2025 Sarah Willie-LeBreton, president of Smith College: Living History
2024 Talithia Williams, PhD: Becoming an Agent of Change for Inclusive Education
2023 Reverend Phil Turner: Civil Rights and the City of Syracuse
2022 Martin Luther King III: We Are Part of the Dream
2021 Ruby Bridges: Our Time Has Come
2020 Rev. Raphael Warnock: A Living Legacy
2019 Trevor Noah: The Global Impact of Civil Rights
2018 Angela Rye: From Intention to Impact
2017 JR Martinez: Injustice Anywhere is a Threat to Justice Everywhere
2016 Marc Lamont Hill: Activism and Agency for the Future
2015 Michele Norris: Remember. Celebrate. Act.
2014 Freeman Hrabrowski: Pursuing the Dream: Above All Odds
2013 Roslyn Brock: Yesterday’s Dream, Tomorrow’s Promise
2012 Dave Bing: A Living Legacy: The Fierce Urgency of Now
2011 Kirt Wilson: Heirs of the King: Remembering and Continuing the Work of Global Legacy
2010 Gwen Ifill: Continuing the Journey: Where do we go from here?
2009 Eddie S. Glaude Jr.: Dare to Imagine a Better World
2008 Barbara Ransby: King’s Challenge: Can We Live Peacefully in a Violent World?
2007 Chris Abani: The Beloved Community: Imagining Our Global Humanity
2006 Charles J. Ogletree Jr.: All Deliberate Speed; The Dream Deferred?
2005 Ruth Simmons: The King Legacy in the Soul of Our Community
2004 Geoffrey Canada: Planting a Seed; Growing the Dream
2003 Suzan-Lori Parks: Walking Together: Past, Present, Future
2002 Randall Robinson: The Debt: What We Owe the Dream
2001 Cornel West: Lift Every Voice – A Call to Courage, Hope and Struggle
2000 Lani Guinier: Affirming King’s Vision
1999 Andrew Young: Passing the Torch to the Next Millennium
1998 Kweisi Mfume: Empowering Our Youth
1997 Mary Frances Berry: Teaching the Difference: Social Justice and Activism
1996 Derrick A. Bell Jr.: Moving Forward: Activism and Civic Responsibility
1995 Charlayne Hunter-Gault
1994 Julian Bond: Together We Face Tomorrow
1993 Charles Willie
1992 Johnetta Cole: Serving the Community
1991 Bernard Watson
1990 Harry Belafonte
1989 Andrew Young
1988 Judge Sandra Townes & Judge Langston McKinney
1987 Dorothy Cotton
1986 Paul Smith