This award has been presented since 1988 to nationally, or internationally, prominent listeners. Nominees should epitomize the highest standards and principles of effective listening. Recipients of the Award need not be ILA members but should be committed to the development of effective listening in professional and personal life.

Previous Listeners of the Year include:

2021 Kate Murphy
2020 Amy Anderson/Helms Briscoe
2018 National Alliance on Mental Health
2018 The United Nations
2017 Robert Hurst, Headquarters Counseling Center
2016 N/A
2015 Dick Cavett
2014 Dr. Gabriel Sara
2013 Howard Schultz 
2012 Michelle Obama
2011 Nancy Kline
2010 President Barack Obama
2009 ChildLine and BT (U.K.)
2008 Barnett Helzberg, Jr.
2007 Sen. Feargal Quinn
2006 Oprah Winfrey
2005 Don Shelby
2004 Hospice Home Care
2003 President Jimmy Carter
2002 Sandra Day O'Connor
2001 Barry Kaufman
2000 Marshall B. Rosenberg
1999 Glynn D. Harris
1998 Ella Jenkins
1997 Bryant Gumbel
1996 N/A
1995 Schin'ichi Suzuki
1994 Daniel Rosenblum
1993 President Bill Clinton
1992 Alex Haley
1992 C. Everett Koop
1992 Herb True
1992 Jack Nicklaus
1992  Javier Perez de Cuellar
1992 Jim Lehrer 1992 Johnny Carson
1992 Dr. Norman Vincent Peale
1992 Robert MacNeil
1991 Abigail Van Buren
1991 Ann Landers
1991 Barbara Bush
1991 BBC Monitoring Services
1991 Bernie Siegle
1991 Billy Graham
1991 Bo Jackson
1991 Ernest Boyer
1991 Garrison Keillor
1991 James A. Baker III
1991 Alan Greenspan
1991 W. Edwards Deming
1991 Worldwide Juries
1990 N/A
1989 Bill Moyers
1988 Hugh Downs
Before 1992 Jane Pauley
Before 1992 Tom Peters
Before 1992 Charles Kurault