Knox College awarded its first honorary doctorate to Abraham Lincoln in 1860; previously it awarded honorary master's degrees. Early records do not specify that every commencement speaker received an honorary degree; until the late 1920s, commencement addresses were often given by students from the graduating class. In some years, "Master's Orations" were given by alumni of the College.

Commencement speakers in italics; Knox alumni in bold.

• Edward Helms (pictured), renowned actor and comedian
• Lisa Madigan, Illinois Attorney General
• Lawrence B. Breitborde, Knox College Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs
  More info...

• Brigadier General Mark Martins (pictured), Chief Prosecutor of the war crimes trial system reformed by the Military Commissions Act of 2009
• Sir Andrew Davis, Music Director and Principal Conductor of Lyric Opera of Chicago
• Dr. Joseph S. Francisco, William E. Moore Distinguished Professor of Physical Chemistry at Purdue University
  More info...

• Majora J. Carter (pictured), Nationally known eco-entrepreneur
• Kate Maehr, chief executive officer of the Greater Chicago Food Depository
  More info...

• Tina Tchen (pictured), Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement and the Executive Director of the White House Council on Women and Girls
• Kwame Dawes, acclaimed author and artist as well as respected actor, playwright, and broadcaster
• Jim Owens, chairman and chief executive officer of Caterpillar Inc., chairman of the Business Council, and member of the Business Roundtable and the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board
  More info...

• Patrick J. Fitzgerald (pictured), U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois
• Garry Wills, renowned cultural historian and author of more than three-dozen books
• Bill Geer, noted geneticist who taught biology at Knox College from 1963 until his retirement in 2000
  More info...

• 
  Madeleine Albright (pictured), former U.S. Secretary of State
• Barry Bearak, Knox graduate and New York Times foreign correspondent and winner of the Pulitzer Prize
• Alan I Leshner, Chief Executive Officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
  More info...

• 
  William Jefferson Clinton (pictured), 42nd President of the United States, founder of the William J. Clinton Foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative
• Janet McKinley, Chair of Oxfam America
• Douglas Wilson, Lincoln scholar and Professor Emeritus of English at Knox College
  More info...

• 
  Stephen Colbert (pictured), political satirist and star of The Colbert Report
• Shirley Barnes, former U.S. ambassador to Madagascar and activist on human trafficking
• Diane B. Smatlak Rosenberg, Knox graduate and outgoing chair of the Knox College Board of Trustees
• Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia
  More info...

• 
  Barack Obama (pictured), U.S. Senator from Illinois
• Elizabeth Hayford, president of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest
  More info...

• 
  Lawrence Brilliant (pictured), physician, human rights activist and technology pioneer
• John W. Dower, scholar of Japanese history
  More info...

• 
  Admiral William J. Crowe Jr. (pictured), former chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
• JoAnn M. Burkholder, botanist at North Carolina State University
• Martha C. Nussbaum, philosopher and legal scholar at the University of Chicago
  More info...

• 
  Jonathan Fanton (pictured), President of the MacArthur Foundation and Chair of Human Rights Watch
• Basilio Losada Castro, professor of literature at the University of Barcelona
• Clint Grant, retired chief photographer at the Dallas Morning News
• Anna Sophia Johnson, community environmental activist
• Jane Johnson, community environmental activist
  More info...

• 
  Nancy S. Dye (pictured), president of Oberlin College
• Dwight R. Crandell, Knox graduate and geologist who predicted the Mount St. Helens eruption
• Terry Evans, photographer and naturalist
• Maury Klein, Knox graduate and scholar of economic history
  More info...

• 
  Brian Lamb (pictured), founder of C-SPAN
• Andrew J. McKenna, Jr., Illinois business and political leader and philanthropist
• Cullom Davis, Lincoln scholar
• Victoria Post Ranney, developer and conservationist in Illinois
  More info...