The Distinguished Service Award is the highest honour bestowed upon an individual by the Board of Governors. Distinguished Service Awards are awarded by the Board of Governors on the basis of distinguished contributions to Manitoba in areas which are of major interest to the University of Manitoba, and/or which are directly associated with the University.
| Year | Name |
| October, 2010 | Martin Sidney Weinberg |
| October, 2009 | Allen M. Snyder |
| May, 2009 | K. Garry Bolton |
| Mark Evans | |
| Conrad Wyrzykowski | |
| May, 2005 | Donald W. Whitmore |
| May, 2004 | Helen Hayles |
| Kerry Hawkins | |
| May, 2003 | Mary Richard |
| H. David Graves | |
| Marjorie Blankstein | |
| Leo Ledohowski | |
| October, 2002 | Kevin Kavanagh |
| May, 2002 | John W. Dafoe |
| Joseph N. Du | |
| October, 2001 | Maureen J. Dowds |
| May, 2000 | Keith G Findlay |
| May, 1997 | Tom Dooley |
| May, 1996 | John Cameron Brown |
| May, 1994 | Arnold Gerald Rogers |
| May, 1993 | Shirley Ann Lyon |
| Glenn H. Nickholls | |
| May, 1992 | Henry Edmison Duckworth |
| October, 1991 | Jannice A. Dick |
| May, 1991 | Yhetta Miriam Gold |
| W. Ralph Bullock | |
| May, 1988 | John Enns |
| May, 1987 | Russell Hood |
| G. Campbell MacLean | |
| May, 1986 | William Clyde Perry |
| Anne G. Ross | |
| October, 1985 | Arthur James Vincent |
| May, 1985 | Arthur Edmund Hall |
| Shirlee Anne Smith | |
| Winnifred Van Slyck | |
| May, 1984 | John James Murta |
| Betty Havens | |
| Clair William Miller | |
| May, 1983 | Sister Geraldine MacNamara |
| John Earl Abra | |
| October, 1982 | Earle Brock Pollard |
| May, 1982 | Wallace Raymond McQuade |
| Arthur Valentine Mauro | |
| James Arthur Coulter | |
| Jessie Hermione Lang |