Among the recipients have been philanthropist E. O. Robinson, Courier-Journal publisher Barry Bingham, future Nobel laureate William N. Lipscomb Jr., Vice President of the United States Alben W. Barkley - as well as those whose service was almost anonymous. The latter include Patrick Smith, who in retirement built homes for the poor on three continents; Earl Ogata, who devoted years to serving Lexington’s poor, alcoholic, and homeless, led Spanish and Japanese churches, and provides a home to international students through the International Fellowship Program; Elizabeth Rebmann, who, while on active duty in Iraq and Afghanistan with the Kentucky National Guard, worked tirelessly to improve the lives of people there; and Joshua Nadzam, who volunteered extensively with the Catholic Action Center, the Kentucky Refugee Ministry, Ronald McDonald House, God’s Pantry, the Hope Center, and headed the campus “Soles for Souls” shoe drive. These individuals gave their time and energy to improve the lives of others.
Past Recipients
2025 - 2011
2025: Scottie B. Day, M.D., Citizen; Amanda Casolare; Nolan Deon Harvey
2024: Alexandra Simpson, Citizen (Awarded posthumously); Kotomi Yokokura; Emmanuel Dhemby Moussabou
2023: Christine Smith, Citizen; Jessica Lamb; Alex Degen
2022: James “Jim” Richardson, Citizen; Riley Gaines; Dean Farmer
2021: Marilyn Daniel, Citizen; Michelle Kuiper; Ranym Nenneh
2020: Yvette Hourigan, Citizen; Kaitlyn Frick; Joseph Walden
2019: Ashraf Fhamy, citizen; Nadia Benali, Citizen; Dealla Samadi; Beau Revlett
2018: Emily Jones, Citizen; Madison Conroy; Esias Bedingar
2017: Cagney Coomer Felton, Citizen; Kaylee Hicks; Kyle Hancock
2016: Tanya Torp, Citizen; Caroline Engle; Jason Schubert
2015: Linda Gorton, Citizen; Grace Trimble; Max Godby
2014: Debra Hensley, Citizen; Katie Skarvan; Drew Ritzel
2013: Jennifer W. Mynear, Citizen; Patrick B. Johnson; Andrea J. Kohlman
2012: Earl T. Ogata, Citizen; Elizabeth A. Rebmann; Joshua M. Nadzam
2011: Deborah Goonan, Citizen; Anna Lisa Hays
2010 - 1990
2010: Patrick Hogan Smith, Citizen; Rebecca Elizabeth Linares
2009: Patricia Freeman, Citizen; Corinne Keel; Aun Munis
2008: William R. Grimes, Citizen; Megan K. Tolley; Joseph David Ritchie
2007: Linda A Harvey, Citizen; Tara Bonistall; Christopher George Garnett
2006: Mahabeen Rafiuddin, Citizen; Monica Lee Hobson; Daniel Stephen Turner
2005: Judy Harrison, Citizen; Megan Sonya Thomas; Brandon Edward Leo Fenley
2004: Virginia Marsh Bell, Citizen; Amelia C. Brown; Albert Kalim
2003: Curtis William Absher, Citizen; Jonathan Dewaal Green; Andrea Joy Murray
2002: Don Ball, Citizen; Amanda Holloway; Jay Varellas
2001: Patrick P. DeLuca, Citizen; Kristina Marie Talbert-Slagle; Clayton Thomas Dunn
2000: Doris Fooks Rosenbaum, Citizen; Kasey Shannon Buckles; George Randall Lawson
1999: Joy E. Hembree, Citizen; Melanie Bell Cruz; Henry J. Curtis, Jr.
