Dr. Hodgkin was a champion of world peace and disarmament and always tried to promote these ideas through her scientific work. As president of the International Union of Crystallography from 1972 to 1978 she alarmed Western governments by insisting on the presence of crystallographers from the Soviet Union. In 1987 she was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize for her commitment to the Soviet cause and her efforts towards easing tensions between the East and the West.

She was admitted to the Royal Society in 1947 and the Royal Netherlands Academy of Science as a foreign member in 1956. In 1956 she was awarded the Royal Medal and in 1958 became a member of the  American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She was awarded the Copley Medal from the Royal Academy in 1976 and became a member of the USSR Academy of Sciences in the same year.

In 1970 Dr. Hodgkin was elected Chancellor of Bristol University. She established the Hodgkin Scholarship, set up to help students from third world countries and founded Hodgkin House which accommodates overseas students. She was elected as an honorary fellow of the university in 1988.

Dr. Hodgkin officially retired in 1977 but continued to work on her causes for world peace. She traveled extensively during her life and worked with many scientists from all over the world. In July of 1994, Dr. Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin died from a stroke at home in Shipston-on-Stour, England.