Traditional GK

The Ramon Magsaysay Award 

Asia’s Nobel Prize for Honoring Greatness and Inspiring Change

Introduction:

The Ramon Magsaysay Award is Asia's highest honor. It is an annual award given to individuals and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to society. The award was established in April 1957 by the Trustees of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund of New York City, with the consent of the Philippine government, during the administration of former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay, to perpetuate examples of integrity, public service, and pragmatic idealism within a democratic society. It is also known as the "Nobel Prize of Asia."

Table of contents:

• History of the Ramon Magsaysay Award

• Categories of this award

• List of the awardees

• Significance of this award

• History of the Ramon Magsaysay Award:

In May 1957, seven distinguished Filipinos were nominated to form the founding Board of Trustees of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation. This non-profit corporation was responsible for implementing the awards program. Later, the awards foundation included distinguished Asians from all over the Asian continent and the outlying islands. The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation awards these awards to Asians who have achieved excellence in their respective fields. The award is named after Ramon Magsaysay, the seventh President of the Philippines, although he was highly criticized for his dissent and loyalty to the US government while Secretary of Defense and President. Since its inception, the award has been given annually in six categories, namely:

1. Government Service 

2. Public Service 

3. Social Leadership 

4. Journalism, Literature, and Creative Communication Arts 

5. Peace and International Understanding 

6. Emerging Leadership 

Of these, the Emerging Leadership department was closed in 2001 and the remaining five departments in 2009.

• Categories of this award:

Regardless of race, religion, gender, or nationality, the award recognizes individuals and organizations in Asia who have distinguished themselves in their respective fields and generously helped others without any expectation of reward. The awardees are selected based on the following criteria:

• Demonstrating integrity, transparency, and strong ethical principles in their work.

• Innovative and sustainable change in society.

• Providing bold leadership in addressing social issues.

• Prioritizing the greater good above self-interest.

• Inspiring efforts for social improvement by serving as a model for others through transformative impact.

• Significant contribution to the people of Asia.

• List of the awardees:

The winners of the Ramon Magsaysay Award have come from various regions of Asia and even countries outside Asia. Each of them has served or achieved something special in a different Asian country. As of 2021, a total of twenty-two Asian countries have received the award. However, since 2009, the awards have been discontinued in specific categories, except for Emerging Leaders. The awardees list by year with categories --

Government Service 

1958: Chiang Monlin, from Taiwan, for the Board of Trustees, recognizes his distinguished leadership of the Chinese and American Commission that has been largely instrumental in bringing about significant improvements in the rural life of his countrymen.

1959: Sir Chintaman Dwarakanath Deshmukh, from India, and Jose Vasquez Aguilar, from the Philippines, for their exemplary performance in the service of their respective governments. As our late president regarded government office as a public trust, this ideal has characterized the careers of the one in India and the other in the Philippines."

1960: Not awarded

1961: Raden Kodijat from Indonesia, for his dedicated and skillful direction of the massive yaws eradication effort that is freeing his countrymen from a disfiguring and crippling disease.

1962: Francisca Reyes Aquino from the Philippines, for her original research on Filipino folk dance and music. She also preserves this rich heritage for future generations.

1963: Akhtar Hameed Khan from Pakistan, for his inspiring personal commitment of experience, erudition, and energy to scientific testing and application of a viable pattern for rural reform among his people."

1964: Yukiharu Miki from Japan, for his humanistic foresight in engineering rapid but orderly modernization, assuring well-being for the entire community.

1965: Puey Ungphakorn from Thailand, for his dedication, unquestioned integrity, and high order of professional skill brought to the management of Thailand’s public finance

1966: Fon Saengsingkaew from Thailand, for his far-sighted design in creating and staffing superior mental health services for his country.

1967: Keo Viphakone from Laos, for his sustained initiative and integrity in inaugurating public services for Lao villagers under handicaps that easily could have excused defeat.

1968: Li Kwoh-ting from Taiwan, for his vigorous, rational guidance of Taiwan’s economy, generating one of the world’s most rapid rates of industrial growth.

1969: Hsu Shih-chu from Taiwan, for his enthusiastic yet practical role in establishing Taiwan's rural health, sanitation, and family planning services that are models for developing nations.

1970: No award.

1971: Ali Sadikin of Indonesia, for his innovation, foresight, and compassion in the design and management of modern administration, and for providing a sense of enhanced well-being within a vibrant community of residents of the Indonesian capital.

1988: Miriam Defensor Santiago from the Philippines, for bold and moral leadership in cleaning up a graft-ridden government agency.

Public Service

1958: Mary Rutnam from Canada and Sri Lanka, for her gift of service to the Ceylonese people and the example she has set by her full life of dedication as a private citizen to the needs of others.

1959: Joaquin Vilallonga, S.J. from Spain and the Philippines, and Tee Tee Luce from Myanmar, for their compassionate concern for others whom society had cast aside.

1960: Henry Holland from the United Kingdom and Pakistan, & Ronald from Holland, for the selfless dedication of their renowned surgical skills to combat the blight of blindness in a remote hinterland.

