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The university bestowed an honorary degree on her. (O)
The university bestowed an honorary degree to her. (X)
If 'to' is not used, why it is not used?
When you use 'on' instead of 'for/to' as in the sentence above?
PS. As a non-native speaker, 'of' is the same kind of thing. I am familiar with 'for' or 'to' but uncomfortable when it comes to 'of' or 'on'
The simple answer:
To is not used, because the word is bestowed upon/on. That's just how the word works.
The more complex answer (which is just a hypothesis):
Bestow comes from stow, which is a synonym for place. So by bestowing the honorary degree, the university literally places it on the person.
