Awarded annually for major scientific contributions to the prevention or treatment of lung disease, the Trudeau Medal was established in 1926. It is named in honor of Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau, the first president of the American Lung Association. The recipient each year is selected by a committee appointed by the American Thoracic Society president. Below are the past and current Trudeau Medalists.

1926	Theobald Smith, MD
1927	Edward R. Baldwin, MD
1928	Sir Robert Philip
1929	Eugene L. Opie, MD
1930	Henry Sewall, MD
1931	Allen K. Krause, MD
1932	Esmond R. Long, MD
1933	Lawrason Brown, MD
1934	William Snow Miller, MD
1935	Leroy U. Gardner, MD
1936	Edward W. Archibald, MD
1937	Charles J. Hatfield, MD
1938	Florence B. Seibert, PhD
1939	Gerald B. Webb, MD
1940	William Charles White, MD
1941	John Alexander, MD
1942	Emily P. Bissell
1943	David R. Lyman, MD
1944	James Alexander Miller, MD
1945	Florence R. Sabin, MD
1946	Max Pinner, MD
1947	Kendall Emerson, MD
1948	Rudolph J. Anderson, PhD
1949	Howard W. Bosworth, MD
1950	John B. Barnwell, MD
1951	Rene J. Dubos, PhD
1952	J. Burns Amberson, MD
1953	James J. Waring, MD
1954	Edgar M. Medlar, MD
1955	William H. Foldman, DVM
1956	Max B. Lurie, MD
1957	David T. Smith, MD
1958	H. Corwin Hinshaw, MD
1959	Edith M. Lincoln, MD
1960	Arnold R. Rich, MD
1961	Selman A. Waksman, PhD
1962	John D. Steele, MD
1963	Walsh McDermott, MD
1964	Carroll E. Palmer, MD
1965	William Steenken, DSc
1966	William B. Tucker, MD
1967	Leon H. Schmidt, PhD
1968	Dickinson W. Richards, MD
1969	Katharine R. Boucot Sturgis, MD
1970	Richard L. Riley, MD
1971	André F. Cournand, MD
1972	Shirley Ferebee Woolpert
1973	Julia M. Jones, MD
1974	Julius H. Comroe, Jr., MD
1975	Ronald V. Christie, MD
1976	H. Stuart Willis, MD
1977	Alvan L. Barach, MD
1978	Theodore L. Badger, MD
1979	Oscar Auerbach, MD
1980	Roger S. Mitchell, MD
1981	Edward A. Gaensler, MD
1982	John A. Clements, MD
1983	Gladys L. Hobby, PhD
1984	Mary Ellen Avery, MD
1985	Hermann Rahn, PhD
1986	Emanuel Wolinsky, MD
1987	George Willis Comstock, MD
1988	William W. Stead, MD
1989	Arthur B. DuBois, MD
1990	Jeremiah Mead, MD
1991	Lynne McArthur Reid, MD
1992	Solbert Permutt, MD
1993	David V. Bates, MD
1994	John F. Murray, MD
1995	Robert F. Grover. MD, PhD
1996	Roland H. Ingram, Jr., MD
1997	Jay A. Nadel, MD
1998	Reuben M. Cherniack, MD
1999	Peter T. Macklem, MD
2000	Joseph H. Bates, MD
2001	Alfred P. Fishman, MD
2002	John B. West, MD
2003	Gerard M. Turino, MD
2004	Philip C. Hopewell, MD
2005	Michael D. Iseman, MD
2006	Joseph Milic-Emili, MD
2007	Talmadge E. King, Jr., MD
2008	Marvin I. Schwarz, MD
2009	Leonard D. Hudson, MD
2010	A. Sonia Buist, MD
2011	Steven A. Sahn, MD
2012	David M. Center, MD
2013	Jonathan M. Samet, MD, MS