| Year | Name | Institution | Major Field |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Samantha Meltzer-Brody | UNC - Chapel Hill | Psychiatry |
| 2019 | Sy Atezaz Saeed | East Carolina | Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine |
| 2018 | Ruben G. Carbonell | North Carolina State | Chemical Engineering |
| 2017 | Ben Bahr | UNC - Pembroke | Microbiology and Biochemistry |
| 2016 | Aziz Sancar David Shapiro | UNC - Chapel Hill Western Carolina | Science Communication |
| 2015 | Behnam Pourdeyhimi Pinku Mukherjee | North Carolina State UNC - Charlotte | Textile Engineering Biological Sciences |
| 2014 | Jagdish Narayan | North Carolina State | Materials Science and Engineering |
| 2013 | Samuel F. Sears, Jr. | East Carolina | Psychology |
| 2012 | Fred Gould | North Carolina State | Entomology |
| 2011 | Diane Browder | UNC - Charlotte | Special Education |
| 2010 | Jagannathan Sankar | North Carolina A&T State | Mechanical and Chemical Engineering |
| 2009 | Todd Klaenhammer | North Carolina State | Food Science, Microbiology |
| 2008 | Myron S. Cohen | UNC - Chapel Hill | Medicine, Microbiology & Public Health |
| 2007 | Trudy F. C. Mackay | North Carolina State | Genetics |
| 2006 | Ken R. Harewood | North Carolina Central | Biochemistry |
| 2005 | Kenneth B. Adler | North Carolina State | Pulmonary Biology |
| 2004 | W. Randolph Chitwood, Jr. Branislav Vlahovic | East Carolina North Carolina Central | Cardiothoracic Surgery Physics |
| 2003 | Bruce Spencer Weir | North Carolina State | Statistics & Genetics |
| 2002 | Melissa Hayden Oliver Smithies | NC School of the Arts UNC - Chapel Hill | Dance Pathology |
| 2001 | Walter J. Pories | East Carolina | Biochemistry |
| 2000 | Joseph M. DeSimone | North Carolina State also teaches at UNC - Chapel Hill | Chemical Engineering Chemistry |
| 1999 | Jim E. Riviere | North Carolina State | Pharmacology |
| 1998 | B. Jayant Baliga | North Carolina State | Electrical Engineering |
| 1997 | R. Wayne Skaggs | North Carolina State | Agricultural Engineering |
| 1996 | Ernest Hodgson Vira Rodgers Kivett | North Carolina State UNC - Greensboro | Toxicology Gerontology |
| 1995 | James Houlik | NC School of the Arts | Music |
| 1994 | Gerald H. Shinn | UNC - Wilmington | Philosophy & Religion |
| 1993 | Donald W. Warren | UNC - Chapel Hill | Dentistry |
| 1992 | Sherwood Shaffer | NC School of the Arts | Music |
| 1991 | Frederick W. Harrison | Western Carolina | Biology |
| 1990 | Fred R. DeJarnette | North Carolina State | Engineering |
| 1989 | William E. Laupas Louis D. Rubin, Jr. | East Carolina UNC - Chapel Hill | Medicine Literature |
| 1988 | Floyd W. Denny, Jr. | UNC - Chapel Hill | Medicine |
| 1987 | Major M. Goodman C. Arden Miller | North Carolina State UNC - Chapel Hill | Agriculture Maternal & Child Health |
| 1986 | Fred Chappell Edgar Loessin | UNC - Greensboro East Carolina | Literature Theatre |
| 1985 | M. Necati Ozisik Eric Shopler | North Carolina State UNC - Chapel Hill | Engineering Psychology |
| 1984 | James A. Bryan II Vivian T. Stannett | UNC - Chapel Hill North Carolina State | Medicine Chemistry |
| 1983 | Frank E. Guthrie | North Carolina State | Toxicology |
| 1982 | Octavia B. Knight Joseph N. Sasser | North Carolina Central North Carolina State | Special Education Plant Pathology |
| 1981 | Ellis B. Cowling Bernard G. Greenberg | North Carolina State UNC - Chapel Hill | Plant Pathology & Forestry Public Health |
| 1980 | C. Clark Cockerham Judson J. Van Wyk | North Carolina State UNC - Chapel Hill | Genetics Medicine |
| 1979 | Richard Bardolph Soloman P. Hersh | UNC - Greensboro North Carolina State | History Textile Engineering |
| 1978 | Carl William Gottschalk | UNC - Chapel Hill | Medicine |
| 1977 | C. Hugh Holman | UNC - Chapel Hill | Literature |
| 1976 | Eloise Rallings Lewis Leroy T. Walker | UNC - Greensboro North Carolina Central | Nursing History |
| 1975 | Helen Grey Edmonds Francis Speight | North Carolina Central East Carolina | History Art |
| 1974 | Mary Elizabeth Keister | UNC - Greensboro | Early Childhood Education |
| 1973 | Ovid Williams Pierce Cratis Dearl Williams | East Carolina Appalachian State | Literature Literature |
| 1972 | Bruce John Zobel | North Carolina State | Forest Genetics |
| 1971 | Naomi G. Albanese | UNC - Greensboro | Home Economics |
| 1970 | Stanley George Stephens | North Carolina State | Agriculture |
| 1969 | Henry Brandis, Jr. | UNC - Chapel Hill | Law |
| 1968 | John B. Graham | UNC - Chapel Hill | Medicine |
| 1967 | Walton Carlyle Gregory | North Carolina State | Agriculture |
| 1966 | Lois Edinger | UNC - Greensboro | Education |
| 1965 | Raymond L. Murray | North Carolina State | Science |
| 1964 | W. Reece Berryhill | UNC - Chapel Hill | Medicine |
| 1963 | John C. Brauer | UNC - Chapel Hill | Dentistry |
| 1962 | Randall Jarrell | UNC - Greensboro | Literature |
| 1961 | Kenneth N. Brinkhous | UNC - Chapel Hill | Medicine |
| 1960 | Richard N. Current | UNC - Greensboro | History |
| 1959 | Gertrude M. Cox | North Carolina State | Statistics |
| 1958 | C. Horace Hamilton | North Carolina State | Sociology |
| 1957 | Warner L. Wells | UNC - Chapel Hill | Medicine |
| 1956 | Mereb E. Mossman | UNC - Greensboro | Social Service |
| 1955 | Zeno Payne Metcalf | North Carolina State | Geology & Entomology |
| 1954 | Franklin H. McNutt | UNC - Greensboro | Education |
| 1953 | Howard W. Odum | UNC - Chapel Hill | Sociology |
| 1952 | Albert Coates | UNC - Chapel Hill | Government |
| 1951 | Donald B. Anderson | North Carolina State | Science |
| 1950 | Robert E. Coker | UNC - Chapel Hill | Science |
| 1949 | Louise B. Alexander | UNC - Greensboro | Education |
Source: Bart Corgnati, Secretary of the University of North Carolina - original list provided 27 September 2006. Updates added annually.