James, 29, who presents the drive-time show, studied drama and had a number of shows on the students' union radio station before rising to fame.
The DJ, who is covering Radio 1's Big Weekend in Norwich this bank holiday, said he was "completely honoured".
Father Ted co-writer Graham Linehan and broadcaster Dame Jenni Murray are also receiving degrees.
James said: "My affair with UEA continues - it really is wonderful and I'm completely honoured to be given this.
"I spent a very happy three years there and it's the place where I fell in love with drama and radio, so it's very special to me.
"As soon as the ceremony is over, I'll set about officially changing my name on all credit cards, mortgage documents and, most importantly, the Radio 1 website."
James and Linehan will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Letters at a ceremony in Norwich in July, with BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour presenter Murray being given an Honorary Doctorate of Civil Law.
Other names being recognised for their distinguished careers include comedian Arthur Smith, author Erica Wagner, actor Samuel West and the Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Rev Graham James.

Oil prices suffered a second year of steep losses and are expected to take at least another year to clear as the international surplus continues.
The Dow Jones was down 178.84 points or 1.03%, at 17,425.03.
The S&P 500 was down 0.95% at 2,043.86, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite was 1.15% lower at 5,007.41.
The oil price collapse sent global markets reeling throughout 2015.
Shares of US oil giants Chevron and Exxon Mobil were down 0.17% and 0.22% respectively for the day.
Energy stocks have taken a beating this year, with the S&P energy sector losing nearly 24% in the last twelve months.
For the year the S&P 500 was down 0.7% while the Dow Jones ended 2.2% lower.
The Nasdaq, however was a bright spot closing 5.7% higher for 2015.
Trading volumes were thin on the last day of the year.
Apple was down 1.92% weighing on the Nasdaq.
McDonald's was down 1.08% at $118 and weighed on the Dow the most.
Stocks were led lower as US jobless claims increased by 20,000 to 287,000 last week, wildly missing forecasts of 270,000.
Brent crude oil  was up 3% at $37.60 per barrel for the day but down 35% over the year. US light crude was 1.2% higher at $37.04 but down 30% for the year.
BBC Radio 1 DJ Greg James is to receive an honorary doctorate from the University of East Anglia (UEA).
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
(Closed): Wall Street finished its final day of 2015 down, marking its worst annual performance in seven years.