1961: Nilawan Pintong from Thailand, for her volunteer participation and leadership in developing constructive civic enterprises that have given women a new and creative role in Thailand.

1962: Horace Kadoorie from the United Kingdom and Lawrence Kadoorie from Hong Kong, for their practical philanthropy working in partnership with the government and struggling cultivators to promote rural welfare in the Colony of Hong Kong.

1963: Helen Kim from South Korea, for her indomitable role in the emancipation and education of Korean women and sustained participation in civic affairs, symbolizing to Korean women their awakening.

1964: Nguyễn Lạc Hoá from Vietnam, for his extraordinary valor in defense of freedom, strengthening among a beleaguered people the resolution to resist tyranny.

1965: Jayaprakash Narayan, India, for his constructive articulation of a public conscience for modern India.

1966: Kim Yong-ki from South Korea, for his example of Christian principles practically applied to improve agriculture and imbue rural life with new joy and dignity.

1967: Sithiporn Kridakorn from Thailand, for vigorously defending the interests of Thai farmers, critically challenging government policies with the pragmatism of a man who knows the soil.

1968: Seiichi Tobata from Japan, for his incisive contributions toward the modernization of Japan's agriculture and the sharing of its experience with developing nations.

1969: Kim Hyung-seo from South Korea, for his sturdy, productive leadership of fellow refugees and other landless countrymen in reclaiming for themselves new agricultural land from the sea.

1970: No award.

1971: Pedro Orata from the Philippines, for his 44 years of creative work in education, particularly his conception and promotion of barrio high schools for rural Filipino youth.

1972: Cecile Guidote-Alvarez & Gilopez Kabayao from the Philippines, for their leadership in the renaissance of the performing arts, giving a new cultural context to popular life.

1973: Bishop Antonio Fortich, D.D., and Benjamin Gaston from the Philippines for their engineering of an experiment in rural development giving small, indebted farmers in Dacongcogan Valley control of their livelihood and new hope.

1974: Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi from India, for her exalting rendition of devotional songs and magnanimous support of numerous public causes in India over four decades.

1975: Phra Chamroon Parnchand from Thailand, for curing thousands of drug addicts with unorthodox yet efficacious herbal and spiritual treatment in his monastery.

1976: Hermenegild Joseph Fernandez from France & Sri Lanka, for his effective teaching of skills, values, and discipline that build underprivileged and delinquent boys into self-respecting, useful citizens.

1977: Fe Villanueva Del Mundo from the Philippines, for her lifelong dedication and pioneering spirit as a physician extraordinary to needy Filipino children.

1978: Prateep Ungsongtham Hata from Thailand, for bringing learning, better health, and hope to impoverished children otherwise denied services in the portside slum of Klong Toey.

1979: Chang Kee-ryo from South Korea, for his practical, personal Christian charity in founding the Blue Cross Medical Cooperative in Pusan, giving the poor the right to quality healthcare."

1980: Ohm Dae-sup from South Korea, for his abiding commitment toward making knowledge a tool for life-betterment in rural Korea.

1981: Johanna Sunarti Nasution from Indonesia, for her leadership of a volunteer movement, institutionalizing social services through cooperation by diverse civic and religious groups, schools, and government agencies.

1982: Manibhai Desai from India, for his practical fulfillment of a vow made to Mahatma Gandhi 36 years ago to uplift, socially and economically, the poorest villagers.

1983: Fua Hariphitak from Thailand, for preserving and teaching a younger generation the art forms that distinguish Thailand’s unique graphic and architectural heritage.

1984: Thongbai Thongpao from Thailand, for his effective and fair use of his legal skills and pen to defend those who have 'less in life and thus need more in law.

1985: Baba Amte from India, for his work-oriented rehabilitation of Indian leprosy patients and other handicapped outcasts.

1986: Abdul Sattar Edhi & Bilquis Bano Edhi from Pakistan, for giving substance in an Islamic society to the ancient humane commandment that thou art thy brother's keeper.

1987: Hans Bague Jassin from Indonesia, for preserving for Indonesians their literary heritage.

1988: Masanobu Fukuoka from Japan, for his demonstration to small farmers everywhere that natural farming offers a practical, environmentally safe, and bountiful alternative to modern commercial practices and their harmful consequences.

1989: Lakshmi Chand Jain from India, for his informed and selfless commitment to attack India's poverty at the grass-roots level.

1991: Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn from Thailand, for making her royal office an instrument of enlightened endeavor for Thailand, and her sparkling embodiment of the best that is Thai.

1992: Angel Alcala from Philippines, for his pioneering scientific leadership in rehabilitating the coral reefs of the Philippines and in sustaining for Filipinos the natural abundance of their country's marine life.

1993: Banoo Jehangir Coyaji from India, for mobilizing the resources of a modern urban hospital to bring better health and brighter hopes to Maharashtra's rural women and their families.

