The Distinguished Achievement Award recognizes outstanding contribution(s) to fighting pulmonary disease, critical illness and sleep disorders through research, education, patient care, or advocacy and acknowledges exemplary professionalism, collegiality and citizenship in lung health and the research community.
| 1994 | Katherine H.K. Hsu, MD | |
| 1995 | Sol Katz, MD | Thomas L. Petty, MD |
| 1996 | Robert B. Mellins, MD | Robert O. Crapo, MD |
| 1997 | Alan K. Pierce, MD | Margaret R. Becklake, MD |
| 1998 | Robert M. Senior, MD | Ann J. Woolcock, MD |
| 1999 | No awards presented | |
| 2000 | Joseph R. Rodarte, MD | |
| 2001 | Mary Ellen B. Wohl, MD | Roberta M. Goldring, MD |
| 2002 | Robert M. Rogers, MD | Lynn Taussig, MD |
| 2003 | Kenneth L. Brigham, MD | A. Charles Bryan, MBBS |
| 2004 | Ronald M. Davis, MD | Lawrence D.H. Wood, MD, PhD |
| 2005 | Frank E. Speizer, MD | Martin J. Tobin, MD |
| 2006 | James H. Dauber, MD | Karlman Wasserman, MD, PhD |
| 2007 | Francois Lemaire, MD | David J. Pierson, MD |
| 2008 | Moira Chan-Yeung, MBBS | Kingman P. Strohl, MD |
| 2009 | Richard W. Light, MD | Richard C. Boucher, MD |
| 2010 | Jacques H. Grosset, MD | Robert A. Wise, MD |
| 2011 | John J. Marini, MD | J.A. Peter Pare, MD |
| 2012 | Francis X. McCormack Jr., MD | Galen B. Toews, MD |
| 2013 | Polly E. Parsons, MD | Alan L. Plummer, MD |
| 2014 | Bonnie Ramsey, MD | William Rom, MD, MPH |
| 2015 | Steven H. Abman, MD | Paul M. Quinton, PhD |
| 2016 | Claire M. Doerschuk, MD | J. Usha Raj, MD |
| 2017 | Jack Gauldie, PhD, DSc | Steven D. Shapiro, MD |
| 2018 | Qutayba Hamid, MBChB, PhD | Monica Kraft, MD |
| 2019 | John Hansen-Flaschen, MD, ATSF | Meir Kryger, MD |
| 2020 | John R. Balmes, MD | Anne E. Dixon, MA, BM BCh, ATSF |
| 2021 | Antonino Catanzaro, MD | Theodore F. Reiss, MD, MBE, ATSF |
