ITHACA, N.Y. — Ithaca College says it will recognize Bob Iger, CEO of the Walt Disney Company, with an honorary Doctor of Letter degree during the college’s 130th commencement ceremony on May 18.
Iger earned his degree in television-radio from Ithaca College in 1973 and is described as a “longtime supporter of the college,” per the school’s announcement.
The board of trustees of Ithaca College grants honorary degrees upon recommendation of the faculty, recognizing leaders who “represent the ideals embraced by the Ithaca College community and who serve as a mirror of the college’s values, mission, and character.”
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“There are a multitude of ways in which Bob Iger is truly deserving of this honor,” Ithaca College President La Jerne Terry Cornish said in the school’s announcement. “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.”
“Widely recognized as one of the world’s most consequential business leaders,” Iger got his start at ABC. In the years that followed, he obtained hands-on experience in every aspect of the television business from news, sports, and entertainment to program acquisition, rights negotiations, and business affairs, Ithaca College said.
Iger officially joined the Disney senior-management team in 1996 as chairman of the Disney-owned ABC Group. He served as Disney’s president and COO from 2000 to 2005; was named CEO in 2005; and was elected to the additional role of chairman in 2012.
In 2020 he became executive chairman prior to retiring in 2021. He returned to Disney as CEO in November 2022 and has led a “significant, enterprise-wide transformation to restore creativity to the center of the company and position Disney’s streaming business for sustained growth and profitability,” per the school’s announcement.
Ithaca College support
Throughout his career, Iger has remained a “passionate and involved” member of the Ithaca College community, the school said.
He established the Reginald Simmons ‘75 Memorial Award in honor of his lifelong friend that funds the participation of two students each year in the cross-cultural exchange program Operation Crossroads Africa.
In 2019, Iger and his wife, Willow Bay, committed to a $1 million gift to establish the Iger-Bay Endowed Scholarship, funded through proceeds from sales of Iger’s New York Times best-selling book, The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of The Walt Disney Company.
Iger served as Ithaca College’s 1993 commencement speaker; helped launch the college’s Making a World of Difference fund-raising campaign in 2006; and regularly participates in the S’Park! Igniting Your Future in Communications course taught in the Roy H. Park School of Communications.
He was elected to the Ithaca College board of trustees in 1989 and became an honorary trustee in 1990. In 2008, the Ithaca College Alumni Association recognized him with the Distinguished Alumni Award, the school said.
