| 1888 | Col. James H. Rice |
| 1891 | W. F. Stevenson |
| 1896 | Rev. W. E. Evans |
| 1897 | James McAlister |
| 1898 | William A. Barber |
| 1899 | D. S. Henderson |
| 1900 | J. C. Hemphill |
| 1902 | B. R. Tillman |
| 1903 | Robert Aldrich |
| 1904 | P. H. Mell |
| 1905 | M. F. Ansel |
| 1906 | Rev. David M. Ramsey |
| 1907 | A. J. Montague |
| 1908 | Elmer Ellsworth Brown |
| 1909 | George Hutcheson Denny |
| 1910 | Dr. Henry N. Snyder |
| 1911 | Dr. S. H. Steele |
| 1912 | Joseph C. Camp |
| 1913 | LeGrand G. Walker |
| 1914 | C. A. Woods |
| 1915 | A. F. Lever |
| 1916 | Rev. Len G. Broughton |
| 1917 | Robert A. Cooper |
| 1918 | William Louis Poteat |
| 1919 | P. P. Claxton |
| 1920 | J. A. Berry |
| 1921 | Robert A. Cooper |
| 1922 | R. Goodwin Rhett |
| 1923 | Hamilton Holt |
| 1924 | Thomas G. McLeod |
| 1925 | John G. Tigert |
| 1926 | Rev. Newell Dwight Hillis |
| 1927 | David A. Robertson |
| 1928 | Rabbi Stephen S. Wise |
| 1929 | William McDougall |
| 1930 | Dr. Charles Moore |
| 1931 | William John Cooper |
| 1932 | Ibra C. Blackwood |
| 1933 | Juila Peterkin |
| 1934 | James P. Kinard |
| 1935 | Francis P. Gaines |
| 1936 | William F. Russell |
| 1937 | George F. Zook |
| 1938 | Henry W. Holmes |
| 1939 | Raymond A. Kent |
| 1940 | John Temple Graves |
| 1941 | Huger W. Jervey |
| 1942 | Frank L. McVey |
| May 1943 | Herman L. Donovan |
| December 1943 | Rev. John A. Redhead |
| May 1944 | Archibald H. Rutledge |
| August 1944 | Henry R. Sims |
| January 1945 | E. L. Fishburne |
| May 1945 | John McSween |
| August 1945 | A. L. M. Wiggins |
| June 1946 | Rev. Robert N. DuBose |
| August 1946 | S. M. Derrick |
| 1947 | J. Strom Thurmond |
| 1948 | James F. Byrnes |
| 1949 | Burnet R. Maybank |
| 1950 | John E. Peurifoy |
| 1951 | Ellen S. Woodward |
| 1952 | James P. Richards |
| 1953 | Alben W. Barkley |
| 1954 | Louis B. Wright |
| 1955 | Francis Orlando Wilcox |
| 1956 | Samuel J. Ervin |
| 1957 | David Edward Finley |
| 1958 | Robert W. Hemphill |
| 1959 | Charles S. Davis |
| 1960 | Edwin R. Walker |
| 1961 | John. L. Plyler |
| 1962 | Ernest F. Hollings |
| 1963 | Charles S. Davis |
| 1964 | Donald S. Russell |
| January 1965 | John S. Eells |
| May 1965 | Robert Cook Edwards |
| August 1965 | Iva B. Gibson |
| December 1965 | Nolan P. Jacobson |
| May 1966 | Horace A. Shepard |
| August 1966 | Harold B. Gilbreth |
| December 1966 | John W. Baker |
| May 1967 | Walter Doublas Smith |
| August 1967 | Ruth Hovermale |
| December 1967 | Jess T. Casey |
| May 1968 | Thomas F. Jones |
| August 1968 | Jack Holt Boger |
| December 1968 | Ray C. Roberts |
| May 1969 | Samuel Reed Spencer |
| August 1969 | Robert P. Lane |
| December 1969 | Ross A. Webb |
| May 1970 | Robert E. McNair |
| August 1970 | Alice Louisa Love |
| December 1970 | William K. Easley |
| May 1971 | Gordon W. Blackwell |
| August 1971 | Helen A. Loftis |
| December 1971 | John Robert Cooper |
| May 1972 | John Carl West |
| August 1972 | Mary T. Bobbitt Littlejohn |
| December 1972 | Mary Elizabeth Massey |
| May 1973 | Ernest Frederick Hollings |
| August 1973 | Charles B. Vail |
| December 1973 | Charles B. Vail |
| May 1974 | John Carl West |
| August 1974 | Charles B. Vail |
| May 1975 | Charles B. Vail |
