1980 Recipients
| Name | Biographical Information | Degree Awarded | Inst. |
| T. E. Armstrong | Scott Polar Research Inst., Cambridge, England | D. Science | UAF |
| John Butrovich | Territorial and State Legislator in Alaska for 30 years | D. Laws | UAF |
| LeDessa Nordale | U.S. Commission for Fairbanks 1951-59 | D. Laws | UAF |
| John McPhee | Alaskan writer | D. Letters | UAA |
| Willie L. Hensley | State Senator - Alaska; Member of BOR 1984-87 | D. Laws | UAA |
| Trevor Davis | Photographer | D. Humanities | UAS |
| Carol Beery Davis | Poet Laureate | D. Humanities | UAS |
| Cyrus E. Peck Sr. | Magistrate; member of AK Native Brotherhood | D. Humanities | UAS |
1981 Recipients
| Name | Biographical Information | Degree Awarded | Inst. |
| William D. Berry | Artist | D. Humanities | UAF |
| Robert Sheldon | Alaskan Aviator | D. Public Service | UAF |
| Leslie Nerland | businessman; Board of Regents'; member 1956-61 | D. Public Service | UAF |
| Dr. Albert Lincoln Washburn | Chair, Polar Res. Board, Nat'l Academy of Sciences | D. Science | UAF |
| Jay Rabinowitz | Alaska Supreme Court Justice | D. Laws | UAA |
| George Sullivan | Mayor, City of Anchorage | D. Public Admin | UAA |
| Lew M. Williams Jr. | Journalist; owner Ketchikan Daily News; mem. BOR | D. Humanities | UAS |
| Mildred Sparks | Tlingit artist; Leader of Alaska Native Sisterhood | D. Humanities | UAS |
1982 Recipients
| Name | Biographical Information | Degree Awarded | Inst |
| Emily Ivanoff Brown | Author; Alaskan educator; Native leader | D. Humanities | UAF |
| Claire Fejes | Artist; Writer | D. Humanities | UAF |
| Frederica de Laguna | Anthropologist | D. Hum. Letters | UAA |
| Roland Snodgrass | Agriculture instr., farmer, Dir. of AK State Dept. of Agriculture | D. Hum. Letters | UAA |
| Frederick Eastaugh | Attorney; Alaska Territory Legislator | D. Humanities | UAS |
| Robert Boochever | Chief Justice, Alaska Supreme Court | D. Humanities | UAS |
| William Steere | Botanist; aided establishment of Institute of Arctic Biology | D. Science | UAF |
1983 Recipients
| Name | Biographical Information | Degree Awarded | Inst. |
| Jay Hammond | Governor, State of Alaska | D. Humanities | UAS |
| James Nolan | Sen. and Rep. from Wrangell; BOR member 1967-73 | D. Humanities | UAS |
| Della Keats | Eskimo Tribal Doctor | D. Hum. Letters in Health Sciences | UAA |
| Morgan B. Sherwood | Alaska Journal editorial advisor; author | D. Hum. Letters in Historical Scholarship | UAA |
| Jean Dementi | Rev. Missionary and Nurse | D. Humanities | UAF |
| John Haines | Poet Laureate; Alaskan Homesteader | D. Letters | UAF |
| John F. O'Connell | President, Bechtel Inc.; helped frame nat. energy policy | D. Hum. Letters in Educational Leadership | UAA |
| Carl Randolph | President, U.S. Borax & Chemical Corp (commencement speaker) | D. Publis Service | UAF |
1984 Recipients
| Name | Biographical Information | Degree Awarded | Inst. |
| Earnest J. Haugen | Alaska State Legislator from Petersburg | D. Public Admin | UAS |
| Byron I. Mallot | President, Sealaska Corp. | D. Humanities | UAS |
| Hugh Joseph Wade | First Secretary of State-State of Alaska | D. Public Admin | UAS |
| Jay Barton | President, University of Alaska 1979-84 | D. Science | UAF |
| Pierre Berton | Author, Historian of the North | D. Fine Arts | UAF |
| Albert Belon | Assoc. Dir., Geophysical Institute | D. Science | UAF |
| Harvey Goodale | Alaskan Artist | D. Fine Arts | UAF |
| Ellen Goodale | Alaskan Artist | D. Fine Arts | UAF |
| B. Dale Davis | Atwood Chair, professor of journalism | D. Hum. Letters | UAA |
| John Asplund | Pioneer Anchorage Businessman; civic leader | D. Comm. Law | UAA |
1985 Recipients
| Name | Biographical Information | Degree Awarded | Inst. |
| Young Seek Choue | Chanc., Kyung Hee Univ., Korea; Inter.educator | D. Laws | UAA |
| Esther Wunnicke | Alaska Commissioner of Natural Resources | D. Public Service | UAA |
| Katharine Kuh | Art critic and writer | D. Fine Arts | UAA |
| Rosamond Weller | Musician and educator in Fairbanks for 37 years | D. Humanities | UAF |
