Since the first honorary degree was awarded in 1963, the California State University Board of Trustees has given out more than 400 honorary degrees among state university campuses – 24 of the recipients being graduates of Sacramento State.

Honorary degrees are awarded to distinguished individuals in recognition of the significant contributions they have made to a particular field or society in general.

Winnie Leung, a graduate from Sac State’s College of Business Administration in 1966, received an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters in 2007.

Now a retired business person living in Hong Kong, Leung had great success with an import/export company she established in 1973 called Horizon Associates Ltd. Leung also continues to support education and does volunteer and charity work at Yunnan University of China – an established university she partnered with Sac State to create exchange programs.

“I continue to promote international education,” Leung said. “I work actively at Yunnan University … trying to think of ways to promote Sac State in China. I hope to keep developing new programs for students and faculty. I think the exchange program should be continued.”

Leung said the reason she dedicates her efforts to promoting education stems from her father.

“(My father) had no education, but he realized the importance of it,” she said. Growing up as an only child, Leung said her father, having no educational background, sent her abroad from Hong Kong to America to attain an education.

A few years after he sent her, he died.

In 2007, Leung dedicated a college in her father’s name, Wong Sam Hang, to Yunnan University. It is called the Wong Sam Hang China America Management Education College.

“He was a man of reason,” Leung said. “I felt like I had to give him credit … (to) honor that kind of man that values education.”

Christine Mallon, state university dean on academic programs and policy, said honorary degree nominations can be made from campus level or from a trustee.

All recommendations for honorary degree nominations coming from campus level need to be forwarded to the campus president. From that point a committee is established to review the nominee recommendations and gather material in support of the nominees they wish to push forward in the process.

“A statewide honorary committee then looks at all nominations that came from both the campus and the trustees,” Mallon said.

Mallon said her job is to oversee the nomination process.

“As state university dean, I make sure all nominees meet the criteria as well as coordinate meetings with trustees,” she said.

Some of the criteria for honorary degree nominees include being distinguished in his or her field and exhibiting qualities parallel to the goals of higher education.

Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Joseph Sheley said honorary degrees are awarded, not only to celebrate the contributions of recipients, but to remind people a difference can be made.

“The honorary degree ceremony also permits us to know the recipients as persons and to understand that, like them, we all have chances within contemporary circumstances to make such differences,” Sheley said. “Few of us recognize or choose to pursue those chances when they arise. That is what makes the recipients special.”

Leung said she did not expect to receive the degree and will continue to work hard to feel worthy of it.

“I don’t think I deserve it,” Leung said. “It just came about and the recognition has been terrific for me. I still work very hard to prove that I deserve it … even today. The work has not stopped. It is only the beginning. I have to keep earning it.”

Leung said she encourages students who hope to attain an honorary degree to not make a mission out of it, but instead they should exercise their full potential and see what comes of it.

“You have to earn it and be proof of the work that you do,” she said. “It is not something you can go after. I feel strongly that one has to be worthy of it. I take it as a great honor.”

Collaboration is an idea Leung said she feels strongly about and drives her to maintain a connection between education in China and Sac State.

“I intend to keep promoting American education in China through CSUS,” Leung said. “Today’s world is one global village and when we start collaborating, it becomes beneficial for people to share what they have.”

Alex Slavas can be reached at [email protected].