| 1935 E. Merton Coulter |
1974 Gilbert C. Fite |
| 1936 Charles W. Ramsdell |
1975 Richard N. Current |
| 1937 Thomas P. Abernethy |
1976 Frank E. Vandiver |
| 1938 Philip M. Hamer
|
1977 Richard L. Watson, Jr. |
| 1939 Charles S. Sydnor |
1978 Joe B. Frantz |
| 1940 Frank L. Owsley |
1979 Holman Hamilton |
| 1941 Benjamin B. Kendrick |
1980 Thomas B. Alexander |
| 1942 Albert B. Moore |
1981 Charles P. Roland |
| 1943 J.G. de Roulhac Hamilton
|
1982 J. Harvey Young |
| 1944 Wendell H. Stephenson |
1983 Aubrey C. Land |
| 1945 Fletcher M. Green |
1984 Robert F. Durden
|
| 1946 Ella Lonn |
1985 Paul C. Nagel |
| 1947 Thomas D. Clark |
1986 Carl N. Degler
|
| 1948 Robert S. Cotterill |
1987 Willard B. Gatewood, Jr. |
| 1949 Lester J. Cappon
|
1988 Bennett H. Wall |
| 1950 William C. Binkley |
1989 Anne Firor Scott |
| 1951 Avery O. Craven
|
1990 Louis R. Harlan |
| 1952 C. Vann Woodward |
1991 R. Don Higginbotham |
| 1953 Kathryn A. Hanna
|
1992 August Meier |
| 1954 Francis B. Simkins |
1993 Jimmie L. Franklin |
| 1955 Bell I. Wiley |
1994 Numan V. Bartley
|
| 1956 James W. Patton |
1995 Dan T. Carter |
| 1957 Robert S. Henry |
1996 Harold D. Woodman
|
| 1958 Walter B. Posey |
1997 Paul K. Conkin |
| 1959 T. Harry Williams |
1998 Carol K. Bleser
|
| 1960 William B. Hesseltine |
1999 James C. Cobb |
| 1961 Clement Eaton
|
2000 Drew Gilpin Faust |
| 1962 Rembert W. Patrick |
2001 Bertram Wyatt-Brown |
| 1963 James W. Silver
|
2002 Jacquelyn Dowd Hall |
| 1964 Joseph J. Mathews |
2003 Darlene Clark Hine |
| 1965 Joseph H. Parks
|
2004 J. Wayne Flynt |
| 1966 Hugh T. Lefler |
2005 Charles W. Joyner |
| 1967 Dewey W. Grantham, Jr. |
2006 Pete Daniel
|
| 1968 Dumas Malone |
2007 Nell Irvin Painter |
| 1969 Arthur S. Link |
2008 Leon F. Litwack
|
| 1970 David Herbert Donald |
2009 Jack Temple Kirby |
| 1971 John Hope Franklin |
2010 William J. Cooper
|
| 1972 Mary Elizabeth Massey |
2011 Theda Perdue |
| 1973 George B. Tindall |
2012 Orville Vernon Burton |
