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ND Quick Facts > Laetare Medal Recipients
Information compiled from a 1974 list maintained by the former Department of Information Services. University Archivists have added to the list since then through Notre Dame Report, press releases and commencement programs.
|
Year |
Laetare Medalist |
Position |
| 1883 | John Gilmary Shea | Historian |
| 1884 | Patrick Charles Keeley | Architect |
| 1885 | Eliza Allen Starr | Art Critic |
| 1886 | General John Newton | Engineer |
| 1887 | Edward Preuss | Publicist |
| 1888 | Patrick V. Hickey | Founder and Editor of the Catholic Review |
| 1889 | Anna Hansen Dorsey | Novelist |
| 1890 | William J. Onahan | Organizer of the American Catholic Congress |
| 1891 | Daniel Dougherty | Orator |
| 1892 | Henry F. Brownson | Philosopher and Author |
| 1893 | Patrick Donohue | Founder of the Boston Pilot |
| 1894 | Augustine Daly | Theatrical Producer |
| 1895 | Mary Anne Sadlier | Novelist |
| 1896 | General William Starke Rosecrans | Soldier |
| 1897 | Thomas Addis Emmet | Physician |
| 1898 | Timothy Edward Howard | Jurist |
| 1899 | Mary Gwendolin Caldwell | Philanthropist |
| 1900 | John A. Creighton | Philanthropist |
| 1901 | William Bourke Cockran | Orator |
| 1902 | John Benjamin Murphy | Surgeon |
| 1903 | Charles Jerome Bonaparte | Lawyer |
| 1904 | Richard C. Kerens | Diplomat |
| 1905 | Thomas B. Fitzpatrick | Philanthropist |
| 1906 | Francis J. Quinlan | Physician |
| 1907 | Katherine Eleanor Conway | Journalist and Author |
| 1908 | James C. Monaghan | Economist |
| 1909 | Frances Tieran (Christian Reid) | Novelist |
| 1910 | Maurice Francis Egan | Author and Diplomat |
| 1911 | Agnes Replier | Author |
| 1912 | Thomas M. Mulry | Philanthropist |
| 1913 | Charles B. Herberman | Editor of the Catholic Encyclopedia |
| 1914 | Edward Douglas White | Jurist
and Chief Justice of the United States |
| 1915 | Mary V. Merrick | Philanthropist |
| 1916 | James Joseph Walsh | Physician and Author |
| 1917 | William Sheperd Benson | Admiral and Chief of Naval Operations |
| 1918 | Joseph Scott | Lawyer |
| 1919 | George L. Duval | Philanthropist |
| 1920 | Lawrence Francis Flick | Physician |
| 1921 | Elizabeth Nourse | Artist |
| 1922 | Charles Patrick Neill | Economist |
| 1923 | Walter George Smith | Lawyer |
| 1924 | Charles D. Maginnis | Architect |
| 1925 | Albert Francis Zahm | Scientist |
| 1926 | Edward Nash Hurley | Businessman |
| 1927 | Margaret Anglin | Actress |
| 1928 | John Johnson Spaulding | Lawyer |
| 1929 | Alfred Emmanuel Smith | Statesman |
| 1930 | Frederick Philip Kenkel | Publicist |
| 1931 | James J. Phelan | Businessman |
| 1932 | Stephen J. Maher | Physician |
| 1933 | John McCormack | Artist |
| 1934 | Genevieve Garvan Brady | Philanthropist |
| 1935 | Francis Hamilton Spearman | Novelist |
| 1936 | Richard Reid | Journalist and Lawyer |
| 1937 | Jeremiah Denis M. Ford | Scholar |
| 1938 | Irvin William Abell | Surgeon |
| 1939 | Josephine Van Dyke Brownson | Catechist |
| 1940 | General Hugh Aloysius Drum | Soldier |
| 1941 | William Thomas Walsh | Journalist and Author |
| 1942 | Helen Constance White | Author and Teacher |
| 1943 | Thomas Francis Woodlock | Editor |
| 1944 | Anne O'Hare McCormick | Journalist |
| 1945 | Gardiner Howland Shaw | Diplomat |
| 1946 | Carlton J.H. Hayes | Historian and Diplomat |
| 1947 | William G. Bruce | Publisher and Civic Leader |
| 1948 | Frank C. Walker | Postmaster General and Civic Leader |
| 1949 | Irene Dunne Griffin | Actress |
| 1950 | General Joseph L. Collins | Soldier |
| 1951 | John Henry Phelan | Philanthropist |
| 1952 | Thomas E. Murray | Member of the US Atomic Energy Commission |
| 1953 | I.A. O'Shaughnessy | Philanthropist |
| 1954 | Jefferson Caffery | Diplomat |
| 1955 | George Meany | Labor Leader |
| 1956 | General Alfred M. Gruenther | Soldier |
| 1957 | Clare Boothe Luce | Diplomat |
| 1958 | Frank M. Folsom | Industrialist |
| 1959 | Robert D. Murphy | Diplomat |
| 1960 | George N. Shuster | Educator |
| 1961 | John F. Kennedy (JFK) | President of the United States |
| 1962 | Francis J. Braceland, MD | Psychiatrist |
| 1963 | Admiral George W. Anderson Jr. | Chief of Naval Operations |
| 1964 | Pylllis McGinley | Poet |
| 1965 | Frederick D. Rossini | Scientist |
| 1966 | Patrick F. and Patricia Caron Crowley | Founders of The Christian Movement |
