The Sylvanus Thayer Award is an honor given annually by the United States Military Academy at West Point to an individual whose character and accomplishments exemplifies the motto of West Point. The award is named after the "Father of the Military Academy", Colonel Sylvanus Thayer. The awardee is selected by, and the award is endowed by, a committee formed from the West Point Association of Graduates. It has been awarded annually since 1958 and is the closest recognition West Point has to granting an honorary degree.
Official description of the award Since 1958, the West Point Association of Graduates has presented the SYLVANUS THAYER AWARD to an outstanding citizen of the United States whose service and accomplishments in the national interest exemplify personal devotion to the ideals expressed in the West Point motto: DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY.
The recipient of the Sylvanus Thayer Award receives a medal with a bust in profile of Thayer on one side, with the inscription: "The Sylvanus Thayer Medal Awarded by the Association of Graduates, United States Military Academy, for Outstanding Service to the Nation." The reverse side carries the coat of arms of the Military Academy and the words "West Point" and "Duty, Honor, Country". Around the edge of the medal are inscribed the name of the recipient and the year of presentation. In addition to receiving the medal, the recipient's portrait and name are inscribed on a memorial in the Thayer Award Room in Taylor Hall, the headquarters building of West Point.
Criteria Active-duty and retired American military servicemen or women are eligible for the award, but the majority are civilians who contributed to the US Government, the US Armed Forces, US national security or diplomacy, US civil rights or the enduring support of veterans in a positive way. The recipient must be a US Citizen, must not be a United States Military Academy graduate, and must receive the award in person during a ceremony with the entire Corps of Cadets. Early in its existence, three West Point graduates received the award - Dwight Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur, and Omar Bradley - but graduates are no longer eligible. One United States Naval Academy graduate, Ross Perot, has received the award.
Recipients The following is the list of the award's recipients:List of recipients, West Point Association of Graduates 1958 – Dr. Ernest Lawrence 1959 – Secretary John Foster Dulles 1960 – Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. 1961 – President Dwight D. Eisenhower 1962 – General of the Army Douglas MacArthur 1963 – Secretary John J. McCloy 1964 – Secretary Robert A. Lovett 1965 – Ambassador James B. Conant 1966 – Congressman Carl Vinson 1967 - Cardinal Francis Spellman 1968 – Mr. Bob Hope 1969 – Secretary Dean Rusk 1970 – Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker 1971 – Mr. Neil Armstrong 1972 – Pastor Billy Graham 1973 – General of the Army Omar Bradley 1974 – Ambassador Robert Daniel Murphy 1975 – Governor W. Averell Harriman 1976 – Secretary Gordon Gray 1977 – Secretary Robert T. Stevens 1978 – Mr. James R. Killian Jr. 1979 – Ambassador Clare Boothe Luce 1980 – Father Theodore M. Hesburgh 1981 – Administrator James E. Webb 1982 – Mr. David Packard 1983 – General James H. Doolittle 1984 – Secretary Stanley Rogers Resor 1985 – Secretary Frank Pace Jr. 1986 – Dr. Edward Teller 1987 – Senator Barry Goldwater 1988 – Chief Justice Warren E. Burger 1989 – President Ronald Reagan 1990 – Senator Mike Mansfield 1991 – Secretary Paul H. Nitze 1992 – Secretary George Shultz 1993 – Secretary Cyrus R. Vance 1994 – President George Herbert Walker Bush 1995 – Congresswoman Barbara Jordan 1996 – General John W. Vessey 1997 – Mr. Walter Cronkite 1998 – General Colin Powell (US Secretary of State) 1999 – Mr. Norman R. Augustine 2000 – Secretary Henry Alfred Kissinger 2001 – Senator Daniel K. Inouye 2002 – The American SoldierThe 2002 award was "dedicated to...all of the men and women who have served in the U.S. Army...in the history of the United States."The American Soldier, West Point Association of Graduates 2003 – General Gordon R. Sullivan 2004 – Senator Robert J. Dole 2005 – Justice Sandra Day O'Connor 2006 – Mr. Tom Brokaw 2007 – General Frederick Kroesen 2008 – Secretary William Perry 2009 – Mr. H. Ross Perot 2010 – Secretary James Baker 2011 – Secretary Robert M. Gates 2012 – Congressman Ike Skelton 2013 – Secretary Madeleine Albright 2014 – Secretary Condoleezza RiceRice receives Thayer Award at U.S. Military Academy, USA Today, October 6, 2014 2015 – Mr. Gary Sinise 2016 – Director Robert S. Mueller 2017 – President George W. Bush 2018 – Secretary Leon E. Panetta 2019 – General Ann E. Dunwoody 2020 – Ambassador Ryan Crocker 2021 - Doctor Mae C. Jemison 2022 - Mr. Kenneth Fisher 2023 - Senator Elizabeth Dole 2024 – President Barack Obama 2025 – Tom Hanks (award ceremony cancelled)
Notes
References
External links
Audio of speech by 1962 award recipient General Douglas MacArthur