1994: Mechai Viravaidya from Thailand, for his mounting creative public campaigns in Thailand to promote family planning, rural development and a rigorous, honest, and compassionate response to the plague of AIDS.

1995: Asma Jahangir from Pakistan, for challenging Pakistan to embrace and uphold the principles of religious tolerance, gender equality, and equal protection under the law.

1996: John Woong-Jin Oh, K.B.J. from South Korea, for arousing in Korea a compassion for the poor by personifying the scriptural injunction to Love Thy Neighbor.

1997: Mahesh Chander Mehta from India, for his claim for India's present and future citizens their constitutional right to a clean and healthy environment.

1998: Sophon Suphapong from Thailand, for stimulating Thailand's rural economy by helping hundreds of rural cooperatives and community organizations own and operate their businesses as affiliates of a major Thai oil company.

1999: Rosa Rosal from Philippines, for her lifetime of unstinting voluntary service, inspiring Filipinos to put the needs of others before their own.

2000: Liang Congjie, China, for his courageous pioneering leadership in China's environmental movement and nascent civil society.

2001: Wu Qing from China, for path-breaking advocacy on behalf of women and the rule of law in the People's Republic of China.

2002: Ruth Pfau, F.C.M. from Pakistan, for her lifelong dedication to eradicate leprosy and its stigma in Pakistan, and other loving gifts to her adopted country.

2003: Gao Yaojie from China, for her fervent personal crusade to confront the AIDS crisis in China and to address it humanely.

2004: Jiang Yanyong from China, for his brave stand for truth in China, spurring life-saving measures to confront and contain the deadly threat of SARS.

2005:

1. Teten Masduki from Indonesia, for challenging Indonesians to expose corruption and claim their right to clean government. 

2. Viswanathan Shanta from India, for her leadership of Chennai's Cancer Institute (WIA) as a center of excellence and compassion for the study and treatment of cancer in India.

2006: Park Won-soon from South Korea, for his principled activism fostering social justice, fair business practices, clean government, and a generous spirit in South Korea's young democracy.

2007: Kim Sun-tae from South Korea, for his inspiring ministry of hope and practical assistance to his fellow blind and visually impaired citizens in South Korea.

2008: 

1. Center for Agriculture and Rural Development Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (CARD MRI) from the Philippines, for its successful adaptation of microfinance to the Philippines, providing self-sustaining and comprehensive financial services for half a million poor women and their families. 

2. Therdchai Jivacate from Thailand, for his dedicated efforts in Thailand to provide inexpensive, practical, and comfortable artificial limbs to even the poorest amputees.

Community Leadership

1958: Vinoba Bhave from India, for his furtherance of the cause of arousing his countrymen toward voluntary action in relieving social injustice and economic inequalities.

1959: Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama from Tibet, for his leadership of the Tibetan community's gallant struggle in defense of the sacred religion that is the inspiration of their life and culture.

1960: Tunku Abdul Rahman from Malaysia, for his guidance of a multiracial society through its constitutional struggle for independence, toward communal alliance and national identity.

1961: Gus Borgeest from the United Kingdom & Hong Kong, for his establishment of a model for the resettlement and rehabilitation of refugees that enhances their self-respect and productive capabilities.

1962: Palayil Narayanan from Malaysia & Koesna Poeradiredja from Indonesia, for their championship of the workers' cause through vigorous advancement of responsible and free trade unionism.

1963: Verghese Kurien, Dara Nusserwanji Khurody & Tribhuvandas Kishibhai Patel from India, for their creative coordination of government and private enterprise to improve the supply of essential food and sanitation in one of Asia's largest and most crowded urban complexes and to raise living standards among village producers.

1964: Pablo Torres Tapia from the Philippines, for his steadfast determination in mobilizing the savings of his community to provide workable credit facilities for its productive needs.

1965: Lim Kim San for Singapore, for his marshalling of talents and resources to provide one-fifth of Singapore's burgeoning population with decent, moderately priced housing amidst attractive surroundings.

1966: Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay from India, for her enduring creativity with handicrafts and cooperatives, as in politics, art, and the theater.

1967: Abdul Razak Hussein from Malaysia, a politician administering with quiet, efficient, and innovative urgency the reshaping of his society for the benefit of all.

1968: Silvino Encarnacion & Rosario Encarnacion from the Philippines, for their wise management of an accredited cooperative that soundly improves life in their low-income barrio, without incurring bad debts.

1969: Ahangamage Tudor Ariyaratne from Sri Lanka, for his founding and inspired guidance of the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement, combining voluntary service in meeting village needs with an awakening of man's potential when he cultivates his best instincts."

1970: Not awarded

1971: M.S. Swaminathan from India, for his contributions as a scientist, educator of both students and farmers, and administrator toward generating a new confidence in India’s agricultural capabilities.

1972: Hans Westenberg from the Netherlands & Indonesia, for his practical propagation of new crops and promotion of better methods among Sumatra's small farmers who have learned to trust and profit from his ideas.

