Based on merit, the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Award was established in Fall 1985 to recognize an outstanding untenured Maxwell School faculty member. New York State's senior U.S. senator Daniel P. Moynihan, who taught political science at the Maxwell School from 1959 to 1961, provided the endowment for the annual award.

1997 – Professor Christopher DeCorse

1996 – Professor Richard Grant

1995 – Professor John Burdick

1994 – Professor Douglas Wolf

1993 – Professor Rosemary O'Leary & Professor Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn

1992 – Professor Mark Rupert

1991 – Professor Marjorie DeVault

1990 – Professor Dennis Romano

1989 – Professor Douglas Armstrong

1988 – No Award Given

1988 – Professor John Charles Western & Professor Jan Ivar Ondrich

July 18, 1986 – Professor Stuart Bretschneider, Public Administration
First Recipient