The Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Award honors Fulbright alumni whose distinguished careers and civic and cultural contributions have sought to expand the boundaries of human wisdom, empathy, and perception. Recipients of the Award show exemplary commitments to creative leadership and liberal education. The Achievement Award was first presented in 2000.

2000:
Arlene Alda (Fulbright to Germany, 1954)
Barbara Knowles Debs (Fulbright to Italy, 1953)
Richard A. Debs (Fulbright to Egypt, 1952)

2002:
Jean-Pierre Garnier (Fulbright to the U.S., 1974)
Thomas R. Pickering (Fulbright to Australia, 1956)
Ruth Simmons (Fulbright to France, 1967; Germany, 1981)

2005:
Hilda Ochoa-Brillembourg (Fulbright to the U.S., 1971)
Rita E. Houser (Fulbright to France, 1954)
John Mendelsohn (Fulbright to Scotland, 1958)

2007:
Shirley Kenny (Fulbright to the UK, 1957)
Craig R. Barrett (Fulbright to Denmark, 1972)
John Hope Franklin (Fulbright to the UK, 1954; Australia, 1960; Zimbabwe, 1986)

2009:
Ruth Owades (Fulbright to France, 1967)
Philip Glass (Fulbright to France, 1965)
Rita Dove (Fulbright to Germany, 1974)

2011:
John Lithgow (Fulbright to England, 1967)
Milton Glaser (Fulbright to Italy, 1952)
Renee Fleming (Fulbright to Germany, 1985)

2015:
Maurizio Gianturco (Fulbright to the U.S., 1953)

2016:
Richard T. Arndt (Fulbright to France, 1949)

2017:
David Bradley (Fulbright to the Philippines, 1977)

2018:
Rebecca Macieira-Kaufmann (Fulbright to Finland)