La Carnegie Mellon University concedió su primer grado honorario en 1914, un título de Doctor en Ingeniería a William McConway. Desde entonces, ha continuado premiando a personas que han alcanzado los niveles más prominentes de distinción en sus campos y que han hecho contribuciones extraordinarias a la sociedad.

A continuación se muestra una lista de los últimos oradores principales y receptores de un título honorario.^[1]​

2015

• Alan Alda (also Keynote Speaker) — Doctor of Fine Arts
• Joyce Kozloff (A 1964) — Doctor of Fine Arts
• Kai-Fu Lee (CS 1988 and Past Faculty) — Doctor of Business Practice
• Stephen Schwartz (A 1968) — Doctor of Fine Arts
• Carl E. Wieman — Doctor of Science and Technology

2014

• Manfred Honeck — Doctor of Fine Arts
• John Wells (A 1979) — Doctor of Fine Arts
• Telle Whitney — Doctor of Science and Technology

2013

• Jared L. Cohon — Doctor of Humane Letters
• Jules Fisher (A 1960) — Doctor of Fine Arts
• Charles M. Geschke (S 1973) — Doctor of Science and Technology
• Mark A. Nordenberg — Doctor of Humane Letters
• Ratan N. Tata — Doctor of Business Practice
• Charles M. Vest — Doctor of Science and Technology

2012

• Renée Fleming — Doctor of Fine Arts
• Temple Grandin — Doctor of Science and Technology
• Ruth Gruber — Doctor of Humane Letters
• Daniel Kahneman — Doctor of Business Practice
• Richard P. Simmons — Doctor of Science and Technology

2011

• Craig Barrett — Doctor of Science and Technology
• Steven Bochco (A 1966) — Doctor of Fine Arts
• Chip Ganassi, Jr. — Doctor of Science and Technology
• Rick Rashid — Doctor of Science and Technology
• David Servan-Schreiber (CS 1989, 1990) — Doctor of Humane Letters
• Rafael Rangel Sostmann — Doctor of Humane Letters
• David Steiner (E 1951) — Doctor of Business Practice
• Oliver Eaton Williamson (TPR 1962, 1964) — Doctor of Economics and Organization

2010

• Chester Gordon Bell — Doctor of Science and Technology
• Robert H. Dennard (E 1958) — Doctor of Science and Technology
• Barbara Luderowski — Doctor of Fine Arts
• James H. Simons — Doctor of Business Practice

2009

• Thomas Detre, M.D. — Doctor of Humane Letters
• Keith Lockhart (A 1983) — Doctor of Fine Arts
• Phylicia Rashad — Doctor of Fine Arts
• Harold T. Shapiro — Doctor of Public Policy
• Eric Schmidt — Doctor of Science and Technology

2008

• Norman R. Augustine — Doctor of Public Policy
• Jeffrey P. Bezos — Doctor of Science and Technology
• Elizabeth Catlett — Doctor of Fine Arts
• Nam Pyo Suh (E 1964) — Doctor of Science and Technology
• Patrick Suppes — Doctor of Science and Technology
• Al Gore — Doctor of Humane Letters

2007

• Helen S. Faison — Doctor of Humane Letters
• Wilton A. Hawkins (E 1948) — Doctor of Science and Technology
• Paolo Lugari — Doctor of Science and Technology
• Gerald C. Meyers (E 1950, TPR 1954) — Doctor of Business Practice
• Earl Wild (A 1937) — Doctor of Fine Arts
• William H. Cosby, Jr. — Doctor of Humane Letters

2006

• Mozah bint Nasser al-Missned — Doctor of Humane Letters
• Jonathan Borofsky (A 1964) — Doctor of Fine Arts
• Vartan Gregorian — Doctor of Humane Letters
• John L. Hall (S 1956, 1958, 1962) — Doctor of Science and Technology
• Jeffrey Romoff — Doctor of Science and Technology
• Bud Yorkin (E 1948) — Doctor of Fine Arts

2005

• Mel Bochner — Doctor of Fine Arts
• Robert Dickinson — Doctor of Fine Arts
• Jessie Gruman — Doctor of Public Policy