1973: Krasae Chanawongse from Thailand, for demonstrating that a doctor dedicated to service can overcome the most stubborn of obstacles in bringing effective health services to neglected and impoverished rural people.

1974: Fusaye Ichikawa from Japan, for her lifetime labors advancing with exemplary political integrity her countrywomen's public and personal freedom.

1975: Lee Tai-Young from South Korea, for her effective service to the cause of equal judicial rights for the liberation of Korean women.

1976: Toshikazu Wakatsuki from Japan, for bringing the most depressed citizens the highest type of technically competent and humanely inspired health care for his country, thus creating a model for rural medicine.

1977: Ela Ramesh Bhatt from India, for making a reality of the Gandhian principle of self-help among the depressed work of forced self-employed women.

1978: Tahrunessa Abdullah from Bangladesh, for leading rural Bangladeshi Muslim women from the constraints of purdah toward more equal citizenship and fuller family responsibility.

1979: Rajanikant Arole & Mabelle Arole from India, for creating a self-sustaining rural health and economic betterment movement in one of the poorer regions of West-Central India.

1980: Fazle Hasan Abed from Bangladesh, for his organizational skill in demonstrating that Bangladeshi solutions are valid for the needs of the rural poor in his burdened country.

1981: Pramod Karan Sethi from India, for the application of his surgical genius and his joining of doctors, craftsmen, and community in a popular program enabling the crippled and limbless to resume near-normal lives.

1982: Chandi Prasad Bhatt from India, for his inspiration and guidance of Chipko Andolan, a unique, predominantly women’s environmental movement, to safeguard wise use of the forest.

1983: Ir. Anton Soedjarwo from Indonesia, for stimulating Javanese villagers to genuine self-reliance with simple, readily applicable appropriate technology.

1984: Muhammad Yunus from Bangladesh, for enabling the neediest rural men and women to make themselves productive with sound group-managed credit.

1985: Zafrullah Chowdhury from Bangladesh, for his engineering of Bangladesh’s new drug policy, eliminating unnecessary pharmaceuticals, and making comprehensive medical care more available to ordinary citizens.

1986: John Vincent Daly, S.J. from the United States and South Korea & Paul Jeong Gu Jei from South Korea, for their education and guidance of the urban poor to create vigorous, humanly sound satellite communities.

1987: Aree Valyasevi from Thailand, for his contribution to improving the diets and promoting the good health of millions of Thai children.

1988: Mohammed Yeasin from Bangladesh, for moving rural Bangladeshis to self-reliance and economic security through an efficiently and honestly managed village cooperative.

1989: Kim Im-soon from South Korea, for nurturing hundreds of abandoned and handicapped children to adulthood in an atmosphere of beauty and love.

1991: Shih Cheng Yen from Taiwan, for reawakening Taiwan’s modern people to the ancient Buddhist teachings of compassion and charity.

1992: Shoaib Sultan Khan from Pakistan, for nurturing self-reliant development and bringing hope to the forgotten peoples of high Pakistan.

1993: Abdurrahman Wahid from Indonesia, for guiding Southeast Asia’s largest Muslim organization as a force for religious tolerance, fair economic development, and democracy in Indonesia.

1994: Sima Samar from Afghanistan, for acting courageously to heal the sick and instruct the young among the Afghan refugee community in Pakistan and her war-torn homeland.

1994: Fei Xiaotong from China, for giving Chinese substance to the modern social sciences and applying them rigorously to the needs of China and its people.

1995: Ho Ming-Teh from Taiwan, for improving rural Taiwan with good deeds and sturdy bridges

1996: Pandurang Shastri Athavale from India, for tapping the ancient wellsprings of Hindu civilization to inspire spiritual renewal and social transformation in modern India.

1997: Eva Fidela Maamo, S.P.C. from the Philippines, for her compelling example in bringing humane assistance and healing arts to the poorest Filipinos.

1998: Nuon Phaly from Cambodia, for her selfless commitment to helping war-traumatized women and children rebuild their spirits and lives in the wake of Cambodia's great national tragedy.

1999: Angela Gomes from Bangladesh, for helping rural Bangladeshi women assert their rights to better livelihoods and gender equality under the law and in everyday life.

2000: Aruna Roy from India, for empowering Indian villagers to claim what is rightfully theirs by upholding and exercising the people's right to information.

2001: Rajendra Singh from India, for leading Rajasthani villagers in the steps of their ancestors to rehabilitate their degraded habitat and bring its dormant river back to life.

2002: Cynthia Maung from Myanmar, for her humane and fearless response to the urgent medical needs of thousands of refugees and displaced persons along the Thailand-Burma border.

2003: Shantha Sinha from India, for guiding the people of Andhra Pradesh to end the scourge of child labor and send all of their children to school.

2004: Prayong Ronnarong from Thailand, for leading fellow farmers in demonstrating that the model of self-reliant local enterprises, supported by active community learning, is the path to rural prosperity in Thailand.

2005: Sombath Somphone from Laos, for his hopeful efforts to promote sustainable development in Laos by training and motivating its young people to become a generation of leaders.

