The IAFA Distinguished Scholarship Award is an annual career award, presented annually since 1986, recognizing distinguished contributions to the scholarship and criticism of the fantastic.
| Constance Penley | 2013 |
| Jeffrey J. Cohen | 2012 |
| Andrea Hairston | 2011 |
| Takayuki Tatsumi | 2010 |
| Maria Nikolajeva | 2009 |
| Roger Luckhurst | 2008 |
| Jane Donawerth | 2007 |
| M. Thomas Inge | 2006 |
| Damien Broderick | 2005 |
| Marcial Souto | 2004 |
| S. T. Joshi | 2003 |
| Roderick McGillis | 2002 |
| Brooks Landon | 2001 |
| Nina Auerbach | 2000 |
| John Clute | 1999 |
| Gary K. Wolfe | 1998 |
| N. Katherine Hayles | 1997 |
| T. A. Shippey | 1996 |
| Peter Hunt | 1995 |
| James Flannery | 1994 |
| Sir Devendra P. Varma | 1993 |
| Jack Zipes | 1992 |
| Brian Attebery | 1991 |
| H. Bruce Franklin | 1990 |
| C. N. Manlove | 1989 |
| Kathryn Hume | 1988 |
| Brian Stableford | 1987 |
| Brian W. Aldiss | 1986 |
Brian W. Aldiss accepting the first IAFA Distinguished Scholarship Award, 1986, photo by Robert A. Collins, courtesy of FAU Special Collections, Robert A. Collins Collection