| December 1975 | Charles B. Vail |
| May 1976 | Charles B. Vail |
| December 1976 | Charles B. Vail |
| August 1977 | Charles B. Vail |
| December 1977 | F. I. Brownley Jr. |
| May 1978 | Charles B. Vail |
| August 1978 | Charles B. Vail |
| December 1978 | Charles B. Vail |
| May 1979 | Charles B. Vail |
| December 1979 | Charles B. Vail |
| May 1980 | Louis B. Wright |
| December 1980 | Charles B. Vail |
| May 1981 | Charles B. Vail |
| December 1981 | Charles B. Vail |
| May 1982 | J. Strom Thurmond |
| December 1982 | Charles A. Bundy |
| May 1983 | Walter D. Smith |
| December 1983 | Diane Sawyer |
| May 1984 | Estelle R. Ramey |
| December 1984 | Larry Pressler |
| April 1985 | Gen. Peter M. Dawkins |
| December 1985 | James A. Joseph |
| May 1986 | Charles F. Bolden Jr. |
| December 1986 | Terry Sanford |
| May 1987 | James E. Elyburn |
| December 1987 | Donald M. Stewart |
| May 1988 | Terrel H. Bell |
| December 1988 | Robert J. Sheheen |
| May 1989 | Marian Wright Edelman |
| December 1990 | Carroll Campbell, Jr. |
| May 1991 | Walter Y. Elisha |
| December 1991 | Juan Williams |
| May 1992 | Dori Sanders |
| December 1992 | Chuck Stone |
| May 1993 | Melor Sturua |
| December 1993 | Rudy Mancke |
| May 1994 | James Appleberry |
| December 1994 | David Musick |
| May 1995 | Bertice Berry |
| December 1995 | James Hoagland |
| May 1996 | Jerome J. Richardson |
| December 1996 | Earle Morris |
| May 1997 | Lieutenant General Paul E. Blackwell Sr. |
| December 1997 | Elizabeth D. Rhea |
| May 1998 | Robert V. Royall, Jr. |
| December 1998 | Philip Lader |
| May 1999 | Cecily Truett |
| December 1999 | James Hodges |
| May 2000 | Terry Peterson |
| December 2000 | Betty Williams |
| May 2001 | Richard W. Riley |
| December 2001 | Aimee Mullins |
| May 2002 | Crandall C. Bowles |
| December 2002 | Georgie Anne Geyer |
| May 2003 | Maria Hinojosa |
| December 2003 | Inez Tenenbaum |
| May 2004 | Elaine Jones |
| December 2004 | Lindsay Graham |
| May 2005 | Joe Riley |
| December 2005 | N/A |
| May 2006 | Ruth Shaw |
| December 2006 | Reggie Lloyd |
| May 2007 | George Kuh |
| December 2013 | Marilyn Smith |
| May 2014 | Cece Stewart |
| December 2014 | Laura Dufresne |
| December 2015 | Jo Koster |
| May 2016 | Dan Mahony (investiture, morning ceremony), Melody Tankersley (afternoon ceremony) |
| December 2016 | Dan Mahony |
| May 2017 | Scott Huffmon (morning), Michael Matthews (afternoon) |
| December 2017 | John Bird |
| May 2018 | Frank Ardaiolo (both ceremonies) |
| December 2018 | Cheryl Fortner-Wood |
| May 2019 | S.C. Rep. Gary Simrill (morning), Cara Peters (afternoon) |
| December 2019 | Gloria Jones |
| May 2021 – the Academic Deans | Thursday evening – Jack DeRochi, Graduate School Friday morning –Jeff Bellantoni, Visual and Performing Arts and Takita Sumter, Arts and Sciences Friday Afternoon – Takita Sumter, Arts and Sciences Saturday morning – Jennie Rakestraw, Education Saturday afternoon – PN Saksena, Business Administration |
| December 2021 | Cliff Calloway |
| Special 2020 Graduates Ceremony held in December 2021 | Cliff Calloway |
| May 2022 | Jermaine Whirl (’06) |
| December 2022 | Adolphus Belk, Jr |
| May 2023 | Peter Judge |
| December 2023 | Jane Thomas |