2006: Antonio Meloto & Gawad Kalinga Community Development Foundation from the Philippines, for harnessing the faith and generosity of Filipinos the world over to confront poverty in their homeland and to provide every Filipino the dignity of a decent home and neighborhood.

2007: Mahabir Pun from Nepal, for his innovative application of wireless computer technology in Nepal and bringing progress to remote mountain areas by connecting his village to the global village.

2008: Prakash Amte & Mandakini Amte from India, for enhancing the capacity of the Madia Gonds to adapt positively in today's India through healing and teaching and other compassionate interventions.

Journalism, Literature, and the Creative Communication Arts

1958: Robert McCulloch Dick from the United Kingdom & Philippines and Mochtar Lubis from Indonesia for the courageous and constructive contribution each has made in the profession of journalism as a power for the public good. 

1959: Tarzie Vittachi from Sri Lanka & Edward Michael Law-Yone from Myanmar, for their defense of civil rights and press freedom and their able stewardship of the power of the press, which they have discharged with a sense of responsibility in keeping with the highest traditions of journalism.

1960: Not awarded.

1961: Amitabha Chowdhury from India, for his scrupulous and probing investigative reporting in protection of individual rights and community interests.

1962: Chang Chun-ha from South Korea, for his editorial integrity in the publication of a nonpartisan forum to encourage dynamic participation by intellectuals in national reconstruction.

1963: No award.

1964: Richard Wilson from the United Kingdom & Hong Kong and Kayser Sung from China & Hong Kong, for their accuracy, impartiality, and continuing research for facts and insights in recording Asia’s quest for economic advancement.

1965: Akira Kurosawa from Japan, for his perceptive use of the film to probe the moral dilemma of man amidst the tumultuous remaking of his values and environment in the mid-20th century.

1966: Manna Dey from India, for infusing Indian classical music in a pop framework that ushered in the golden period of Hindi cinema.

1967: Satyajit Ray from India, for his uncompromising use of the film as an art, drawing themes from his native Bengali literature to depict a true image of India.

1968: Tôn Thất Thiện from Vietnam, for his enduring commitment to free inquiry and debate.

1969: Mitoji Nishimoto from Japan, for his 44 years of discerning design of Japan’s superior educational radio and television broadcasting system.

1970: Not awarded.

1971: Prayoon Chanyavongs from Thailand, for his use of pictorial satire and humor for over three decades in unswerving defense of the public interest.

1972: Yasuji Hanamori from Japan, for his cogent advocacy of the interests, rights, and well-being of the Japanese consumer, especially the hard-pressed housewife.

1973: Michiko Ishimure from Japan, as the 'voice of her people' in their struggle against the industrial pollution that has been distorting and destroying their lives.

1974: Zacarias Sarian from the Philippines, for his standards of editing and publishing interesting, accurate, and constructive farm news.

1975: Boobli George Verghese from India, for his superior developmental reporting of Indian society, balancing factual accounts of achievements and shortcomings and carefully researched alternatives.

1976: Sombhu Mitra from India, for creating a relevant theater movement in India by superb production, acting, and writing.

1977: Mahesh Chandra Regmi from Nepal, for his chronicling of Nepal's past and present, enabling his people to discover their origins and delineating national options.

1978: Yoon Suk-joong from South Korea, for more than 1,000 poems and songs that over 40 years have fostered joyful, positive values among Korean children.

1979: L. T. P. Manjusri from Sri Lanka, for his preserving for the people of Sri Lanka and the world the 2,000-year-old tradition of classical art found in their great Buddhist temples.

1980: F. Sionil José from the Philippines, for his intellectual courage and his concern for and encouragement of Asian and other writers and artists, for many of whom his Solidaridad Book Shop is a cultural mecca.

1981: Gour Kishore Ghosh from India, for his sagacious courage and ardent humanism in defense of individual and press freedom amidst pressures and threats from left and right.

1982: Arun Shourie, India, a concerned citizen employing his pen as an effective adversary of corruption, inequality, and injustice.

1983: Marcelline Jayakody from Sri Lanka, for enriching his country's 'world of song and music' with spiritual and human rejoicing.

1984: Rasipuram Krishnaswami Laxman from India, for his incisive, witty, never malicious cartoons illuminating India's political and social issues.

1985: Lino Brocka, Philippines, for making cinema a vital social commentary, awakening public consciousness to disturbing realities of life among the Filipino poor.

1986: Radio Veritas from the Philippines, for its crucial role in using truth to depose an oppressive and corrupt regime and restore Filipino faith in the electoral process.

1987: Diane Ying Yun-peng from Taiwan, for her contribution of economic reporting and business journalism to Taiwan's industrial and commercial vitality.

1988: Ediriweera Sarachchandra from Sri Lanka, for creating modern theater from traditional Sinhalese folk dramas and awakening Sri Lankans to their rich cultural and spiritual heritage.

1989: James Reuter, S.J., from the Philippines, for employing his gifts as a writer, theatrical director, and broadcaster, but most of all as a teacher, to make the performing arts and mass media a vital force for good in the Philippines.

