2011
Dr. Lois Phillips
Management consultant and trainer

2010
The AWC Headliner Award was not awarded in 2010.
(as the AWC National Conference moved to a bi-annual event in odd numbered years, and the award is presented there)

2009
Lorraine Howell
Media training specialist, executive coach, and author

2008
Maria Henneberry
Co-Owner, Contemporary Visuals; and Radio Talk Show Co-Host, Cities 92.9 FM in Bloomington, Ill.

2007
Jami Fullerton
Associate professor of journalism and broadcasting at Oklahoma State University at Tulsa.

2006
Anita Parran
Associate State Director for Public Affairs, American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) Missouri

2005
Laura Moore
Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer, RadioShack

2004
Margaret Larson
Mercy Corps, International Aid Agency

2003
Patrice Tanaka
CEO, Creative Director, Co-Founder
Patrice Tanaka & Company, Inc. (PT&Co.)

2002
Rita Cosby
anchor of FOX News Channel

2001
Ann Liguori
sports talk show host

2000
Gail Sheehy
author of the Passages book series

1999
Linda C. Haneborg
International Vice President of Marketing/PR for Express Personnel Service

1998
Barbara Sher
author of Wishcraft

1997
Lucy Hobgood-Brown
international communicator

1996
Douglas Ann Newsom
professor, Texas Christian University, Regent's College, London, England

Jane Chesnutt
Editor-in-Chief/Vice President of Woman's Day

Jeannine Pirro
District Attorney of Westchester County, New York

1995
Anne Durrum Robinson
president, Creativity, Communication, Common Sense

Fran Zone
president, Zone Communication

1994
Sue Hale
assistant managing editor, The Daily Oklahoman

Heloise
syndicated columnist, "Hints from Heloise"

Karen Stewart
media relations manager, Chrysler Corporation

1993
Camille Keith
vice president of special marketing, Southwest Airlines

Barbara Walters
ABC News correspondent, host of ABC's 20/20 and The Barbara Walters Specials

1992
Myrna Blyth
editor in chief and publishing director, Ladies Home Journal; publishing director, Metropolitan Home

Cathy Bonner
executive director, Texas Department of Commerce

1991
Carolyn Carter
senior vice president, account management, Grey Advertising, Inc.

Mary Kimbrough
freelance wirter, author, educator

Elynor Williams
vice president-public responsibility, Sara Lee Corporation

1990
James A. Autry
president, Magazine Group, Meredith Corporation

Charlotte De Armond
principal, De Armond Corporation

Bonnie J. Wiley, Ph.D.
journalist educator

1989
Barbara Gothard, Ph.D.
president, The Gothard Group

Kathleen Larey Lewton
president, K L Lewton & Associates

1988
Margaret Sally Keach
president, Hospitalized Veterans Writing Project; publisher, Veterans' Voice

Amy McCombs
president and general manager, KRON-TV

1987
Shirley Schlanger Abrahamson
justice, Supreme Court of Wisconsin

Gini Laurie
editor and publisher, Rehabilitation Gazette

Bee Canterbury Laery
chief of protocol, City of Los Angeles

Phyllis Martin
columnist, career consultant, author

Nancy Woodhull
vice president/news services, Gannett Co., Inc;
president, Gannet New Media

1986
Marilyn Moats Kennedy
career consultant, author

John C. Quinn
editor, USA Today; vice president, Gannett Co., Inc; president, Gannet News Service

Mary Alice Williams
vice president, Cable News Network; co-anchor, CNN's "Newswatch"

1985
Patty Abramson
co-owner and vice president, Hager, Sharp & Abramson

Scott McGehee
managing editor, Detroit Free Press

Sharon Murphy
Journalism dean, Marquett University

1984
Loreen Arbus
vice president-development, Viacom Productions

Joyce Beber
president, Beber Silverstein & Partners Advertising

Cathleen Black
publisher, USA Today

Shirley Bonnem
vice president, hospital and public relations, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Jean Way Schoonover 
Barbara Way Hunter
chair of the board and president, respectively, co-owners Dudley-Anderon-Yutzy Public Relations

1983
Madeline Karr Amgott
independent producer

Judith S. Bagart
vice president, public relations, The Jewish Hospital of Cincinnati

Kate Rand Llayd
editor, Working Woman

Mike Peters
editorial cartoonist, Dayton Daily News

Paige Rense
editor in chief, Architectural Digest, Bon Appetit, Geo

1982
Rena Bartos
senior vice president and director of communications development, J. Walter Thompson

Adrienne Hall
vice chair of the board, Eisaman, Johns & Laws, advertising agencey

Eugene Patterson
editor and president, St. Petersburg Times

Kay Widht
vice president of compliance and administration, CBS Sports

1981
Charlotte Curtis
associate editor, op-ed page editor, The New York Times

Jo Foxworth
chair and president, Jo Foxworth, Inc., advertising agency, author

Sylvia Porter
author, syndicated daily newspaper columnist

1980
Barbara Everitt Bryant
group vice president, Market Opinion Research

Dorothy Gregg
corporate vice president-communications, Celanese Corp.

