1988-89: Gerald F. Ford - former President
1989-90: Carl Sagan - world-renowed scientist and author
1989-90: Dr. C. Everett Koop - former U.S. Surgeon General
1990-91: Dr. Henry A. Kissinger - former U.S. Secretary 0f State
1990-91: Dr. Vladimir Sakharov - key Soviet defector, and Dr. David B. Funderburk - former U.S. Ambassador to Romania
1991-92: Rev. Jesse Jackson - ordained minister, advocate for human rights and high-profile proponent for the importance of educating the young
1991-92: Hugh Downs - host of ABC's prime time weekly newsmagazine 20/20
1992-93: Jean Kirkpatrick - former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and expert on world politics
1992-93: Oscar Arias - former president of Costa Rica and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
1993-94: David Brinkley - broadcast news veteran and host of the ABC Sunday morning news program "This Week With David Brinkley"
1993-94: Terry Anderson - native of Lorain, OH and was freed after nearly seven years of captivity in the Middle East
1994-95: Thomas Keneally - author of best-selling book Schindler's List, and Leopold Page - Holocaust survivor who was instrumental in publicizing the story of Oscar Schindler
1994-95: Alan Page - Minnesota Supreme Court Justice
1995-96: James A. Lovell, Jr. - commanger of America's fifth moon launch, Apollo
1995-96: Harold Kushner - international bestselling author
1996-97: Sandra Day O'Connor - first woman appointed to the United States Supreme Court
1996-97: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. - environmetnal activist and son of late Senator Robert F. Kennedy
1997-98: Robert Fulghum - New York Times-bestselling author
1997-98: Joe Clark - former Army drill instructor and principal of Eastside High School, Paterson, NJ
1998-99: Lech Walesa - former president of Poland
1999-00: Mario Cuomo - New York's governor in 1982, 1986 and 1990
2000-01: Dr. Beck Weathers - survivor of 1996 Mount Everest expedition
2000-01: Cokie Roberts - ABC's chief congressional analyst, and Steven Roberts - commentator on radio and television
2001-02: Archbishop Desmond Tutu - 1984 Nobel Peace Prize recipient
2002-03: Andrew Young - former United States ambassador to the United Nations
2003-04: Dr. Robert Ballard - deep-sea explorer, discoverer of the Titanic
2004-05: Madeleine Albright - former U.S. Secretary of State
2005-06: Tim Russert - moderator of NBC's "Meet the Press"
2006-07: Ken Burns - documentary filmmaker
2007-08: James Carville - political consultant, and Mary Matalin - former assistant to President George W. Bush and counselor to Vice President Dick Cheney
2008-09: Fareed Zakaria - writer and commentator
2009-10: Greg Mortenson - former moutaineer, co-founderof two non-profit organizations and co-author of Three Cups of Tea
2011-12: Khaled Hosseini - New York Times-bestselling author
2012-13: Cory Booker - mayor of Newark, NJ
2013-14: Tina Brown - founder of The Daily Beast
2014-15: Carrie Coon '03 - actress and Tracy Letts - playwright and actor
2015-16: Chuck Todd - NBC News political director and host of "Meet the Press" and "MTP Daily"
2016-17: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - NBA all-time leading scorer, New York Times-bestselling author, and U.S. Cultural Ambassador
2017-18: General Michael Hayden - former director of the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency
2018-19: Margaret Atwood - Author of "The Handmaid's Tale"
2021-22: Donna Brazile and Ana Navarro - political strategists
2022-23: Ginger Zee and Dan Harris - mental health advocates
2023-2024: Erin Brockovich - consumer advocate and environmental activist