1990: Not awarded.

1991: Kuntagodu Vibhuthi Subbanna from India, for enriching rural Karnataka with the world's best films and the delight and wonder of the living stage.

1992: Ravi Shankar from India, for enriching India and the world with his sublime mastery of the sitar and music that colors the mind.

1993: Bienvenido Lumbera from the Philippines, for asserting the central place of the vernacular tradition in framing a national identity for modern Filipinos.

1994: Abdul Samad Ismail from Malaysia, for applying his intellect and journalistic skills to champion national independence, cultural revival, and democratic nation-building in Malaysia.

1995: Pramoedya Ananta Toer from Indonesia, for illuminating the historical awakening and modern experience of the Indonesian people with brilliant stories.

1996: Nick Joaquin from the Philippines, for exploring the mysteries of the Filipino body and soul in sixty inspired years as a writer.

1997: Mahasweta Devi from India, for her compassionate crusade through art and activism to claim for tribal peoples a just and honorable place in India's national life.

1998: Ruocheng Ying from China, for showcasing China's cultural dialogue and its rich heritage to the world through her brilliant and conservatory life in theater.

1999: 

1. Raul Locsin from the Philippines, for his enlightened commitment to the principle that, above all, a newspaper is a public trust.

2. Lin Hwai-min from Taiwan, for revitalizing the theatrical arts in Taiwan with modern dance that is at once eloquently universal and authentically Chinese.

2000: Atmakusumah Astraatmadja from Indonesia, for his formative role in laying the institutional and professional foundations for a new era of press freedom in Indonesia.

2001: Wannakuwattawaduge Amaradeva from Sri Lanka, for his life of dazzling creativity in the expression of the rich heritage and protean vitality of Sri Lankan music.

2002: Bharat Koirala from Nepal, for developing professional journalism in Nepal and unleashing the democratizing powers of a free media.

2003: Sheila Coronel from the Philippines, for leading a groundbreaking collaborative effort to develop investigative journalism as a critical component of democratic discourse in the Philippines.

2004: Abdullah Abu Sayeed from Bangladesh, for cultivating in the youth of Bangladesh a love for books and their humanizing values through exposure to the great works of Bengal and the world.

2005: Matiur Rahman from Bangladesh, for wielding the power of the press to crusade against acid throwing and to stir Bangladeshis to help its many victims.

2006: Eugenia Duran Apostol from the Philippines, for her courageous example in placing the truth-telling press at the center of the struggle for democratic rights and better government in the Philippines.

2007: Palagummi Sainath from India, for his passionate commitment as a journalist to restore the rural poor to India's consciousness, moving the nation to action.

2008: Akio Ishii from Japan, as a publisher, placed discrimination, human rights, and other difficult subjects squarely in Japan’s public discourse.

Peace and international understanding

1958: Operation Brotherhood from the Philippines, in acknowledgement of the spirit of service to other peoples in a time of need, with which it was conceived and has been carried forward, as well as the international amity it has fostered.

1959: Not awarded

1960: Y.C. James Yen from Taiwan, for his continuing concern for the whole man and molding his social institutions, rather than simply refashioning the physical environment.

1961: Genevieve Caulfield from the United States & Thailand, for her international citizenship and guidance to full and useful lives of those in other lands afflicted like herself.

1962: Mother Teresa, M.C. from Albania & India, for her merciful cognizance of the abject poor of a foreign land, in whose service she has led a new congregation.

1963: Peace Corps in Asia, United States, in recognition of the Peace Corps Volunteers serving in the Near East, Africa, and Latin America.

1964: Welthy Honsinger Fisher from the United States & India for her unstinting personal commitment to the cause of literacy in India and other Asian countries whose teachers have sought her guidance.

1965: Bayanihan Folk Arts Center, Philippines, for their projection of a warm and artistic portrayal of the Filipino people to audiences on five continents. 

1966: Committee for Coordination of Investigations of the Lower Mekong Basin and Cooperating Entities. Cambodia, for purposeful progress toward harnessing one of Asia's greatest river systems, setting aside divisive national interests in deference to regional opportunities.

1967: Shiroshi Nasu, Japan, for his practical humanitarianism, enhancing cooperation in agriculture by learning through multinational experience.

1968: Cooperative for American Relief Everywhere (CARE) United States
 Philippines for its constructive humanitarianism, fostering dignity among the needy in Asia and on three other continents for over 22 years.

1969: International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), United States
 Philippines for its seven years of innovative, interdisciplinary teamwork by Asian and Western scientists, unprecedented in scope, that is achieving radical, rapid advances in rice culture.

1970: No award.

1971: Saburō Ōkita, Japan, for a sustained and forceful advocacy of genuine Japanese partnership in the economic progress of her Asian neighbors.

1972: Not awarded. 

1973: Summer Institute of Linguistics, United States, Philippines for its inspired outreach to non-literate tribespeople, recording and teaching them to read their languages and enhancing their participation in the larger community of man.

