| 2010: | Pulitzer Prize winning editorial writer Warren Lerude is a journalism professor emeritus at his alma mater, the Reynolds School of Journalism, University of Nevada in Reno, Nevada. |
| 2009: | Diana Sugg a former reporter for the Baltimore Sun and won the Pulitzer Prize for beat reporting in 2003 for a collection of stories that delved into the primitive nature of modern medicine. |
| 2008: | Paul McTear, president and CEO of Raycom Media, Inc. |
| 2007: | Brett J. Blackledge, Reporter for the Birmingham News and winner of the 2007 Pulitzer Prizze for investigative reporting. |
| 2006: | Don Logan, chairman of the board of Time Warner Cable and Auburn University graduate. |
| 2005: | Dr. Roy Peter Clark, v.p. and senior scholar at Poynter Institute & Gene Patterson, former editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitutionand St. Petersburg Times. |
| 2004: | Paul Finebaum, host of The Paul Finebaum Radio Network |
| 2003: | Harry Brandt Ayers, chairman and publisher, The Anniston Star |
| 2002: | Winston Groom, author, Forrest Gump |
| 2001: | Kathryn Tucker Windham, storyteller |
| 2000: | Panel of editorial page editors (Bob Blalock, Birmingham News; Frances Coleman, Mobile Register; John Ehinger, Huntsville Times; and Ken Hare, Montgomery Advertiser) |
| 1999: | W.E.B. Griffin, novelist |
| 1998: | Rick Bragg, New York Times Reporter and author, All Over But the Shoutin' |
| 1997: | Robert Inman, journalist and author |
| 1996: | Cynthia Tucker, editorial page editor, Atlanta Constitution |
| 1995: | Paul Greenberg, editorial page editor, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette |
| 1994: | Rheta Grimsley Johnson, syndicated columnist, Atlanta Journal-Constitution |
| 1993: | Paul Hemphill, journalist and author |
| 1992: | Margaret DeBardeleben Tutwiler, assistant to the President of the United States for Communication |
| 1991: | Jack Nelson, Los Angeles Times Washington, D.C., Bureau Chief |
| 1990: | Howell Raines, New York Times Washington Editor |
| 1989: | John Cochran NBC News chief White House correspondent |