Alumnus/a of the Year Recipients
1940s | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s
| Year | Recipient |
| 1943 | James H. Doolittle ’22 |
| 1944 | Joseph Erlanger ’95 |
| 1945 | Earl Warren ’12, J.D. ’14 |
| 1946 | Robert Gordon Sproul ’13 |
| 1947 | Monroe E. Deutsch ’02 |
| 1948 | Glenn T. Seaborg, Ph.D. ’37 |
| 1949 | James D. Zellerbach ’13 |
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| 1950 | Kenneth Pitzer, Ph.D. ’37 |
| 1951 | Stephen D. Bechtel ’23 |
| 1952 | Horace M. Albright ’12 |
| 1953 | William F. Dean ’22 |
| 1954 | Lillian Moller Gilbreth ’00, M.A. ’02 |
| 1955 | Walter A. Gordon ’18, J.D. ’22 |
| 1956 | William F. Knowland ’29 |
| 1957 | Herman Phleger ’12 |
| 1958 | James B. Black ’12 |
| 1959 | H. Rowan Gaither Jr. ’29, J.D. ’33 |
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| 1960 | John A. McCone ’22 |
| 1961 | Robert S. McNamara ’37 |
| 1962 | George Frederick Reinhardt ’33 |
| 1963 | Willard F. Libby ’31, Ph.D. ’33 |
| 1964 | Ralph L. Edwards ’35 |
| 1965 | John W. Gardner, Ph.D. ’38 |
| 1966 | Stanley N. Barnes ’22, J.D. ’25 |
| 1967 | Rudolph A. Peterson ’25 |
| 1968 | Edgar F. Kaiser ’30 |
| 1969 | Emil M. Mrak ’26, M.S. ’28, Ph.D. ’37 |
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| 1970 | Walter A. Haas ’10 |
| 1971 | Irving Stone ’23 |
| 1972 | Newton B. Drury ’12 |
| 1973 | Roger J. Traynor ’23, M.A. ’24, Ph.D. ’26, J.D. ’27 |
| 1974 | John S. Najarian ’49 |
| 1975 | Frederick C. Weyand ’39 |
| 1976 | Donald H. McLaughlin ’14 |
| 1977 | Daniel E. Koshland ’13 |
| 1978 | W. Michael Blumenthal ’51 |
| 1979 | Eugene E. Trefethen Jr. ’30 |
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| 1980 | Joan Didion ’56 |
| 1981 | Clark Kerr, Ph.D. ’39 |
| 1982 | Philip C. Habib, Ph.D. ’52 |
| 1983 | Walter A. Haas Jr. ’37 |
| 1984 | Michael N. Chetkovich ’39, M.B.A. ’40 |
| 1985 | John Kenneth Galbraith, M.A. ’32, Ph.D. ’34 |
| 1986 | Kenneth A. Kragen ’58 |
| 1987 | Yuan-Tseh Lee, Ph.D. ’65 |
| 1988 | David P. Gardner, M.A. ’59, Ph.D. ’66 |
| 1989 | Robert D. Raven, J.D. ’52 |
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| 1990 | Mimi Silbert, M.A. ’65, D. Crim. ’68 |
| 1991 | Daniel E. Koshland Jr. ’41 |
| 1992 | Allen E. Broussard ’50, J.D. ’53 |
| 1993 | Walter E. Hoadley ’38, M.A. ’40, Ph.D. ’47 |
| 1994 | Tung Yen Lin, M.S. ’33 |
| 1995 | Marian Diamond ’48, M.A. ’49, Ph.D. ’53 |
| 1996 | Peter E. Haas ’40 |
| 1997 | Gordon E. Moore ’50 |
| 1998 | Adrian A. Kragen ’31, J.D. ‘34 |
| 1999 | Alice Waters ’67 |
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| 2000 | Maxine Hong Kingston ’62, C.Ed. ‘65 |
| 2001 | Norman Y. Mineta ’53 |
| 2002 | William T. Bagley ’49, J.D. ’52 |
| 2003 | F. Warren Hellman ’55 |
| 2004 | Lee P. Brown, M.A. ’68, D.Crim. ’70 |
| 2005 | Skipped due to awarding changes |
| 2006 | Karl S. Pister ’45, M.S. ’48 |
| 2007 | Donald G. Fisher ’50 |
| 2008 | Thelton E. Henderson ’55, J.D. ’62 |
| 2009 | Robert D. Haas ’64 |
| 2010 | Richard N. Goldman ’41 |
| 2011 | Steven Chu, Ph.D. ’76 |
| 2012 | Eric Schmidt, M.S. ’79, Ph.D. ’82 |
| 2013 | Frank Davis, Ph.D. ’55 |