Richard Salant
vice chairman, NBC

1979
Jo-Ann Huff Albers
executive editor, Kentucky Enquirer

Donna Allen
director, Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press; editor, Media Report to Women

Mary-Jane R. Snyder
principal, M-j Enterprises

1978
Christy C. Bulkeley
publisher, Commercial-News

John Mack Carter
editor in chief, Good Housekeeping

Mary A. Gardner
journalism professor, Michigan State University

Irma Kalish
executive producer, "Carter Country"

Barbara Gardner Proctor
owner, Proctor & Gardner Advertising

1977
Jane Farley
creative coordinator, The Milwaukee Journal and Sentinel

Lenore Hershey
editor in chief,  Ladies Home Journal

Joan Levine
president, Hall & Levine Advertising

Allen Neuharth
president and chief executive, Gannett Co., Inc.

1976
Joan Lipton
vice president, McCann-Erickson

Marjorie Paxson
editor, newsletter for the first UN Conference on Women

Barbara Reynolds
author, poet, city reporter, Chicago Tribune

1975
Patricia Carbine
editor and publisher, Ms. Magazine

Marguerite Cartwright
United Nations correspondent

Hazel Garland
editor in chief, New Pittsburgh Courier

Denny Griswold
founder and editor, Public Relations News

1974
Susan Davis
editor and publisher, The spokeswoman

Doris Luck Pullen
editor in chief, UU World; director of publications, Unitarian Universalist Association

Isabella Taves
author, syndicated columnist

1973
Mary Andrews Ayers
executive vice president, Sullivan, Stauffer, Colwell & Bayles Advertising

Colleen Dishon
president and editor, Features and News

Barbara Krohn
communications consultant, Barbara Krohn and Associates

Charlotte Montgomery
contributing editor,  Good Housekeeping

Patricia L. Swenson
manager, KBPS Radio and TV

1972
Mary Bates
vice president for communications
AVCO Broadcasting

Doris Fleischman Bernays
public relations counsel

Betty Klaric
environmental writer, Cleveland Press

Helen Thomas
White House correspondent, United Press International

Eudora Welty
novelist

1971
Barbara Garfunkel
director of student publications, Miami-Dade Junior College

Phyllis T. Garland
New York Editor, Ebony

Sarah McClendon
Washington news and radio correspondent

Marlene Sanders
network news correspondent, ABC

Margot Sherman
senior vice president, McCann-Erickson

1970
Ruth Carlton
women's news editor, The Detroit News

Jean Pearson
science writer, The Detroit News

Ponchitta Pierce
special correspondent, CBS News

Kirk Polking
editor, Writer's Digest

1969
Erma Bombeck
syndicated columnist

Marion Corwell
public relations executive, Ford Motor Company

Katharine Graham
publisher, The Washington Post

1968
Jane Kesner Ardmore
novelist, freelance writer

Georgie Anne Geyer
foreign correspondent, Chicago Daily News

Margaret Stephenson Post
public relations executive, The Indianapolis Star & News; coordinator, Indianapolis Anti-Crime Crusade

Helen Mateson Rupp
assistant managing editor, Wisconsin State Journal

1967
Elizabeth Borton de Trevino
author, novels and non-fiction articles

Peggy Guetter Hereford
public relations director, Los Angeles department of Airports

Hortense Powner Myers
staff correspondent, United Press International

Dorothy Fuldheim Ulmer
TV news commentator, author

1966
Gladys Erickson Finston
staff writer-reporter, Chicago's American

May Del Farrington Flagg
director, women's activities, The Houston Post

Bert Kruger Smith
assistant to director, Mental Health Association, Hogg Foundation

Esther Van Waggoner Tufty
news correspondent and chief, Tufty News Bureau

1965
Pat Penny Bennett
public relations executive

Josephine Robertson
medical writer, The Cleveland Plain Dealer

Gay Pauley Sehon
women's editor, United Press International

Shirley Seifert
Historic novelist

Evelyn Walker
originator, first educational TV network in the US

1964
Marie Anderson
women's editor, The Miami Herald

Ruth Philpott Collins
freelance writer

Arlene Dahl
actress, syndicated columnist

Kathleen Hite
story writer

Agnew McCay
fashion and beauty editor, Los Angeles Herald Examiner

Montez Tjaden
director of promotion, KWTV

Lois Wille
reporter, Chicago Daily News

1963
Sidna Prower
editor in chief, The Mississippian, University of Mississippi

Edith Alderman Deen
author, religious books

Ruth Millett Lowry
syndicated columnist, "We, the Women"

Andre Norton
author, juvenile books, historical novels, science fiction

1962
Elizabeth Sutherland Carpenter
author; executive assistant, vice president Lyndon B. Johnson

Ann M. Corrick
radio-TV news reporter, Westinghouse Broadcast Co.

