2025 Susie Rowan, Executive Director of Bible Study Fellowship
2024 Pat McCown, Founder of McCownGordon
2023 Bobbi Jo Reed, Founder of Healing House
2022 Tammie Jo Shults, heroic airline pilot/pioneer Naval aviator
2021 Dayton Moore, General Manager Kansas City Royals Baseball
2020 Dustin Colquitt, Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl Champion
2019 Kathy Nelson, President, Kansas City Sports Commission
2018 Lamar Hunt, Jr., Loretto Companies LLC
2017 Daryl Forté, Chief of Police, Kansas City Missouri
2016 Mindy Corporon, Faith Always Wins Foundation
2015 Leo E. Morton, Chancellor, University of Missouri-Kansas City
2014 Shirley Bush Helzberg, Chair, Nelson-Atkins Board of Trustees
2013 Tony Severino, Rockhurst High School
2012 Robert Mazzuca, Boy Scouts of America
2011 Michael Oher, Baltimore Ravens
2010 Jane Chu, President & CEO, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
2009 Woody Cozad, President, Cozad Company LLC
2008 Jim Haney, National Association of Basketball Coaches
2007 Joanne M. Collins, Community Volunteer
2006 General Richard B. Myers, USAF (Retired)
2005 William H. Dunn, Sr., J.E. Dunn Construction Company
2004 Henry Bloch, H & R Block
2003 Jeffery Comment, Helzberg Diamonds
2002 Mary Eisenhower, People to People International
2001 Louis Smith, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
2000 Landon Rowland, Kansas City Southern Industries
1999 John “Buck” O’Neil, Negro Leagues Baseball Museum
1998 Art Brisbane, The Kansas City Star
1997 Ruth Schecter, Jewish Women’s International
1996 Pauline Rios, Girl Scouts
1995 Carl DiCapo, Italian Gardens, Rotary International
1994 Bailus Tate, Kansas City, Missouri Board of Police Commissioners
1993 Anita Gorman, President, Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners
1992 Al Mauro President, Friends of the Zoo
1991 Joe McGuff, The Kansas City Star
1990 Jerome Cohen, Dynamic Solutions
1989 Esther Valladolid-Wolf Director, Kansas Division of Aging
1988 William P. Harsh, Vice President, Hallmark Cards
1987 H. Monroe “Roe” Taliaferro, Vice President, Butler Manufacturing
1986 Cliff C. Jones, Chairman, Jones and Babson
1985 Dr. Zelma Harris, President, Pioneer Community College
1984 William E. Clarkson, Clarkson Construction Company
1983 Clair H. Schroeder, United Missouri Bank of Kansas City
1982 Evelyn Wasserstrom, National Conference of Christians and Jews
1981 David H. Hughes, Hallmark Cards, Inc.
1980 Irvine O. Hockaday, Kansas City Southern Industries
1979 William H. Dunn, Sr., J.E. Dunn Construction Company
1978 R. Crosby Kemper, United Missouri Bank
1977 Wil Rose President, National Heritage Foundation
1976 Dr. Warren Hassler, President of American History, Penn State College
1975 Hon. Elmo B. Hunter, Federal Judge, Western District of Missouri
1974 Dr. Neil Anderson, Exec. Vice President of New York Board of Trade
1973 Phillip M. Klutznick, Former Ambassador to U. N.
1972 Ed Scott President, Radio Station KAYO, Denver, CO
1971 Jesse Owens, 1936 Olympic Champion
1970 Dr. Kenneth McFarland, General Motors Corporation
1969 Whitney Young, Jr., National Urban League
1968 E. Bertram Berkley President, Tension Envelope
1967 Dr. Karl Menninger, Psychiatrist Director, Menninger Clinic, Topeka, KS
1966 C. Kermit Phelps, Ph. D., Veterans Administration Hospital
1965 Jack F. Whitaker President, Whitaker Cable Corporation
1964 Irvin Fane, Attorney Chairman, American Hebrew Congregation
1963 Major General Harold K. Johnson, United States Army
1962 Hon. Albert A. Ridge Judge, Court of Appeals, 8th District