The honorary doctorate is the highest honour conferred by the University of Macau to distinguished individuals with outstanding contributions to society, the university, or scholarship. The honorary doctorate is awarded in the following categories, namely Doctor of Humanities honoris causa, Doctor of Letters honoris causa, Doctor of Business Administration honoris causa, Doctor of Education honoris causa, Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa, Doctor of Science honoris causa, and Doctor of Law honoris causa.
Former recipients of UM’s honorary doctorates include former US president George Herbert Walker Bush; the mathematician Prof Yau Shing Tung; Nobel laureates Prof Chen-Ning Franklin Yang, Prof James A Mirrlees, Prof Mo Yan, and Prof Robert C Merton; the sinologist Jao Tsung-I; the founder of the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Order Master Hsing Yun; and the writer Louis Cha.
| Year | Recipient | Honorary Degree |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Ho Yin | Doctor of Business Administration honoris causa |
| Vasco de Almeida e Costa | Doctor of Public Administration honoris causa | |
| J.M. Toscano Rico | Doctor of Philosophy honoris causa | |
| Stanley Ho Hung-Sun | Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa | |
| Jorge A.H. Rangel | Doctor of Letters honoris causa | |
| 1985 | Ma Man-Kei | Doctor of Business Administration honoris causa |
| Sir Run Run Shaw | Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa | |
| Monsenhor Manuel Teixeira | Doctor of Letters honoris causa | |
| 1986 | Cheng Yu-Tung | Doctor of Business Administration honoris causa |
| D. Arquimínio Rodrigues da Costa | Doctor of Philosophy honoris causa | |
| Eduardo de Arantes e Oliveira | Doctor of Philosophy honoris causa | |
| Chou Wen-Hsien | Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa | |
| Chui Tak-Kei | Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa | |
| 1987 | Carlos Augusto Pulido Valente Monjardino | Doctor of Business Administration honoris causa |
| Lee Shau Kee | Doctor of Business Administration honoris causa | |
| Yung Yau | Doctor of Business Administration honoris causa | |
| John Horlock | Doctor of Science honoris causa | |
| Qian Wei-Chang | Doctor of Science honoris causa | |
| Thomas Neil Morris Waters | Doctor of Science honoris causa | |
| Fei Xiaotong | Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa | |
| Jack Austin | Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa | |
| Joaquim Pinto Machado | Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa | |
| Fernando Alves Cristovão | Doctor of Letters honoris causa | |
| Ma Lin | Doctor of Letters honoris causa | |
| Henry A. Kissinger | Doctor of Law honoris causa | |
| Lord Asa Briggs | Doctor of Law honoris causa | |
| Lord Kadoorie | Doctor of Law honoris causa | |
| Pierre E. Trudeau | Doctor of Law honoris causa | |
| Rayson Huang | Doctor of Law honoris causa | |
| 1989 | Ye Xuanping | Doctor of Public Administration honoris causa |
| 1991 | Charles Boxer | Doctor of Letters honoris causa |
| Peter Y. L. Eng | Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa | |
| Daisaku Ikeda | Honorary Professor | |
| José Augusto Seabra | Doctor of Letters honoris causa | |
| 1992 | Hsueh Shou Sheng | Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa |
| 1993 | Mário Alberto Nobre Lopes Soares | Doctor honoris causa |
| João José Rodiles Fraústo da Silva | Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa | |
| João de Matos Antunes Varela | Doctor of Law honoris causa | |
| 1995 | Daisaku Ikeda | Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa |
| Li Tianqing | Doctor honoris causa | |
| Rui Nogueira Lobo de Alarcão e Silva de Alarcão | Doctor honoris causa | |
| 1998 | Eduardo Arantes e Oliveira | Doctor of Engineering honoris causa |
| Leung Pai Wan | Doctor of Arts honoris causa | |
| Joaquim Alberto Chissano | Doctor honoris causa | |
| Wei Yu | Doctor of Education honoris causa | |
| 2000 | Wang Dazhong | Doctor of Science honoris causa |
| 2002 | Joseph Stiglitz | Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa |
| Yau Shing Tung | Doctor of Science honoris causa | |
| 2004 | João Malaca Casteleiro | Doctor of Letters honoris causa & Honorary Professor |
| Jao Tsung-I | Doctor of Humanities honoris causa & Honorary Professor | |
| Liu Chung Laung | Doctor of Science honoris causa & Honorary Professor | |
