Oakland University Honors College records

The Honors College at Oakland University opened in 1977. However, Honors students had been involved in the shaping of Oakland University long before. In 1957, junior and senior students of the newly formed Honors College of Michigan State University provided input to the MSU-Oakland Curriculum Committee charged with developing the curriculum of the future Oakland University. With the formal opening of the Honors College the first students were enrolled in 1977 under inaugural Director Mel Cherno.

The Honors College has had five Directors and, most recently, a Dean. When Professor Cherno left the program, Robert Howes, Professor of History, held the position from 1980 to 1985. Brian Murphy, Professor of English, became The Honors College Director in 1985. He was replaced by Jude Nixon, Professor of English, in early 2002. Dr. Graeme Harper was appointed Director of The Honors College in August 2011. In February 2013, he became the first Dean of The Honors College at Oakland University.

Over the years the Honors College has offered numerous courses and events to Oakland University students. Of particular note was G. Mennen Williams’ role. A former state Supreme Court justice, U.S. ambassador and Michigan governor, Williams was a long time friend of Oakland University and was teaching a leadership course for undergraduates in the Honors College at the time of his death in February 1988.

In 2013 there were around 1,000 Honors College students (about 6% of Oakland's undergraduate population) - from Freshmen to Seniors. The Honors College is also the home of the university's Presidential Scholars.