| 1929 |
The Zamindar of Seithur |
| 1930 |
Her Highness the Junior Maharani of Travancore |
| 1931 |
Sir C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer, K.C.S.I |
| 1932 |
Hon. Dr. Raja Sir Annamalai Chettiar, Raja of Chittinad |
| 1933 |
Dr. Sir C.V. Raman, M.A. Ph.D., F.RS. |
| 1934 |
Raja Sir M.A. Muthiah Chettiar |
| 1935 |
The Rt. Hon. VS. Srinivasa Sastri, P.C., C.H., LL-D |
| 1936 |
Sir PS. Sivaswamy Iyer, K.C.S.I |
| 1937 |
Hon. Sri C. Rajagopalachari |
| 1938 |
His Highness the Yuvaraja of Mysore, G.C.I.E., |
| 1939 |
Sir R.K. Shanmukham Chettiar K.C.I.E |
| 1940 |
His Highness the Maharajah of Travancore, G.C.I.E., D. Litt. |
| 1941 |
Maharajah of Pithapuram |
| 1942 |
Sri M. Venkatasubba Rao, Kt. |
| 1943 |
Dr. Sir S. Radhakrishnan |
| 1944 |
Dr. R.M. Alagappa Chettiar, Kt. |
| 1945 |
The Rajah of Ramnad |
| 1946 |
Dr.U. Rama Rao |
| 1947 |
The Rajah of Sivaganga |
| 1948 |
H.E. the Maharajah of Bhavanagar, Governor of Madras |
| 1949 |
Hon. Sri PS. Kumaraswamy Raja |
| 1950 |
Her Highness the Maharani of Bhavanagar |
| 1951 |
Sri T.R. Venkatarama Sastri, CLE |
| 1952 |
H.E. Sri Prakasa, Governor of Madras |
| 1953 |
Hon. Dr.B.V. Keskar |
| 1954 |
Hon. Sri T.T. Krishnamachari |
| 1955 |
Hon. Dr.C.D. Deshmukh |
| 1956 |
Hon. Sri Moraji Desai |
| 1957 |
His Highness the Maharajah of Mysore |
| 1958 |
H.E. Sri Bishnuram Medhi, Governor of Madras |
| 1959 |
Hon. Dr. Humayun Kabir |
| 1960 |
Hon. Dr.P.V. Rajamannar |
| 1961 |
Sir V.T. Krishnamachariar, K.C.S.I |
| 1962 |
Hon. Sri M. Bhaktavatsalam |
| 1963 |
Hon. Sri K. Kamaraj |
| 1964 |
Sri G.D. Birla |
| 1965 |
Hon. Sri R. Venkataraman |
| 1966 |
H.E. Sardar Ujjal Singh, Governor of Madras |
| 1967 |
Hon. Dr.B. Gopala Reddy |
| 1968 |
Maharani Setu Parvati Bai |
|
| 1969 |
Sri T.S. Rajam |
| 1970 |
H.E. Sri V. Viswanathan, Governor of Kerala |
| 1971 |
H.E. Sri K.K. Shah, Governor of Madras |
| 1972 |
Rashtrapathi Sri V.V. Giri |
| 1973 |
Dr. Bharat Ram |
| 1974 |
Hon. Sri C. Subramaniam |
| 1975 |
Hon. Dr. Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi |
| 1976 |
Hon. Dr. Karan Singh |
| 1977 |
Smt. Rukmini Devi |
| 1978 |
Hon. Sri M.G. Ramachandran |
| 1979 |
Hon. Sri M. Hidayatullah |
| 1980
|
H.E. Sadiq Ali, Governor of
Tamil Nadu |
| 1981 |
Sri C.V. Narasimhan |
| 1982 |
Hon. Sri R. Venkataraman |
| 1983 |
Smt. Sheila Kaul |
| 1984 |
Dr.M.A.M. Ramaswamy |
| 1985 |
H.E. Sri S.L. Khurana, Governor of Tamil Nadu |
| 1986 |
Sangita Kalanidhi Semmangudi Sri R. Srinivasa Iyer |
| 1987 |
Sangita Kalanidhi Dr.M.S. Subbulakshmi |
| 1988 |
H.E. Dr.P.C. Alexander, Governor of Tamil Nadu |
| 1989 |
Sangita Kalanidhi Smt. D.K. Pattammal |
| 1990 |
Sri R.P. Goenka |
| 1992 |
H.E. Bhishma Narain Singh, Governor of Tamil Nadu |
| 1993 |
Sri Niranjan Desai |
| 1994 |
H.E. Dr.M. Channa Reddy, Governor of Tamil Nadu |
| 1995 |
Sri G.V. Ramakrishna |
| 1996 |
Hon. Dr. Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi |
| 1997 |
H.E. Fathima Beevi, Governor of Tamil Nadu |
| 1998 |
H.E. Dr.C. Rangarajan, Governor of Andhra Pradesh |
| 1999 |
His Highness Padmanabha Dasa Sri Marthanda Varma Maharaja of Travancore |
| 2000 |
Smt. Ranjana Kumar |
| 2001 |
Hon. Justice B. Subhashan Reddy, Chief Justice of Madras |
| 2002 |
Rashtrapati Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam |
| 2003 |
Sri Krishnaraj Vanavarayar, |
| 2004 |
Hon. Justice (Retd.) Sri K.S.Baktavatsalam |
| 2005 |
Hon. Dr.J. Jayalalithaa * |
| 2006 |
Justice Shri A.P. Shah |
| 2007 |
Sri. N. R. Narayana Murthy, Chairman & Chief Mentor, Infosys Technologies Ltd., |
| 2008 |
|
| * Could not participate due to unforeseen circumstances |
|