1998: Brenda S. Oldfield, Citizen; Katherine Leigh Chiles (Katy); Jeffrey Kyle Sheppard
1997: Alfred Crabb, Jr., Citizen; Laura J. Keith; William David Johnson
1996: Larry Bell, Citizen; Damonica Gail Huff; Roger McCain Brown
1995: Jean Cravens, Citizen; Paul Douglas Sullivan; Mary Jane Regester
1994: Lucille Little, Citizen; Wesley Butler; Jean Jackson
1993: Garland M. Bastin, Citizen; Susan Kim Dupree; David Wilton Pace
1992: Frances Ruth Shively, Citizen; Melinda Sue Lovett; Eric Douglas Coleman
1991: Robert Gordon “Dean” Matheson, Citizen; Cheri Lynn Orme; Daryle L. Cobb
1990: David Michael Richey, Citizen; Kathryn Anne Beach; Patton Ray Hart
1989 - 1969
1989: Gloe L. Bertram, Citizen; Angela Mills Motley; Jon Lamos
1988: Richard E. Cooper, Citizen; Julie Chemberlin Quick; Charles Anthony Jones
1987: Gloria Walton Singletary, Citizen; Laura Jan Lovelace; John Paul Menkhaus
1986: Thomas P. Bell, Citizen (Awarded posthumously); Jo Ann Rayburn Palmer;
Benjamin Lyle Clifford
1985: Abby L. Marlatt, Citizen; Cynthia Gertrude Wilburn; Walter Allen Shewmaker
1984: Bernard Mason Johnson, Citizen; Jennifer Ann Dorsey; James Glen Gray
1983: William F. Wagner, Citizen; Rebecca Alice Ewalt; Robert Joseph Mangas
1982: Don W. Byars, II, Citizen; Judy Marie Madigan; Mark Leo Vonderheide
1981: Rose Mary Codell Brooks, Citizen; Patricia Whitford; Ashley Willis Ward
1980: Fannie Herman Miller, Citizen; Kyle Robert Macy; Martha Anne Stout Butler
1979: Ellis Ford Hartford, Citizen; Cheryl Lynn Trotter; Steven Dale Thomas
1978: Martin M. White, Citizen; Shirleen Kay Sutton; Jackie Lamont Givens
1977: Marion Brooke Sprague, Citizen; Georgia Louise Brock; Stephen Terhune Tamme
1976: Hunter M. Adams, Citizen; Lois Jean Stocking; William Judson Shaw
1975: Genevieve Allen Murray, Citizen; Bette Jane Dollase; Joseph H. Kinnarney
1974: Alberta Coleman, Citizen; Tracy Ann Bruce; Kris W. Kimel
1973: Elizabeth Neil Kirwan, Citizen; Cynthia Anne Gouzie; Richard Elliot Day
1972: Smith D. Broadbent, Jr., Citizen; Helen Anne Jones; Damon R. Talley
1971: Barkley Moore, Citizen; Belle Finley Bassett; Stephen Lloyd Tichenor
1970: Miss Lula Hale, Citizen; Martha Ellen Harney; Don Graeter
1969: Joy Bale, Citizen; Michael Farmer; Taft McKinstry
1968 - 1948
1968: Samuel VanderMeer, Citizen; Nancy Fitch Bryant; William Nichols Eigel, III
1967: Thomson Ripley Bryany, Citizen; Johnnie Kielene Cross; Clyde Lewis Kirtley
1966: Mrs. Sarah B. Holmes, Citizen; Sarah Anderson List; Willis K. Bright, Jr.
1965: Mrs. Herman Lee Donovan, Citizen; Sandra Kay Brock; Keith Hagan
1964: Robson Duncan McIntyre, Citizen; Glynda Sue Stephens; Larry Lovell
1963: R.R. Dawson, Citizen; Ann Gorson Evans (Mrs. John Joseph Greely, III); David William Graham
1962: Dr. Rufus B. Atwood, Citizen; Myra Leigh Tobin; Constantine William (Deno) Curris
1961: Prof. John Sherman Horine, Citizen; Joyce Ann Malcomb; Leroy Seaton McMullan
1960: Harriett Drury Van Meter, Citizen; Sidney Davis Crouch (Miss); Robert Wadlington White
1959: Henry Fischer, Citizen; Nancy Todd Foster (Mrs. John Anson); Richard Cornelius Roberts
1958: Marian Dupuy Williamson, Citizen; Mary Holmes Kauffman (Mrs. David H. Vaughn); Samuel Roy Woodall, Jr.
