Honorary Degree Recipient
Doctor of Laws
University of Minnesota Rochester, February 1, 2025
Marilyn Delano Stewart completed her bachelor of arts degree in education and human services with a teaching license from the University of Minnesota in 1949. Her visionary leadership as a founding member of FutureScan 2000 in 1986 and Greater Rochester Advocates for Universities and Colleges (GRAUC) in 1987 inspired the creation of former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty’s Rochester Higher Education Development Committee (RHEDC). Stewart chaired the RHEDC, which ultimately led to the founding of the University of Minnesota Rochester campus in 2006. The impact of her work was apparent from the very first year the campus opened with just 57 students. Enrollment has since grown to over 1,000 students, most of whom go on to serve as health care practitioners, helping vulnerable communities in need of support throughout Minnesota. Stewart’s exceptional leadership is featured in Amy Caucutt’s book, Taking the Lead: Rochester Women in Public Policy, and in the UMR Alumni Magazine, The Kettle. Her community service and leadership at the University of Minnesota Rochester also includes serving as a current member of the Development Committee, as a founding and current member of the Chancellor’s Advisory and Advocacy Committee (CAAC), and as a former search committee member for the founding chancellor. Stewart’s dedication to service was recognized with a National Association of Realtors’ Emeritus Award in 2014 and Minnesota’s Women As Agents of Change Award in 2007.
Biographies are as-of time of award presentation