The J Lawton Smith Award is given out each year at the COS Annual Meeting to an ophthalmologist who has shown a lifetime commmitment to serving the Lord through their personal practice of excellence in medicine, academic influence, and/or missionary dedication. These outstanding ophthalmologists have demonstrated "practicing first class medicine in the spirit of love", a phrase introduced by Dr. Brad Farris to describe J Lawton Smith, one of the COS Founders.
The previous recipients are:
| Year | Name | City, State |
| 1992 | Ronald L. Seely, MD | Tampa, FL |
| 1993 | Hollis W. Clark, MD | Ft. Lauderdale, FL |
| 1994 | Noval E. Christy, MD | Duarte, CA |
| 1995 | David G. Haney, MD | McAllen, TX |
| 1996 | Van Joffrion, MD | Baton Rouge, LA |
| 1997 | Margaret Brand, MD | Seattle, WA |
| 1998 | Jack C. Cooper, MD | Dallas, TX |
| 1999 | J. James Rowsey, MD | Tampa, FL |
| 2000 | Curtis D. Benton, Jr, MD | Ft. Lauderdale, FL |
| 2001 | Lowell Gess, MD | Alexandria, MN |
| 2002 | Glen Brindley, MD and Bill Rowlett, MD | Temple, TX ; Hopkinsville, KY |
| 2003 | Frank Winter, MD | La Jolla, CA |
| 2004 | J. Donald M. Gass, MD | Nashville, TN |
| 2005 | Roger DeHaven, MD | Tyler, TX |
| 2006 | John Costin, MD | Lorraine, OH |
| 2007 | Bill Jarrett, MD | Atlanta, GA |
| 2008 | Juan Batlle, MD | Santo Domingo, Dom. Rep. |
| 2009 | William Conrad, MD | Warner Robins, GA |
| 2010 | James P Gills, MD | Tarpon Springs, FL |
| 2011 | Robert Serros, MD | Orlando, FL |
| 2012 | Paul Palmberg, MD | Miami, FL |
| 2013 | Brad Farris, MD | Oklahoma City, OK |
| 2014 | Enoch Tsai, MD | Aiken, SC |
| 2015 | Bert Bowden, MD | Huntsville, AL |
| 2016 | George Chin, MD | Seattle, WA |
| 2017 | Kyle Smith, MD | Temple, TX |
| 2018 | Dan Gold, MD | Palestine, TX |
| 2019 | Glenn Strauss, MD | Tyler, TX |
| 2020 | Jono Pons, MD | Siteki, Eswatini |