1957: Statie Estelle Erikson, Citizen; Barbara Jean Roberts (Mrs. Paul E. Schrading); Richard Leroy Lehman
1956: Walter Cole Jetton, Citizen; Betty Jo Martin (Mrs. Charles E. Palmer, Jr.); Paul Ray Eggum (Dr.)
1955: Enna Jodephine Woerner, Citizen: Ann Marie O’Roark (Mrs. J.F. McKirachan); Leslie White Morris, III
1954: Lewis Franklin Allen, Citizen; Elaine Moore (Mrs. Raymond G. Turenne); Diogenes Allen (Rev.)
1953: Mary Belknap Gay, Citizen; Ruth Ann Maggard (Mrs. Hugh Alan Storrow); Jess Lewis Gardner
1952: Dr. Alice Newcome Pickett, Citizen; Ann Gleaves Carson (Mrs. Thomas H. Asbury); John Tilden Ballentine
1951: Thomas Poe Cooper, Citizen; Janet Allen Anderson (Mrs. James C. Graff); James Richard Line
1950: Ezra L Gillis, Citizen; Sara Mae Greene (Mrs. Rezin Caleb Howell); Eugene Ryburn Weakley
1949: Alben W. Barkley, Citizen; Mary Sue McWhirter (Mrs. Harold Thurman); Charles Edward Whaley
1948: Paul Garrett Blazer, Citizen; Helen Gibson Hutchcraft (Mrs. Franklin E. Moak); Harry Russell Conrad
1947 - 1927
1947: William Perry King, Citizen; Sara Lee Trabue (Mrs. Frank Lacy, Jr.); Frank Selby Hurst
1946: Harry W. Schacter, Citizen; Betty Lee Fleishman (Mrs. Sam Fein); Edward Albert Bary (Rev.)
1945: Joshua Burgess, Citizen; Virginia Stuart Baskett (Mrs. D. Leach, Jr.); Scott Reed
1944: Alonzo Willard Fortune, Citizen; Helen Louise Harrison; James Henry Saunders (Dr.)
1943: William H. Courtney, Citizen; Myrtle P. Binkley (Mrs. W.T. Land); Robert H. Hillenmeyer
1942: Harry Vernon McChesney, Citizen; Elizabeth Garrard South (Mrs. Thomas E. Jones); Joe Atkerson Gayle
1941: Barry Bingham, Citizen; Jean Marie McConnell (Mrs. Norman Chrisman, Jr.); William N. Lipcomb, Jr. (Dr.)
1940; No Citizen; Jeanne Russell Barker (Mrs. Robert Alexander Nolan); Louis Tillman Iglehart
1939: S. Ballard Thurston, Citizen; Ruth Johnson (Mrs. George H. Tinker); Arthur Plummer
1938: Frances Jewell McVey, Citizen; Rae Lewis (Mrs. Guy F. Vansant, Jr.); Roger Brown (Harlan R. Brown, Jr.)
1937: No Citizen; Dorothy Whalen (Mrs. Robert H. Grace); Ike Moore
1936: George Goodwin, Citizen; France Kerr (Mrs. A.E. Barnes, Jr.); Elvis Stahr
1935: Mary Breckinridge, Citizen; Lucy Jean Anderson; Henry McCowan
1934: Dr. Charles W. Welch, Citizen; Jeane Spears Peak (Mrs. Earl R. Michel); Walter Hugger Steitler
1933:No Citizen; Jany Dyer (Mrs. James Phillip Arnold); George Skinner
1932: Katherine Pettit, Citizen; Elizabeth Poole (Mrs. St. George T. Arnold); Robert Allen Wise
1931: E.O. Robinson, Citizen; Nancy Schrugham (Mrs. William L. Beck); Rex Allison
1930: Max Brunswich Nahm, Citizen; Elizabeth Cramer (Mrs. Charles A. Schoene); John Benson
1929: Sam Wilson, Citizen; Margaret Gooch (Mrs. Margaret G. Kiser); William Glanz
1928: Linda Neville, Citizen; Charlsey Smith (Mrs. Donald B. Sutherland); Gayle Mohney
1927: Lewis Smith, Citizen; Jeannette Metcalf; John Rachel