1974: William Masterson, S.J. from the United States & Philippines, for multinational education and inspiration of rural leaders, prompting their return to and love of the land.

1975: Patrick James McGlinchey, S.S.C.M.E. Ireland & South Korea for mobilizing international support and foreign volunteers to modernize livestock farming in his adopted country. 

1976: Henning Holck-Larsen, Denmark & India, for his signal contribution towards India's technical modernization, complementing industrialization with human concern.

1977: College of Agriculture, University of the Philippines at Los Baños (UPLB) Philippines for its quality of teaching and research, fostering a sharing of knowledge in modernizing Southeast Asian agriculture.

1978: Soedjatmoko Mangoendiningrat, Indonesia, for his persuasive presentation of the case for developing Asia's basic needs in the councils of world decision-making.

1979: Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Indonesia for its supplanting national jealousies that led to confrontation, with increasingly effective cooperation and goodwill among the neighboring peoples of Southeast Asia.

1980: Shigeharu Matsumoto, Japan, for building constructive relations between Japanese and others through shared knowledge of their diverse histories, needs, and national aspirations.

1981: Augustine Joung Kang, South Korea, for his practical democracy and use of regional cooperation to foster economically and humanly sound credit unions.

1982: Not awarded. 

1983: Aloysius Schwartz, United States & South Korea, for mobilizing European and American support to succor acutely deprived Korean youngsters, homeless elderly, and infirm.

1984: Japan's Jiro Kawakita, for participating in research on the problems of remote Nepalese villagers. This has resulted in practical benefits such as providing drinking water and quick ropeway transport across mountain gorges.

1985: Harold Ray Watson, United States & the Philippines, for encouraging international utilization of the Sloping Agricultural Land Technology created by him and his coworkers to help the poorest of small tropical farmers.

1986: International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR) Philippines for its training of agrarian development workers from four continents, enabling them to share experience and ideas for more effective progress.

1987: Richard William Timm, C.S.C., the United States & Bangladesh for his 35 years of sustained commitment of mind and heart to helping Bangladeshis build their national life.

1988: The Royal Project Thailand, for its concerted national and international effort to curtail opium growing by bringing worthy livelihoods to Thailand’s hill tribes.

1989: Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand, aims to build a new generation of engineers and managers committed to Asia in an environment of academic excellence and regional harmony.

1990: Not awarded. 

1991: The Press Foundation of Asia, in the Philippines, is dedicated to guiding Asia's media to look beyond national borders and speak intelligently on complex issues of regional change and development.

1992: Washington SyCip, Philippine & United States for fostering economic growth and mutual understanding in Asia through professionalism, public-spirited enterprise, and his esteemed example.

1993: Noboru Iwamura, Japan, for heeding the call of the true physician in a lifetime of service to Japan's Asian neighbors.

1994: Eduardo Jorge Anzorena Argentina & Japan for fostering a collaborative search for humane and practical solutions to the housing crisis among Asia’s urban poor.

1995: Asian Institute of Management (AIM), Philippines, to set the region-wide standard for excellence and relevance in training Asians to manage business and development in Asia.

1996: Toshihiro Takami, Japan, for enlisting community leaders from fifty countries in the common cause of secure, sustainable, and equitable livelihoods for the world's rural people.

1997: Sadako Ogata, Japan, for invoking the moral authority of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to insist that behind the right of every refugee to asylum lies the greater right of every person to remain at home in peace.

1998: Corazon Aquino, Philippines, "for giving radiant moral force to the nonviolent movement for democracy in the Philippines and in the world.

1999: Not awarded. 

2000: Jockin Arputham, India, for extending the lessons of community building in India to Southeast Asia and Africa and helping the urban poor of two continents improve their lives by learning from one another.

2001: Ikuo Hirayama, Japan, for his efforts to promote peace and international cooperation by fostering a common bond of stewardship for the world's cultural treasures.

2002: Pomnyun Sunim, South Korea, for his compassionate attention to the human cost of Korea's bitter division and his hopeful appeal for reconciliation.

2003: 

1. Tetsu Nakamura, Japan, for his passionate commitment to easing the pain of war, disease, and calamity among refugees and the mountain poor of the Afghanistan-Pakistan borderlands.

2. Seiei Toyama, Japan, for his twenty-year crusade to green the deserts of China in a spirit of solidarity and peace.

2004: Laxminarayan Ramdas, India, & Ibn Abdur Rehman, Pakistan, for reaching across a hostile border to nurture a citizen-based consensus for peace between Pakistan and India.

2006: Sanduk Ruit Nepal is committed to leading Nepal in developing safe, effective, and affordable methods for cataract surgery, thereby enabling the needy blind to regain their sight even in the poorest countries.

2007: Tang Xiyang, China, for guiding China to meet its mounting environmental crisis by heeding the lessons of its global neighbors and the timeless wisdom of nature itself.

2008: Ahmad Syafi'i Maarif, Indonesia, for guiding Muslims to embrace tolerance and pluralism as the basis for justice and harmony in Indonesia and in the world at large.

