | |
| 2006 | D.M.S. | Solomon, Suniti | |
| 2006 | L.H.D. | Volcker, Paul A. | |
| 2006 | L.H.D. | Granoff, Martin J. | |
| 2006 | L.L.D. | Okonjo-Iweala, Ngozi | |
| 2006 | Sc.D. | Hockfield, Susan | (off cycle; Sidney Frank Hall dedication) |
| 2005 | D.F.A. | Christo | |
| 2005 | D.F.A. | Jeanne-Claude | |
| 2005 | Litt.D. | Eggers, David | |
| 2005 | L.H.D. | Frank, Sidney E. (’42) | |
| 2005 | Sc.D. | Huntress Jr., Wesley T. | |
| 2005 | D.M.S. | King, Mary-Claire | |
| 2005 | D.F.A. | Rashad, Phylicia | |
| 2005 | L.H.D. | Rhodes, William R. (’57) | |
| 2005 | L.H.D. | Samar, Sima | |
| 2005 | D.D. | Smith, Philip A. | |
| 2004 | LL.D. | Cardoso, Fernando Henrique | |
| 2004 | L.H.D. | Chace, Malcolm G. | |
| 2004 | LL.D. | Ebadi, Shirin | |
| 2004 | D.M.S. | Farmer, Paul | |
| 2004 | Litt.D. | Parks, Suzan-Lori | |
| 2004 | L.H.D. | Pauley, Jane | |
| 2004 | L.H.D. | Robert, Stephen (’62) | |
| 2004 | LL.D. | Rodin, Judith | |
| 2004 | Litt.D. | Trudeau, Garry B. | |
| 2003 | LL.D | Gorbachev, Mikhail | (off cycle; Ogden Lecture) |
| 2003 | D.F.A. | Linney, Laura | |
| 2003 | D.F.A. | Mandle, Roger | |
| 2003 | LL.D. | Nunn, Samuel | |
| 2003 | D.F.A. | Sims, Lowery Stokes | |
| 2003 | Sc.D. | Steitz, Joan Argetsinger | |
| 2003 | LL.D. | Urquhart, Sir Brian | |
| 2003 | L.H.D. | Wenli, Xu | |
| 2002 | LL.D. | Birkelund, John P. | |
| 2002 | L.H.D. | Chambers, Raymond G. | |
| 2002 | LL.D | Ginsburg, Ruth Bader | |
| 2002 | L.H.D. | LeClerc, Paul | |
| 2002 | Litt.D. | McCully, Emily Arnold | |
| 2002 | Mus.D. | Norman, Jessye | |
| 2002 | L.H.D. | Ogata, Sadako | |
| 2002 | D.F.A. | Warner, William D. | |
| 2001 | LL.D. | Albright, Madeleine Korbel | |
| 2001 | LL.D. | Annan, Kofi A. | |
| 2001 | Sc.D. | Blumstein, Sheila E. | |
| 2001 | Sc.D. | Christodoulou, Demetrios | |
| 2001 | D.F.A. | Eustis, Paul Jefferson (Oskar) | |
| 2001 | LL.D. | Marshall, Margaret H. | |
| 2001 | Sc.D. | Riggs, Lorrin Andrews | |
| 2001 | Litt.D. | Roth, Philip | |
| 2001 | L.H.D. | Small, Lawrence | |
| 2000 | D.D. | Gutierrez, Gustavo | |
| 2000 | D.F.A. | Evans, Barnaby | |
| 2000 | D.F.A. | Marden, Brice | |
| 2000 | D.M.S. | Collins, Francis S. | |
| 2000 | D.M.S. | Sullivan, Louis W. | |
| 2000 | L.H.D. | Child, Julia | |
| 2000 | L.H.D. | Shalvi, Alice | |
| 2000 | Litt.D. | McCullough, David | |
| 2000 | Mus.D. | DeLay, Dorothy | |
| 2000 | Sc.D. | Brown, John Seely |