A number of celebrated public figures are closely connected with Freie Universität Berlin, whether as co-founders, former students, or members of the faculty.

Prominent university alumni include Elke Heidenreich, Renate Künast, Jutta Limbach, Otto Schily, and Klaus Wowereit. Alongside the rectors and presidents of Freie Universität, the university’s many international friends and supporters help ensure that Freie Universität remains a dynamic site of academic freedom coupled with a spirit of social responsibility.

• Presidents
• Rectors
• Honorary Doctorates
• Honorary Citizens/Honorary Members
• Honorary Medal

Honorary Doctorates at Freie Universität Berlin

Since the year of its founding, Freie Universität Berlin has been granting honorary doctorates to important figures. Many of them have rendered outstanding academic or scientific services to a specific discipline, while others have had a lasting impact on the outlook of researchers, instructors, and students through their accomplishments as politicians, writers, publicists, or artists.

The most well known recipients of honorary doctorates from Freie Universität include the following individuals:

• George M. Whitesides (2012)
• Homi K. Bhabha (2012)
• Jagdish Bhagwati (2010)
• Ed Diener (2010)
• Cees Nooteboom (2008)
• Orhan Pamuk (2007)
• Theodor W. Hänsch (2006)
• Marcel Reich-Ranicki (2006)
• Günter Grass (2005)
• Imre Kertész (2005)
• Carlos Fuentes (2004)
• Klaus Töpfer (2002)
• Kofi Annan (2001)
• Umberto Eco (1998)
• Robert Kennedy (1964)
• Walter Gropius (1963)
• Eleanor Lansing Dulles (1957)
• Lise Meitner (1956)
• Lucius D. Clay (1953)
• Ernst Reuter (1949)
• Theodor Heuß (1949)