With spring commencement less than three months away, Penn State is seeking nominations for potential recipients of honorary degrees.

Jan Jacobs, vice president for administration and a member of the Committee on Honorary Degrees, said Penn State awards the degrees to let the recipients know that the university values their contributions in business, arts, sciences or any other field.

An honorary degree is "an honor bestowed on someone because they have given so much to society," Jacobs said. "What we're honoring them for is changing the world."

Being the world's best economist will not necessarily guarantee someone an honorary degree from Penn State, Jacobs said. The committee looks for "the whole package" when awarding degrees, she said.

The degrees differ significantly from bachelor or doctorate degrees given to Penn State graduates. The recipient can not use the title of "doctor" based solely on the honorary degree and he or she is not required to have completed any specific level of education. A plaque, rather than a diploma, is given.

According to Penn State's guidelines and procedures for awarding honorary degrees, the main criterion for an honorary degree is accomplishment in an activity that fulfills the mission of the university. Nominees do not necessarily have to be well known, and they do not have to be alumni of Penn State.

Kazuo Inamori, a Spring 2001 recipient, exemplified the criterion of fulfilling the university's mission, Jacobs said. Inamori is a businessman who established the Kyocera Corporation, an international electronics company known for consumer products such as cellular phones and cameras.

But Jacobs said that what was especially appealing to the Committee on Honorary Degrees was Inamori's philanthropy. In 1984, he founded the Inamori Foundation, whose objective includes contributing "to the peace and prosperity of humankind by promoting academic and cultural development as well as international mutual understanding," according to its Web site (www.inamori-f.or.jp).

Prominent philanthropic entrepreneurs are not the only recent honorees. Leroy Hood , a key player in the Human Genome Project, was a Fall 2001 recipient.

"It's all terrific," Hood said about receiving the degree. "It's always a wonderful feeling to be recognized by your colleagues."

Other past recipients of Penn State honorary degrees include Tony Award-winning actress Uta Hagen, a Fall 2000 recipient, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr., a Fall 2001 recipient.

Generally, two honorary degrees are awarded per commencement, Jacobs said. She said the university times the awarding of the degrees to work around the busy schedules of the recipients.

Jacobs said some universities award honorary degrees only to people who have helped their institution. This is not the case with Penn State, a stipulation that was meaningful to Holocaust historian Raul Hilberg.

"This is my fourth honorary degree, and I regard it as the one legitimate one," Hilberg said at the time of his Fall 2000 nomination. "It is different than the others because it is not being awarded for having held a position on a committee, or knowing the chancellor."

Honorary degree recipients are not obligated to do anything for Penn State, Jacobs said. However, she said that most recipients are asked to speak at a commencement.

Jacobs said she has received about five nominations each day since the call for submissions was made earlier this year. Last year there were about 100 nominations and six degrees were awarded, she said.

Nominations are being accepted until March 22. They can be sent to Jacobs at 201 Old Main, or they can be submitted to her via-email at jej6@psu.edu.