| Name of Recipient | Degree awarded | Year |
|---|---|---|
| The Rt. Hon'ble the Earl of Ronaldshay G.C.I., the First Chancellor | Doctor of Laws | 1922 |
| Philip Joseph Hartog, the First Vice-Chancellor | Doctor of Laws | 1925 |
| The Rt. Hon'ble the Earl of Lytton, Ex-Chancellor of the University | Doctor of Laws | 1927 |
| Mahamahopadhyaya Haraprasad Shastri, the First Head of the Department of Sanskrit-Bengali | Doctor of Literature | 1927 |
| The Rt. Hon'ble Sir Francis Stanley Jackson, PC, GCSI, GCIE Ex-Chancellor of the University | Doctor of Laws | 1932 |
| Sir Chandrasekhare Venkot Raman Eminent Scientist, Nobel Prize Winner | Doctor of Science | 1932 |
| The Rt. Hon'ble Sir John Anderson, Ex-Chancellor of the University | Doctor of Laws | 1936 |
| Sir Abdur Rahim, KCSI, Kt | Doctor of Laws | 1936 |
| Sir Jagdis Chandra Basu, D.Sc. | Doctors of Science | 1936 |
| Sir Prafulla Chandra Roy , KTCIE, D.Sc, Ph.D, FCS, FASB | Doctor of Science | 1936 |
| Sir Jadunath Sarker, Eminent Historian | 0Doctor of Literature; | 1936 |
| Sir Mohammed Iqbal Kt, MA, PhD, Bar-at-Law, Poet and Philosopher | Doctor of Literature | 1936 |
| Rabindranath Tagore | Doctor of Literature | 1936 |
| Sarat Chandra Chattapadhya, Novelist | Doctor of Literature | 1936 |
| Sir. A.F. Rahman, Ex-Vice Chancellor | Doctor of Laws | 1937 |
| Khwaja Nazimuddin, Former Governor General of Pakistan | Doctor of Laws | 1949 |
| His Royal Highness the Rt. Hon'ble Aga Sultan Sir Mohammad Shah Aga Khan, PCKCIE, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, LL.D. | Doctor of Laws | 1951 |
| His Excellency Dr. Abdul Wahab Azam , M.A. (London), D Lit.(Fuwad) | Doctor of Laws | 1952 |
| His Excellency Major General Eskander Mirza Former Governor General of Pakistan | Doctor of Laws | 1956 |
| A.K. Fazlul Haq, the then Chancellor of the University | Doctor of Laws | 1956 |
| Madame Sung Ching Ling | Doctor of Laws | 1956 |
| His Excellency Chou-En Lai Prime Minister of the People's Republic of China | Doctor of Laws | 1956 |
| Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub Khan, the then President of Pakistan | Doctor of Laws | 1960 |
| His Excellency Jamal Abdel Nasser, President of the United Arab Republic | Doctor of Laws | 1960 |
| Professor Satyendra Nath Bose (Posthumous) | Doctor of Science | 1974 |
| Dr. Muhammad Shahidullah (Posthumous) | Doctor of Literature | 1974 |
| Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam | Doctor of Literature | 1974 |
| Ustad Ali Akbar Khan | Doctor of Literature | 1974 |
| Dr. Hiralal De | Doctor of Science | 1974 |
| Dr. Muhammed Qudrat-i-Khuda | Doctor of Science | 1974 |
| Dr. Qazi Motahar Hossain | Doctor of Science | 1974 |
| Professor Abul Fazal | Doctor of Literature | 1974 |
| Professor Abdus Salam, FRS, Nobel Laureate | Doctor of Science | 1993 |
| Dr. Federico Mayor, Director General, UNESCO | Doctor of Science | 1997 |
| Professor Amartya Sen, Nobel Laureate | Doctor of Science | |
| Sheikh Hasina Hon'ble Prime Minister, the People's Republic of Bangladesh | Doctor of Laws | 1999 |
| Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad Former Hon'ble Prime Minister of Malaysia | Doctor of Laws | 2004 |
| Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus, Winner of Nobel Prize for Peace | Doctor of Laws | 2007 |
| Nobel Laureate Emeritus Prof. Yuan Tseh Lee of Taiwan | Doctor of Science | 2009 |
| Prof. Abul Hussam of Goerge Mason University, USA | Doctor of Science | 2009 |
| Prof Ranajit Guha. | Doctor of Literature | 2009 |
| Abdullah Gul | Doctor of Laws | 2010 |
| Mr. ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of United Nations | Doctor of Laws | 2011 |
| Irina Bokova | Doctor of Laws | 2012 |
| Shri Pranab Mukherjee- the President of India | Doctor of Laws | 2013 |
| Professor Dr. Rolf Dieter Heuer, Director General of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) | Doctor of Science | 2014 |
| Francis Gurry, Director General of World Intellectual Property Organisation | Doctor of Laws | 2015 |
| Prof Amit Chakma, Vice-Chancellor of Western University, Canada | Doctor of Science | 2017 |
| Nobel Laureate in Physics Dr. Takaaki Kajita, University Professor AND Director, Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University of Tokyo, Japan | Doctor of Science | 2019 |
| Doctor of Laws degree awarded to Bangabandhu at a special convocation of DU | Doctor of Laws | 2023 |