Sylvanus Thayer Award Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! 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 == <blockquote>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.</blockquote> 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,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.google.com/maps/@41.3901667,-73.9556849,2a,75y,276.08h,85.8t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sQmDRnB2sl-cpNwd1kD1MeQ!2e0!3e5!7i13312!8i6656|title=Google Maps|website=Google Maps}}</ref> 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:<ref>[http://www.westpointaog.org/ThayerAward List of recipients], West Point Association of Graduates</ref> *1958 β Dr. [[Ernest Lawrence]] *1959 β Secretary [[John Foster Dulles]] *1960 β Ambassador [[Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.]] *1961 β General of the Army [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] *1962 β General of the Army [[Douglas MacArthur]] *1963 β Secretary [[John J. McCloy]] *1964 β Secretary [[Robert A. Lovett]] *1965 β Ambassador [[James B. Conant]] *1966 β Congressman [[Carl Vinson]] *1967 - Cardinal [[Francis Spellman]] *1968 β Mr. [[Bob Hope]] *1969 β Secretary [[Dean Rusk]] *1970 β Ambassador [[Ellsworth Bunker]] *1971 β Mr. [[Neil Armstrong]] *1972 β Pastor [[Billy Graham]] *1973 β General of the Army [[Omar Bradley]] *1974 β Ambassador [[Robert Daniel Murphy]] *1975 β Governor [[W. Averell Harriman]] *1976 β Secretary [[Gordon Gray (politician)|Gordon Gray]] *1977 β Secretary [[Robert T. Stevens]] *1978 β Mr. [[James R. Killian Jr.]] *1979 β Ambassador [[Clare Boothe Luce]] *1980 β Father [[Theodore M. Hesburgh]] *1981 β Administrator [[James E. Webb]] *1982 β Mr. [[David Packard]] *1983 β General [[James H. Doolittle]] *1984 β Secretary [[Stanley Rogers Resor]] *1985 β Secretary [[Frank Pace Jr.]] *1986 β Dr. [[Edward Teller]] *1987 β Senator [[Barry Goldwater]] *1988 β Chief Justice [[Warren E. Burger]] *1989 β President [[Ronald Reagan]] *1990 β Senator [[Mike Mansfield]] *1991 β Secretary [[Paul H. Nitze]] *1992 β Secretary [[George Shultz]] *1993 β Secretary [[Cyrus R. Vance]] *1994 β President [[George Herbert Walker Bush]] *1995 β Congresswoman [[Barbara Jordan]] *1996 β General [[John W. Vessey]] *1997 β Mr. [[Walter Cronkite]] *1998 β General [[Colin Powell]] ([[US Secretary of State]]) *1999 β Mr. [[Norman R. Augustine]] *2000 β Secretary [[Henry Alfred Kissinger]] *2001 β Senator [[Daniel K. Inouye]] *2002 β [[GI (term)|The American Soldier]]<ref group=note>The 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."</ref><ref>[http://www.westpointaog.org/page.aspx?pid=503 The American Soldier], West Point Association of Graduates</ref> *2003 β General [[Gordon R. Sullivan]] *2004 β Senator [[Robert J. Dole]] *2005 β Justice [[Sandra Day O'Connor]] *2006 β Mr. [[Tom Brokaw]] *2007 β General [[Frederick Kroesen]] *2008 β [[Secretary William Perry]] *2009 β Mr. [[H. Ross Perot]] *2010 β Secretary [[James Baker]] *2011 β Secretary [[Robert M. Gates]] *2012 β Congressman [[Ike Skelton]] *2013 β Secretary [[Madeleine Albright]] *2014 β Secretary [[Condoleezza Rice]]<ref>[https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/06/rice-award-west-point/16832457/ Rice receives Thayer Award at U.S. Military Academy], ''[[USA Today]]'', October 6, 2014</ref> *2015 β Mr. [[Gary Sinise]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/2015/06/12/usma-military-academy-lt-dan-band/71114134/|title = Gary Sinise to receive West Point's Thayer Award|date = 12 June 2015}}</ref> *2016 β Director [[Robert S. Mueller]] *2017 β President [[George W. Bush]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.westpointaog.org/thayerawardgeorgebushbiography|title=West Point Association of Graduates|website=www.westpointaog.org}}</ref> *2018 β Secretary [[Leon E. Panetta]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.westpointaog.org/thayerawardleonpanetta2018announcement|title=West Point Association of Graduates|website=www.westpointaog.org|language=en-us|access-date=2018-10-19}}</ref> *2019 β General [[Ann E. Dunwoody]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.westpointaog.org/ThayerAwardrecipients|title=West Point Association of Graduates|website=www.westpointaog.org|language=en-us|access-date=2019-10-16}}</ref> *2020 β Ambassador [[Ryan Crocker]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.westpointaog.org/news/career-ambassador-ryan-c-crocker-receives-thayer-award/|title=Career Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker Receives Thayer Award|first=Becky|last=Hassler|date=October 1, 2020}}</ref> *2021 - Doctor [[Mae C. Jemison]] *2022 - Mr. [[Fisher House Foundation | Kenneth Fisher]] *2023 - Senator [[Elizabeth Dole]] ==Notes== {{reflist|group=note}} ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== *{{cite web|url=http://www.westpointaog.org/ThayerAward |title=The Sylvanus Thayer Award |publisher=West Point Association of Graduates}} *[http://vimeo.com/27105152 Audio] of speech by 1962 award recipient General Douglas MacArthur {{USMA}} [[Category:American awards|Thayer Award]] [[Category:Awards established in 1958]] [[Category:United States Military Academy]] [[Category:1958 establishments in New York (state)]] Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). 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