2019	DAVID TSE	“For seminal contributions to wireless network information theory and wireless network systems.”
2018	ERDAL ARIKAN	“For contributions to information and communications theory, especially the discovery of polar codes and polarization techniques.”
2017	SHLOMO SHAMAI	“For fundamental contributions to information theory and wireless communications.”
2016	ABBAS EL GAMAL	“For contributions to network multi-user information theory and for wide ranging impact on programmable circuit architectures.”
2015	IMRE CSISZAR	“For contributions to information theory, informationtheoretic security, and statistics.”
2014	THOMAS RICHARDSON and RÜDIGER URBANKE	“For fundamental contributions to coding theory, iterative information processing, and applications.”
2013	ROBERT CALDERBANK	“For fundamental contributions to coding theory that impacted voice-band modems and wireless communication.”
2012	MICHAEL G. LUBY and AMIN SHOKROLLAHI	“For the conception, development, and analysis of practical rateless codes.”
2011	TOBY BERGER	“For contributions to Information Theory, including source coding and its applications.”
2010	WHITFIELD DIFFIE and MARTIN HELLMAN and RALPH MERKLE	“For the invention of public key cryptography and its application to secure communications.”
2009	PETER FRANASZEK	“For pioneering contributions to the theory and practice of constrained channel coding.”
2008	SERGIO VERDU	“For fundamental contributions to information theory and the development of multiuser detection.”
2007	ABRAHAM LEMPEL	“For pioneering work in data compression especially the Lempel-Ziv algorithm.”
2006	VLADIMIR I. LEVENSHTEIN	“For contributions to the theory of error-correcting codes and information theory, including the Levenshtein distance.”
2005	NEIL J.A. SLOANE	"For contributions to coding theory and its applications to communications, computer science, mathematics and statistics."
2004	JACK K. WOLF	“For fundamental contributions to the theory and practice of information transmission and storage.”
2003	CLAUDE BERROU and ALAIN GLAVIEUX	“For the invention of turbo codes, which have revolutionized digital communications.”
2002	PETER ELIAS	"For fundamental and pioneering contributions to information theory and its applications."
2001	A.G. (SANDY) FRASER	"For pioneering contributions to the architecture of communication networks through the development of virtual circuit switching technology."
2000	SOLOMON W. GOLOMB	“For fundamental contributions to the theory of shift register sequences and their applications in digital communications."
1999	DAVID A. HUFFMAN	"For design procedures of minimum redundancy (Huffman) codes and asynchronous sequential circuits, and contributions to analysis of visual imagery."
1998	DAVID D. CLARK	"For leadership and major contributions to the architecture of the Internet as a universal information medium"
1997	THOMAS M. COVER	"For fundamental contributions to information and communication theory, statistics and pattern recognition."
1996	MARK S. PINSKER	"For outstanding contributions to information theory, statistical estimation and coding theory."
1995	JACOB ZIV	"For contributions to information theory, and the theory and practice of data compression."
1994	GOTTFRIED UNGERBOECK	"For the development and application of trellis modulation to digital communications."
1993	JORMA J. RISSANEN	"For fundamental contributions to information theory, statistical inference, control theory, and the theory of complexity."
1992	LOTFI A. ZADEH	"For seminal contributions to information science and systems, including the conceptualization of fuzzy sets."
1991	ELWYN R. BERLEKAMP	"For profound contributions to the theory and application of error-correcting codes."
1990	DENNIS M. RITCHIE and KENNETH L. THOMPSON	"For the origination of the UNIX operating system and the C programming language."
1989	IRVING S. REED	"For contributions to multiple error-correcting codes, digital computer design, and automatic detection and processing of signals in noise."
1988	RICHARD W. HAMMING	"For exceptional and pioneering contributions to information sciences and systems, and for inspiring generations of researchers in these fields."