ASHA's Annie Glenn Award
Annie Glenn became an inspiration to and an advocate for people with communication disorders when she began speaking publicly after receiving life-changing treatment for stuttering. Since 1987, ASHA has annually awarded The Annie Glenn Award to those who demonstrate Mrs. Glenn's spirit by making a positive impact for individuals with communication disorders. The “Annie” is ASHA’s most prestigious public award and is presented at ASHA’s yearly Convention.
ASHA honored Annie Glenn at the 2015 ASHA Convention Annie Award ceremony.
Annie and John Glenn speak about the importance of getting professional help for communication.
The “Annie” Throughout the Years
Throughout the decades, notable figures including actors, athletes, activists, and even television series were honored with the Annie Glenn Award. All have made a difference in raising awareness about communication disorders.
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2025: Ann Friedman Friedman is the founder and CEO of Planet Word museum, a popular language-centered museum that features exhibits that highlight speech and language disorders. |
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2019: Taro Alexander Alexander is the founder of SAY: The Stuttering Association for the Young, an organization that offers multiple programs for youths who stutter, as someone who also stutters. |
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Actor Cedric Yarbrough on what it means to him for Speechless to receive an Annie. |
2017: Speechless (TV Series) Speechless was a television comedy, lasting three seasons, about a nonverbal high school boy with cerebral palsy who communicates with a letter board. |
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2008: Julie Andrews Andrews is an Academy Award-winning actress, known for her leading roles in musical films including Sound of Music and Mary Poppins, who lost her singing voice to vocal-cord scarring and championed research to address the issue. |
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2006: Vonetta Flowers Flowers is an Olympic gold-medal winning bobsled champion who became an advocate for a pioneering auditory brain stem implant surgery that successfully brought hearing to her son who was born deaf. |
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1996: John "Scatman" Larkin Larkin was an internationally renowned recording artist famous for scat singing (a vocal jazz technique) who also had a lifetime stutter. |
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1993: Marlee Matlin Matlin is an actress with profound hearing loss who became known for her many roles playing deaf characters, including an Emmy Award-winning guest appearance on the TV series Seinfeld. |
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1987: James Earl Jones Jones was a prolific dramatic actor, known for his voice roles as Darth Vader in the Star Wars films and Mufasa in The Lion King, who struggled with a stutter in childhood. |
Annie Award Recipients: 1987–2025
- 2025 – Ann Friedman
- 2024 – Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
- 2023 – Nyle DiMarco
- 2022 – Steve and Michel Gleason
- 2021 – Chesley B. (Sully) Sullenberger III
- 2020 – Award not given
- 2019 – Taro Alexander
- 2018 – Daymond John
- 2017 – Speechless (TV Series)
- 2016 – Hearing Education and Awareness for Rockers (H.E.A.R.)
- 2015 – Special recognition of Mrs. Annie Glenn
- 2014 – Bill and Willie Geist
- 2013 – Erik Weihenmayer
- 2012 – Gabrielle Giffords and Mark Kelly
- 2011 – David Seidler
- 2010 – Joey McIntyre
- 2009 – Vice President Joseph Biden Jr. and Mrs. Annie Glenn
- 2008 – Julie Andrews
- 2007 – Bob and Lee Woodruff
- 2006 – Vonetta Flowers
- 2005 – Mick Fleetwood
- 2004 – Jane Seymour
- 2003 – Bob Love
- 2002 – Johnny Bush
- 2001 – Award not given
- 2000 – Jan Curtis
- 1999 – Jenny Craig
- 1998 – Michael Zaslow
- 1997 – I. King Jordan
- 1996 – John "Scatman" Larkin
- 1995 – Heather Whitestone
- 1994 – Larry Brown
- 1993 – Marlee Matlin
- 1992 – Henry C. Rogers
- 1991 – Lane Davis
- 1990 – William Meredith
- 1989 – Phyllis Frelich
- 1988 – Jackie Torrence
- 1987 – James Earl Jones
Flight of the Annie
The Annie Award has even left Earth’s atmosphere. In 2018, NASA astronaut Andrew Feustel carried an Annie replica to the International Space Station to celebrate the importance of communication and the work of audiologists and speech-language pathologists. Read about 'Annie' and an Astronaut (The ASHA Leader) and watch a video of the launch.
Astronaut Drew Feustel during Expedition 56, where he transported a replica of the “Annie” to the International Space Station.
John and Annie Glenn and Annie Award winners Gabby Giffords and astronaut Mark Kelly with speech-language-pathologist Indira Feustel and astronaut Drew Feustel.
If you would like to recommend a public personality who deserves recognition from the Annie Glenn Award, please send your suggestion and justification to pr@asha.org.