Hazel Brannon Smith
editor and publisher, four Mississippi weekly newspapers

1961
Lucille Doores
political and courts reporter; columnist, The Kansas City Kansan

Mary Hirshchfeld
reporter, columnist, feature writer, The Plain Dealer

Gretchen A. Kemp
assistant professor of journalism, Indiana University

Helen Canfield Wells
women's editor, Chicago Sun-Times

1960
Martha Crane Caris
director, women's programs, WLS Radio and TV

Margaret Richardson Dixon
managing editor, The Advocate

1959
Judy Whitson Bonner
medical and science writer, Dallas Times Herald

Lucille Saunders McDonald
author

Dorothy Rochon Powers
feature writer, Spokesman-Review

1958
Clarissa Start Davidson
feature writer and columnist, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Michael Drury
feelance fiction writer

Lenka Franulic
journalism teacher, University of Chile; staff member, ERCILLA

1957
Elizabeth Wright Evans Goldblatt
educational director, KING-TV

Bonaro Wilkinson Overstreet
author, poet, lecturer, teacher

Mari Sandoz
author

1956
Dorothy Misener Jurney
women's editor, The Miami Herald

Bernice Milburn Moore
consultant, home and family life education, Texas Education Agency

Marion Lewis Renick
author, juvenile books

Marie Margaret Winthrop
president and co-owner, TECH ADgency

1955
Ruth Harshaw
author, conductor, Carnival of Books, NBC

Sallie Fletcher Hill
vice president and home editor, The Progressive Farmer

Jean Mooney
director, women's services, NEA Service

1954
Rebecca F. Gross
editor, Express

Nina Mason Pulliam
author; co-owner, Pulliam Publications and Radio

Judith Cory Waller
director of public affairs and education, Midwest, NBC

1953
Gwenfread E.  Allen
author

Madelyn Pugh Martin
co-writer, I Love Lucy, television series

Catherine Dines Prosser
women's editor, The Denver Post

1952
Marjorie Binford Woods Bost
editor, Modern Bride; author

Elizabeth May Craig
Washington correspondent, Gannett Newspapers of Maine

Fran Alvord Harris
women's editor and publicity director, WWJ Radio and TV

1951
Marguerite Higgins
reporter, New York Herald Tribune

Laura Lane
associate editor, Country Gentleman

Nell Snead
women's editor, Kansas City Star

Florence Taaffe
writer and public relations specialist, U.S. Department of Interior

1950
Ruth Lovrien Church
home economics editor, Chicago Tribune

Doris Fleeson
Washington correspondent, Bell Syndicate

Pauline Frederick
reporter, ABC

Norma Bickneel Mansfield
author, fiction

1949
Caroline Iverson Ackerman
travel director, Shell Oil Co.

Bess Furman Armstrong
author; reporter, The New York Times

Gertrude Dieken
section editor, Farm Journal

Agness Underwood
city editor, Los Angeles  Herald-Express; author

1948
Genevieve Foster
author, children's books and articles

Eleanor M. Johnson
managing editor, American Education Press and Charles E. Miller Co.

Clara Ingram Judson
author, children's books

Mildred Whitcomp
associate managing editor, The Modern Hospital, the National Schools and College and University Business

1947
Laura Lou Brookman
managing editor, Ladies Home Journal

Frieda Wyandt Everett
chief of documentary articles section, International Press and Publications Division, US State Department

Sylvia S. Stone
assistant to research director, Committee for Economic Development

1946
Genevieve Callahan
author

Margaret Cousins
managing editor, Good Housekeeping

Henriette Horak
director, WAC publicity, European Theater

Ann Stroffregen Somerhausen
author, European correspondent

1945
Helen Patterson Hyde
associate journalism professor, University of Wisconsin; author

Katherine Schwaner Kolasa
national director, USO Scrapbook

Malvina Lindsay Pyles
columnist, The Washington Post

1944
Alice Keith
director, National Academy of Broadcasting; author

Marion Spitzer Thompson
screen writer, 20th Century Fox; author

Lt. Cmdr. Hazel Benjamin Reavis White
public information director, SPARS

1943
Dorothy Ducas Herzog
chief of Magazine Division, Office of War Information

Clementine Paddleford
fodd markets editor, New York Herald Tribune

Inez Callaway Robb
war correspondent, International News Service

1942
No awards given

1941
Ruby A. Black
staff writer, United Press

Frances Elizabeth Cavanah
author, children's books

Wright Shakespeare Myrick
Novelist

1940
Beatrice Blackmar Gould
co-editor, Ladies Home Journal

Mary Margaret McBride
special reporter, CBS

Daphne Alloway McVicker
short story writer

1939
Thelma Strabel Gdwin
author, light fiction

Lois Seyster Montross
author, light fiction

Martha Cheavans Shuck
author, light fiction