Emerging leadership

2001: s

1. Oung Chanthol, Cambodia, for her resolute activism on behalf of working people and their place in Indonesia’s evolving democracy.

2. Dita Indah Sari, Indonesia, for rising courageously to confront and eliminate sex trafficking and gender violence in Cambodia.

2002: Sandeep Pandey, India, for the empowering example of his commitment to the transformation of India's marginalized poor.

2003: Aniceto Guterres Lopes, Timor Leste, for his courageous stand for justice and the rule of law during East Timor’s turbulent passage to nationhood.

2004: Benjamin Abadiano, Philippines, for his steadfast commitment to indigenous Filipinos and their hopes for peace and better lives consonant with their hallowed ways of life.

2005: Hye-Ran Yoon, South Korea, for her catalytic role in enabling Cheonan's civil society to exercise its social responsibilities dynamically and democratically.

2006: Arvind Kejriwal, India, for activating India's Right to Information movement at the grassroots level, for empowering New Delhi's poorest citizens to fight corruption, and for holding the government accountable to the people.

2007: 

1. Chen Guangcheng, China, for his irrepressible passion for justice in leading ordinary Chinese citizens to assert their legitimate rights under the law.

2. Chung To, the United States & Hong Kong, for his proactive and compassionate response to AIDS in China and the needs of its most vulnerable victims.

2008: Ananda Galappatti, Sri Lanka, for his spirited personal commitment to bring appropriate and effective psychosocial services to survivors of war and natural disasters in Sri Lanka.

2009: Ka Hsaw Wa Myanmar, for dauntlessly pursuing nonviolent yet effective channels of redness, exposure, and education for the defense of human rights, the environment, and democracy in Burma.

2010: No award.

2011: For her tireless work with villagers in Maharashtra, India, organizing them to successfully confront both their aspirations and adversities and instilling confidence in the possibility of improving their own lives, Neelima Mishra, India, has been awarded for her purpose-driven enthusiasm.

2012: Ambrosius Ruwindrizarto of Indonesia, for his sustained support for community-based natural resource management in Indonesia, for leading bold campaigns to stop illegal forest exploitation, and for new social initiatives to engage forest communities as their full partners.

2013: Not awarded.

2014: Randy Halasan of the Philippines, for his purposeful dedication to nurturing his Matigsalug students and their communities to transform their lives through quality education and sustainable livelihoods, respecting their uniqueness and preserving their integrity as indigenous peoples in the modernization of the Philippines.

2015: Sanjiv Chaturvedi, India, for his exemplary integrity, courage, and tenacity in uncompromisingly exposing and painstakingly investigating corruption in public office and his resolute crafting of program and system improvements to ensure that government honorably serves the people of India.

2016: Thodur Madabusi Krishna, India, for his forceful commitment as an artist and advocate to art’s power to heal India's deep social divisions, breaking barriers of caste and class to unleash what music has to offer not just for some but for all.

2017 - 18: No award.

2019: Ko Swe Win Myanmar, for his undaunted commitment to practicing independent, ethical, and socially engaged journalism in Myanmar, for his incorruptible sense of justice and unflinching pursuit of the truth in crucial but underreported issues, and for his resolute insistence that it is in the quality and force of media's truth-telling that we can convincingly protect human rights in the world.

2020 - 21: Not awarded due to pandemic.

2022: Gary Bencheghib, France & Indonesia, for his inspiring fight against marine plastic pollution, an issue at once intensely local as well as global; his youthful energies in combining nature, adventure, video, and technology as weapons for social advocacy; and his creative, risk-taking passion that is truly a shining example for the youth and the world.

2023: Korvi Rakshand, Bangladesh, for his courage, vision, and dedication to education and social change. He founded the JAAGO Foundation in 2007, which provides free, quality, and government-recognized English-language education to over 30,000 underprivileged students across Bangladesh. He also inspired thousands of young people to join his cause of social transformation.

2024: Farwiza Farhan from Indonesia.

• Significance of this award:

The Ramon Magsaysay Award is given as a symbol of integrity, courage, and selfless service. Therefore, its significance in highlighting the power of dedicated leadership, principled governance, and grassroots activism is immense. It serves as a beacon of hope and inspiration for future generations. The important implications of this award are:

• Recognizing deserving individuals: Providing global recognition to individuals and organizations that bring about change in their communities.

• Inspiring future generations: Encouraging social progress by honoring transformative individuals.

• Promoting democratic values: In many cases, awardees help strengthen the principles of democracy and justice.

• Establishing regional cooperation: The award promotes unity and cooperation among Asian countries.

• Encouraging positive change: It provides a global platform for individuals engaged in selfless service, raising awareness and support for their causes.

Conclusion:

The Ramon Magsaysay Award was established to uphold the ideals of integrity, compassion, and selfless service. It honors exceptional contributions and has a significant role in guiding individuals and organizations towards a better and more just society. The award is also known as Asia's version of the Nobel Prize.