Five Recognized With Honorary Degrees in 2023

Princeton recognized five individuals with honorary degrees at Commencement.

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Lynn A. Conway, a computer scientist, engineer, and transgender activist, helped revolutionize microchip design in the 1980s and received IBM’s lifetime achievement award in 2020.

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Arcadio Díaz-Quiñones, an emeritus professor of Spanish and Portuguese who joined Princeton’s faculty in 1983, is an expert on Latin American culture and history and has written on the topic extensively.

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Rhiannon Giddens, a Grammy Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning singer and multi-instrumentalist, has focused her work on uplifting those who were previously overlooked in American musical history.

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Suzan Shown Harjo, a 2014 recipient of the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom, uses activism, poetry, journalism, and more to promote and protect Native American culture and land.

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Katalin Karikó co-created a modified version of messenger RNA that was used in several COVID-19 vaccines.

The Class of 2023 inducted five honorary classmates during its Class Day festivities: Kathleen Deignan, the dean of undergraduate students, who is retiring after four decades at the University; Claire Pinciaro ’13, the assistant dean for student life at Yeh College; Anne Anlin Cheng ’85, a professor of English; Joe Coraggio, a food service worker at Forbes College; and Rep. Terri Sewell ’86, the Class Day speaker.