| Year | President | Conference Location |
| 2010 | Roy Hanashiro | Ohio State University |
| 2009 | Robert Entenmann | Miami University Ohio (http://montgomery.cas.muohio.edu/mcaa/) |
| 2008 | Yasuko Ito Watt | St. Olaf and Carleton Colleges (http://www.stolaf.edu/events/mcaa/) |
| 2007 | Linda Johnson | Washington University - St. Louis (http://artsci.wustl.edu/~eas/mcaa/) |
| 2006 | Aparajita Sagar | University of Wisconsin-Madison (http://seasia.wisc.edu/mcaa/) |
| 2005 | Jacquetta Hill | Michigan State University, East Lansing (http://www.asianstudies.msu.edu/MCAA/mcaa_54th/topPage.htm) |
| 2004 | James L. Huffman | University of Minnesota, Minneapolis-St. Paul (http://www.hist.umn.edu/mcaa/MCAAindex.html) |
| 2003 | Parks M. Coble | Illinois State University, Normal |
| 2002 | Gerald J. Larson | Wittenberg University, Springfield, OH |
| 2001 | Sally A. Hastings | University of Nebraska, Lincoln |
| 2000 | David Buck | Indiana University, Bloomington |
| 1999 | Richard M. Cooler | Michigan State University, East Lansing |
| 1998 | Louis G. Perez | University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee |
| 1997 | Daniel H. Bays | Northern Illinois University, DeKalb |
| 1996 | Eleanor M. Zelliot | University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign |
| 1995 | David Plath | University of Missouri-St. Louis |
| 1994 | Winston Hsieh | Western Illinois University, Macomb |
| 1993 | Donald Emmerson | John Carroll University, Cleveland |
| 1992 | Koji Taira | University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh |
| 1991 | Adrian Bennett | University of Iowa, Iowa City |
| 1990 | Stephen Cohen | Indiana University, Bloomington |
| 1989 | Rita Kipp | Michigan State University, East Lansing |
| 1988 | Mikiso Hane | University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| 1987 | Ted Farmer | St. Olaf and Carleton Colleges, Northfield, MN |
| 1986 | Harold Gould | University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign |
| 1985 | Carl Landes | Miami University, Oxford, OH |
| 1984 | Bonnie Oh | Washington University, St. Louis |
| 1983 | Willard Elsbree | University of Kansas, Lawrence |
| 1982 | Manindra Verma | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor |
| 1981 | Marleigh Ryan | University of Missouri-Columbia |
| 1980 | Samuel Chu | University of Iowa, Iowa City |
| 1979 | Clark D. Neher | Ohio State University, Columbus |
| 1978 | Barbara Ramusack | University of Nebraska, Lincoln |
| 1977 | Iwao Ishino | Northern Illinois University, DeKalb |
| 1976 | Byron Marshall | University of Minnesota, Minneapolis-St. Paul |
| 1975 | Robert Crawford | Ohio University, Athens |
| 1974 | Grant K. Goodman | University of Kansas, Lawrence |
| 1973 | Barbara Teters | Michigan State University, East Lansing |
| 1972 | Bernard Karsh | University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign |
| 1971 | John Kie-chang Oh | University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| 1970 | David Wurfel | Indiana University, Bloomington |
| 1969 | Fred von der Mehden | Oklahoma state University, Stillwater |
| 1968 | Jackson Bailey | Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo |
| 1967 | Stanley Spector | University of Kansas, Lawrence |
| 1966 | George M. Beckmann | Wartburg College, Waverly, IA |
| 1965 | Earl Swisher | University of Colorado, Boulder |
| 1964 | Ping-chia Kuo | Southern Illinois University, Carbondale |
| 1963 | Fred Parrish | University of Nebraska, Lincoln |
| 1962 | Yahva Armajami | Washington University, St. Louis |
| 1961 | Solomon B. Levine | Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA |
| 1960 | Sidney D. Brown | University of Oklahoma, Norman |
| 1959 | Robert K. Sakai | University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign |
| 1958 | Mitchell Smith | University of Missouri-Columbia |
| 1957 | Rudolph Bjorgan | Macalester College, St. Paul, MN |
| 1956 | Alfred Crofts | University of Kansas, Lawrence |
| 1955 | Haridas Muzumdar | Kansas State University, Manhattan |
| 1954 | Oswald P. Backus III | University of Nebraska, Lincoln |
| 1953 | Percy Buchanan | University of Kansas, Lawrence |
| 1952 | Percy Buchanan (Founder) | University of Oklahoma, Norman |
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