| James Mirrlees | Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa & Honorary Professor | |
| 2005 | Yum-Tong Siu | Honorary Professor |
| 2006 | Yum-Tong Siu | Doctor of Science honoris causa |
| José de Albuquerque Epifânio da Franca | Doctor of Science honoris causa | |
| Han Qide | Doctor of Science honoris causa | |
| Su-Seng Pang | Doctor of Science honoris causa | |
| Paul Ching-Wu Chu | Doctor of Science honoris causa | |
| João Ruiz de Almeida Garrett | Doctor of Law honoris causa | |
| 2008 | Li Zhaoxing | Doctor of Humanities honoris causa |
| William Richard Eadington | Doctor of Business Administration honoris causa | |
| Henrique Rodrigues de Senna Fernandes | Doctor of Letters honoris causa | |
| Alfred Yiu Fai Wong | Doctor of Science honoris causa | |
| 2009 | George Herbert Walker Bush | Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa |
| Gu Mingyuan | Doctor of Education honoris causa | |
| Tu Weiming | Doctor of Humanities honoris causa | |
| Wang Meng | Doctor of Letters honoris causa | |
| Franco Maloberti | Honorary Professor | |
| 2010 | Lancelote Miguel Rodrigues | Doctor of Humanities honoris causa |
| Wang Xiaodong | Doctor of Science honoris causa | |
| Wong King Keung | Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa | |
| Xu Jialu | Doctor of Humanities honoris causa | |
| 2011 | Louis Cha | Doctor of Letters honoris causa |
| Francisco J. Ayala | Doctor of Science honoris causa | |
| Lei Seng Chon | Doctor of Humanities honoris causa | |
| Chia-Wei Woo | Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa | |
| 2012 | Arden Lee Bement, Jr. | Doctor of Science honoris causa |
| Ambrose So Shu Fai | Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa | |
| Andrew Chi-Chih Yao | Doctor of Science honoris causa | |
| Master Hsing Yun | Doctor of Humanities honoris causa | |
| 2013 | Jiang Shusheng | Doctor of Education honoris causa |
| Sérgio Machado dos Santos | Doctor of Science honoris causa | |
| Xue Hanqin | Doctor of Law honoris causa | |
| Yu Kwang Chung | Doctor of Letters honoris causa | |
| 2014 | Lee Chack Fan | Doctor of Science honoris causa |
| Robert C. Merton | Doctor of Business Administration honoris causa | |
| Mo Yan | Doctor of Letters honoris causa | |
| Siu Yin Wai | Doctor of Science honoris causa | |
| Chen-Ning Franklin Yang | Doctor of Science honoris causa | |
| 2015 | Mario R. Capecchi | Doctor of Science honoris causa |
| Pai Hsien-yung | Doctor of Letters honoris causa | |
| Ma Iao Lai | Doctor of Business Administration honoris causa | |
| Lap-Chee Tsui | Doctor of Education honoris causa | |
| Zhong Nanshan | Doctor of Science honoris causa | |
| 2016 | Jia Pingwa | Doctor of Letters honoris causa |
| Tse Chi Wai | Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa | |
| Carl Edwin Wieman | Doctor of Science honoris causa | |
| 2017 | He Jingtang | Doctor of Science honoris causa |
| Henry T. Yang | Doctor of Science honoris causa | |
| Ada Yonath | Doctor of Science honoris causa | |
| Binglin Zhong | Doctor of Education honoris causa | |
| 2018 | Wang Anyi | Doctor of Letters honoris causa |
| Aaron J. Ciechanover | Doctor of Science honoris causa | |
| Joseph Sung Jao-yiu | Doctor of Education honoris causa | |
| Anthony Lau Siu Wing | Doctor of Business Administration honoris causa | |
| Lao Ngai Leong | Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa | |
| 2019 | Qiao Xiaoyang | Doctor of Law honoris causa |
| Lau Sin Peng | Doctor of Education honoris causa | |
| Dennis Lo Yuk Ming | Doctor of Science honoris causa | |
| Chung Chi Ping Roy | Doctor of Business Administration honoris causa | |
| 2020 | Lawrence Juen-yee Lau | Doctor of Education honoris causa |
| Kaixian Chen | Doctor of Science honoris causa | |
| Shuji Nakamura | Doctor of Science honoris causa | |
| 2021 | Li Lanjuan | Doctor of Science honoris causa |
| Lee Hau Leung | Doctor of Business Administration honoris causa | |
| Zhu Lilan | Doctor of Science honoris causa | |
| Chio Fai Aglaia Kong | Doctor of Science honoris causa | |
| 2022 | Cai Fang | Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa |
| Leong Kam Weng | Doctor of Science honoris causa | |
| Ching-Ping Wong | Doctor of Science honoris causa | |
| 2023 | Franco Maloberti | Doctor of Science honoris causa |
| William Shiyuan Wang | Doctor of Humanities honoris causa |