| 1986 | Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans (Trustee) & R. Taylor Cole (Faculty/Staff) |
| 1987 | Juanita Kreps (Trustee) & Reynolds Price (Faculty/Staff) |
| 1988 | W. M. Upchurch, Jr. (Trustee) & Richard L. Watson, Jr. (Faculty/Staff) |
| 1989 | Kenneth Goodson (Trustee) & Marcus E. Hobbs (Faculty/Staff) |
| 1990 | Charles B. Wade (Trustee) & Mary Grace Wilson (Faculty/Staff) |
| 1991 | Marshall I. Pickens (Trustee) & Anne Firor Scott (Faculty/Staff) |
| 1992 | David C. Sabiston, Jr. (Faculty/Staff) & Terry Sanford (Faculty/Staff) |
| 1993 | Samuel Dubois Cook (Trustee) & Pelham Wilder, Jr. (Faculty/Staff) |
| 1994 | Isobel Craven Drill (Trustee) & Paul J. Dumas (Faculty/Staff) |
| 1995 | John W. Chandler (Trustee) & Anne Walker Garrard (Faculty/Staff) |
| 1996 | William Griffith (Faculty/Staff) & Eugene Stead, M.D. (Faculty/Staff) |
| 1997 | Charles Johnson (Faculty/Staff) & Mike Krzyzewski (Faculty/Staff) |
| 1998 | Thomas Langford (Faculty/Staff) |
| 1999 | The award was not given this year. Honorary degrees were awarded to Anthony D. Duke & James H. Semans instead. |
| 2000 | Robert F. Durden (Faculty/Staff) & Ella Fountain Pratt (Faculty/Staff) |
| 2001 | Susan Bennett King (Trustee) & Thomas F. Keller (Faculty/Staff) |
| 2002 | John Alexander McMahon (Trustee) & William G. Anlyan (Faculty/Staff) |
| 2003 | A. Morris Williams, Jr. (Trustee), Joseph G. Pietrantoni (Faculty/Staff) & Nannerl O. Keohane (Faculty/Staff) |
| 2004 | Ernestine Friedl (Faculty/Staff) & Samuel L. Katz (Faculty/Staff) |
| 2005 | William E. King (Faculty/Staff) |
| 2006 | Ruby Leila Wilson (Faculty/Staff) & William "Jimmy" Wallace, Jr. (Faculty/Staff) |
| 2007 | John A. Koskinen (Trustee) & John J. Piva Jr. (Faculty/Staff) |
| 2008 | John A. Forlines, Jr. (Trustee) & N. Allison Haltom (Faculty/Staff) |
| 2009 | Joel L. Fleishman (Faculty/Staff) & Ernest Mario (Trustee) |
| 2010 | Jean Fox O'Barr (Faculty/Staff) & Robert Steel (Trustee) |
| 2011 | James Bonk (Faculty/Staff) & Karl von der Heyden (Trustee) |
| 2012 | Rebecca Trent Kirkland (Trustee) & Judith L. Ruderman (Faculty/Staff) |
| 2013 | Daniel T. Blue, Jr. (Trustee) & Gerald L. Wilson (Faculty/Staff) |
| 2014 | Cookie Anspach Kohn (Trustee) & Horst Meyer (Faculty/Staff) |
| 2015 | Al Buehler (Faculty/Staff) & Paula Burger (Trustee) |
| 2016 | Oscar Dantzler (Faculty/Staff) & Bruce Karsh (Trustee) |
| 2017 | Catherine Gilliss (Faculty/Staff) & Peter Lange (Faculty/Staff) |
| 2018 | Thomas Gorrie (Trustee) & Sally Robinson (Trustee) |
| 2019 | David M. Rubenstein (Trustee) & Brenda Armstrong (Faculty/Staff, posthumous award) |
| 2021 | G. Richard Wagoner, Jr. (Trustee); Peter M. Nicholas (Trustee); MaryAnn Black (Faculty/Staff, posthumous award) |
| 2022 | Richard H. Brodhead (Faculty/Staff) & Janet Hill (Trustee, posthumous award) |
| 2023 | Roy J. Bostock (Trustee) & Jack O. Bovender, Jr. (Trustee) |