| 1967 | J. Peter Grace | Industrialist |
| 1968 | Robert Sargent Shriver | Diplomat |
| 1969 | William J. Brennan Jr. | Jurist and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court |
| 1970 | Dr. William B. Walsh | Physician |
| 1971 | Walter Kerr & Jean Kerr | Drama Critic & Author |
| 1972 | Dorothy Day | Founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, Journalist and Author |
| 1973 | Rev. John A. O'Brien | Author and educator |
| 1974 | James A. Farley | Business Executive and Former Post Master General |
| 1975 | Sr. Ann Ida Gannon, BMV | President of Mundelein College |
| 1976 | Paul Horgan | Author |
| 1977 | Mike Mansfield | Former Senate Majority Leader |
| 1978 | Msgr. John Tracy Ellis | Author and educator |
| 1979 | Helen Hayes | Actress |
| 1980 | Thomas P. (Tip) O'Neill Jr. | Congressman (Speaker of the House) |
| 1981 | Edmund Sixtus Muskie | Secretary of State |
| 1982 | Cardinal John Francis Dearden | Retired Archbishop of Detroit |
| 1983 | Edmund & Evelyn Stephan | Chairman Emeritus of the University of Notre Dame's Board of Trustees and wife |
| 1984 | John Thomas Noonan Jr. | Legal scholar |
| 1985 | Guido Calabresi | Dean of Yale University Law School |
| 1986 | Thomas & Mary Elizabeth Carney | Chairman of the University of Notre Dame's Board of Trustees and wife |
| 1987 | Theodore Hesburgh | President of the University of Notre Dame |
| 1988 | Eunice Kennedy Shriver | Special Olympics Chairwoman |
| 1989 | Walker Percy | Novelist |
| 1990 | Sister Thea Bowman (posthumously) | Gospel singer and evangelist |
| 1991 | Corrine Lindy Boggs | Former Louisiana Congresswoman |
| 1992 | Daniel Patrick Moynihan | Senator from New York |
| 1993 | Donald R. Keough | Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Trustees |
| 1994 | Sidney Callahan | Professor of Psychology at Mercy College and Columnist for "Commonweal" Magazine |
| 1995 | Cardinal Joseph Bernardin | Archbishop of Chicago |
| 1996 | Sister Helen Prejean | Death Penalty Abolitionist |
| 1997 | Rev. Virgil Elizando | US & Mexico Minister to the Poor |
| 1998 | Dr. Edmund Pellegrino | Georgetown Medicine & Medical Ethics Professor |
| 1999 | Philip Gleason | Professor Emeritus of History at Notre Dame |
| 2000 | Andrew McKenna | Board of Trustees Chairman |
| 2001 | Msgr. George G. Higgins | Scholar and activist |
| 2002 | Father John Smyth | Executive Director of Maryville Academy in Des Plaines, Illinois |
| 2003 | Peter and Margaret O'Brien Steinfels | Editors of Commonweal |
| 2004 | Father J. Bryan Hehir | President of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Boston |
| 2005 | Dr. Joseph E. Murray | Surgeon |
| 2006 | Dave Brubeck | Jazz pianist |
| 2007 | Patrick McCartan | ND Board of Trustees Chairman |
| 2008 | Martin Sheen | Actor |
| 2009 |
Mary Ann Glendon declined the Laetare medal in protest of President Barack Obama as Commencement speaker and honorary degree recipient. The medal was not awarded this year. Judge John T. Noonan Jr., the 1984 recipient of the Laetare Medal, accepted an invitation to deliver an address in the spirit of the award at Notre Dame’s 164th University Commencement Ceremony on May 17, 2009. His speech was in lieu of awarding the medal this year. |
|
| 2010 | Dana Gioia | Poet and former Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts |
| 2011 | Sister Mary Scullion, R.S.M., and Joan McConnon | Co-founders of Project H.O.M.E. |
| 2012 | Ken Hackett | Former president of Catholic Relief Servies (CRS) |
| 2013 | Sister Susanne Gallagher, S.P.; Sister Mary Therese Harrington, S.H.; and Rev. James H. McCarthy | Founders of the Special Religious Education Development Network (SPRED) |
| 2014 | Kenneth R. Miller | Professor of biology at Brown University |
| 2015 | Aaron Neville | Musician |
| 2016 | Joe Biden and John Boehner | Statesmen |
| 2017 | Rev. Gregory J. Boyle, S.J. | Founder and executive director of Homeboy Industries |
| 2018 | Sister Norma Pimentel, M.J. | Executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley |
| 2019 | Norman Francis | President Emeritus of Xavier University |
| 2020 | Kathleen McChesney | Law enforcement trailblazer and victim advocate |
| 2021 | Carla Harris | Vice chairman of wealth management and senior client adviser at Morgan Stanley |
| 2022 | Sharon Lavigne | Founder and director of Rise St. James |
| 2023 | ||
| 2024 | ||
| 2025 | ||
| 2026 | ||
