Disney CEO Bob Iger will receive an honorary doctorate from Ithaca College on May 18, 2025. Iger, who graduated from Ithaca College in 1973 with a degree in television-radio, will be honored with a Doctor of Letters degree at the college’s 130th Commencement ceremony. Monica Digilio ’85, M.S. ’86, will deliver the commencement address. Senior acting major Jasmine Williams will represent the graduates as the student speaker.
Each year, the Ithaca College Board of Trustees awards honorary degrees to those who display the college’s values and mission. The faculty nominates these individuals.
“There are a multitude of ways in which Bob Iger is truly deserving of this honor,” said Ithaca College President La Jerne Terry Cornish. “We deeply appreciate his contributions to Ithaca College, our students, and the community at large. Our institutional mission is to educate, engage, and empower through theory, practice, and performance, and he is the personification of that mission.”
Iger has been a longtime supporter of Ithaca College. In 1975, he established the Reginald Simmons ’75 Memorial Award. He also launched the $1 million Iger-Bay Endowed Scholarship. He has also served as a commencement speaker and trustee for the college. He received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2008.
After attending Ithaca College, Iger went on to work at Cerrache Cable, where he worked as a weather and sports reporter. He would go on to the ABC network. Through the years, he gathered experience in different parts of the television industry. He would work his way up into senior leadership of ABC and then The Walt Disney Company, which by then had purchased the network. In 2005, he became CEO of The Walt Disney Company. He retired in 2021 only to return to the role of CEO in November 2022. Since then, he has refocused the company on quality over quantity, simplified its organizational structure, and recently announced a deal for the creation of Disneyland Abu Dhabi.
Iger has received several other honors as well for his leadership. This includes being inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame and the Television Academy Hall of Fame. He was named an Honorary Knight Commander by Queen Elizabeth II in June 2024. He was also awarded the Chevalier de Legion d’Honneur by the French Republic in November 2024.