| Donald Young | U.S. House of Representatives-Alaska | D. Laws | UAF |
| Robert Cogo | Southeast Alaska linguist | D. Letters | UAF |
| Jonathan Motzfeldt | Political leader from Greenland | D. Laws | UAF |
| Joseph M. Kahklen | Southeast Alaska Educator | D. Humanities | UAS |
| Joseph Rude | Juneau physician | D. Humanities | UAS |
| William Overstreet | Mayor - Juneau; Far East Rep. for International Trade | D. Public Admin | UAS |
| Keith Nyborg | U. S. Ambassador to Finland | D. Public Affairs | UAA |
1986 Recipients
| Name | Biographical Information | Degree Awarded | Inst. |
| Dr. Henry Akiyama | Cardiologist; established medic program in Juneau | D. Humanities | UAS |
| Mildred Banfield | legislator; Board of Regents Member 1976-83 | D. Public Admin | UAS |
| Motley A. Langhorne | Diplomat and public servant | D. Public Service | UAA |
| George W. Rogers | Professor of Economics, founder of ISER | D. Economics | UAA |
| Fredericka Martin | Anthropologist; noted for work done in Pribilof Islands | D. Humanities | UAF |
|
Mary Demientieff | Native elder; member of Nat. Conference on Aging | D. Humanities | UAF |
| Frank Press | Pres., Nat. Acad. of Sci.; educator and geophysist | D. Science | UAF |
1987 Recipients
| Name | Biographical Information | Degree Awarded | Inst. |
| Robert A. Dahl | Political Scientist, Yale University | D. Laws | UAA |
| Elvera Voth | Founder of UAA Singers; Anchorage music teacher | D. Music | UAA |
| Harold Kaveolook | Educator and community leader, North Slope | D. Education | UAF |
| Sadie Brower Neakok | Alaskan magistrate 1960-77 | D. Laws | UAF |
| Robert L. Rausch | Alaskan scientist; Parasitologist | D. Science | UAF |
| Walter Daniel Teeland | Pioneer Alaskan businessman, Matanuska Valley | D. Public Service | UAF |
| Florance Robinson Weber | Geologist, explorer | D. Sceince | UAF |
| Dove Kull | Social Worker; helped establish Older Alaskans Comm. | D. Humanities | UAS |
| Bob Armstrong | Scientist and Ornithologist | D. Science | UAS |
| Alexander Brindle | Fisherman and Businessman, Wards Cove Packing Co. | D. Science | UAS |
1988 Recipients
| Name | Biographical Information | Degree Awarded | Inst. |
| Hugh H. Connelly | Alaska District Court Judge 1959-87 | D. Laws | UAF |
| Hugh B. Fate | Member and President, BOR ; dentist | D. Public Service | UAF |
| Louis O. Quam | Arctic scientist, teacher | D. Science | UAF |
| Ronald L. Graham | Mathematician, alumnus of UAF | D. Science | UAF |
| Alfred A. Baumeister | Dir., John Kennedy Center for Res. on Ed.; leader in the field of mental retardation | D. Hum. Letters | UAA |
| John M. Hilpert | UAF faculty member in engineering for 27 years | D. Science | UAA |
| Nathan Paul Jackson | Chilkoot-Tlingit Woodcarver | D. Humanities | UAS |
| Burke Riley | Admin to Gov. Gruening; Delegate, Const. Convention | D. Humanities | UAS |
1989 Recipients
| Name | Biographical Information | Degree Awarded | Inst. |
|
William Ransom Wood | Pres., UA 1960-73; Mayor, City of Fairbanks | D. Laws | BOR |
| Dorothy Jane Wood | Wife and Partner of William R. Wood | D. Laws | BOR |
| M. Walter Johnson | M.D. Rural Alaska health care provider; UA graduate | D. Public Service | UAA |
| Carolyn Floyd | President, Kodiak Community College 1969-87 | D. Education | UAA |
| Alvin Okeson | President, Mat-Su Community College 1961-87 | D. Education | UAA |
| Katherine (Kay) Fanning | Alaska Newspaper Publisher | D. Letters | UAF |
| James W. Brooks | Alaska Commissioner of Game; UA graduate | D. Science | UAF |
| Sidney Huntington | Brd. of Fish and Game; Galena Sch. Brd. mem. 25 yrs | D. Public Service | UAF |
| Charlie Ott | Biologist/conservationist/photographer | D. Letters | UAF |
| Austin Hammond | Leader Chilkoot people of Haines; founder Cultural Camp | D. Humanities | UAS |
| James J King | Waterfowl Propagation and Bird Reh. Center | D. Science | UAS |
| Cliff Taro | Businessman; promoted Pacific Rim trade | D. Public Service | UAS |
| John Middaugh | State of Alaska Epidemiologist; UA faculty member | D. Science | UAA |
