Recipients of the O. Max Gardner Award
| YEAR | NAME | INSTITUTION | MAJOR FIELD | |
| 1949 | Lousie B. Alexander | UNC-Greensboro | Education | |
| 1950 | Robert E. Coker | UNC-Chapel Hill | Science | |
| 1951 | Donald B. Anderson | North Carolina State | Science | |
| 1952 | Albert Coates | UNC-Chapel Hill | Government | |
| 1953 | Howard W. Odum | UNC-Chapel Hill | Sociology | |
| 1954 | Franklin H. McNutt | UNC-Greensboro | Education | |
| 1955 | Zeno Payne Metcalf | North Carolina State | Geology & Entomology | |
| 1956 | Mereb E. Mossman | UNC-Greensboro | Social Service | |
| 1957 | Warner L. Wells | UNC-Chapel Hill | Medicine | |
| 1958 | C. Horace Hamilton | North Carolina State | Sociology | |
| 1959 | Gertrude M. Cox | North Carolina State | Statistics | |
| 1960 | Richard N. Current | UNC-Greensboro | History | |
| 1961 | Kenneth N. Brinkhous | UNC-Chapel Hill | Medicine | |
| 1962 | Randall Jarrell | UNC-Greensboro | Literature | |
| 1963 | John C. Brauer | UNC-Chapel Hill | Dentistry | |
| 1964 | W. Reece Berryhill | UNC-Chapel Hill | Medicine | |
| 1965 | Raymond L. Murray | North Carolina State | Science | |
| 1966 | Lois Edinger | UNC-Greensboro | Education | |
| 1967 | Walton Carlyle Gregory | North Carolina State | Agriculture | |
| 1968 | John B. Graham | UNC-Chapel Hill | Medicine | |
| 1969 | Henry Brandis, Jr. | UNC-Chapel Hill | Law | |
| 1970 | Stanley George Stephens | North Carolina State | Agriculture | |
| 1971 | Naomi G. Albanese | UNC-Greensboro | Home Economics | |
| 1972 | Bruce John Zobel | North Carolina State | Forest Genetics | |
| 1973 | Ovid Williams Pierce | East Carolina | Literature | |
| Cratis Dearl Williams | Appalachian State | Literature | ||
| 1974 | Mary Elizabeth Keister | UNC-Greensboro | Early Childhood Education | |
| 1975 | Helen Grey Edmonds | North Carolina Central | History | |
| Francis Speight | East Carolina | Art | ||
| 1976 | Eloise Rallings Lewis | UNC-Greensboro | Nursing | |
| LeRoy T. Walker | North Carolina Central | History | ||
| 1977 | C. Hugh Holman | UNC-Chapel Hill | Literature | |
| 1978 | Carl William Gottschalk | UNC-Chapel Hill | Medicine | |
| 1979 | Richard Bardolph | UNC-Greensboro | History | |
| Solomon P. Hersh | North Carolina State | Textile Engineering | ||
| 1980 | C. Clark Cockerham | North Carolina State | Genetics | |
| Judson J. Van Wyk | UNC-Chapel Hill | Medicine | ||
| 1981 | Ellis B. Cowling | North Carolina State | Plant Pathology & Forestry | |
| Bernard G. Greenberg | UNC-Chapel Hill | Public Health | ||
| 1982 | Octavia B. Knight | North Carolina Central | Special Education | |
| Joseph N. Sasser | North Carolina State | Plant Pathology | ||
| 1983 | Frank E. Guthrie | North Carolina State | Toxicology | |
| Stanley R. Riggs | East Carolina | Geology | ||
| 1984 | James A. Bryan II | UNC-Chapel Hill | Medicine | |
| Vivian T. Stannett | North Carolina State | Chemistry | ||
| 1985 | M. Necati Ozisik | North Carolina State | Engineering | |
| Eric Shopler | UNC-Chapel Hill | Psychology | ||
| 1986 | Fred Chappell | UNC-Greensboro | Literature | |
| Edgar Loessin | East Carolina | Theatre | ||
| 1987 | Major M. Goodman | North Carolina State | Agriculture | |
| C. Arden Miller | UNC-Chapel Hill | Maternal & Child Health | ||
| 1988 | Floyd W. Denny, Jr. | UNC-Chapel Hill | Medicine | |
| Elizabeth C. Theil | North Carolina State | Biochemistry | ||
| 1989 | William E. Laupus | East Carolina | Medicine | |
| Louis D. Rubin, Jr. | UNC-Chapel Hill | Literature | ||
| 1990 | Fred R. DeJarnette | North Carolina State | Engineering | |
| 1991 | Frederick W. Harrison | Western Carolina | Biology | |
| 1992 | Sherwood Shaffer | NC School of the Arts | Music | |
| 1993 | Donald W. Warren | UNC-Chapel Hill | Dentistry | |
| 1994 | Gerald H. Shinn | UNC-Wilmington | Philosophy & Religion | |
| 1995 | James Houlik | NC School of the Arts | Music | |
| 1996 | Ernest Hodgson | North Carolina State | Toxicology | |
| Vira Rodgers Kivett | UNC-Greensboro | Gerontology | ||
| 1997 | R. Wayne Skaggs | North Carolina State | Agricultural Engineering | |
| 1998 | B. Jayant Baliga | North Carolina State | Electrical Engineering | |
| 1999 | Jim E. Riviere | North Carolina State | Pharmacology | |
| 2000 | Joseph M. DeSimone | North Carolina State | Chemical Engineering | |
| UNC-Chapel Hill | Chemistry | |||
| 2001 | Walter J. Pories | East Carolina | Biochemistry | |
| 2002 | Melissa Hayden | NC School of the Arts | Dance | |
| Oliver Smithies | UNC-Chapel Hill | Pathology | ||
| 2003 | Bruce Spencer Weir | North Carolina State | Statistics & Genetics | |
| 2004 | W. Randolph Chitwood, Jr. | East Carolina | Cardiothoracic Surgery | |
| Branislav Vlahovic | North Carolina Central | Physics | ||
| 2005 | Kenneth B. Adler | North Carolina State | Pulmonary Biology | |
| 2006 | Ken R. Harewood | North Carolina Central | Biochemistry | |
| 2007 | Trudy F. C. Mackay | North Carolina State | Genetics | |
| 2008 | Myron S. Cohen | UNC-Chapel Hill | Medicine, Microbiology, and Public Health | |
| 2009 | Todd R. Klaenhammer | North Carolina State | Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences | |
| 2010 | Jagannathan Sankar | North Carolina A&T State | Mechanical and Chemical Engineering | |
