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 An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

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 Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

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 Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, execut ...

, the US Armed Forces, US

national security National security, or national defence (national defense in American English), is the security and Defence (military), defence of a sovereign state, including its Citizenship, citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of ...

diplomacy Diplomacy is the communication by representatives of State (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, non-governmental institutions intended to influence events in the international syste ...

, US

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

or the enduring support of

veterans A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in an job, occupation or Craft, field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in the military, armed forces. A topic o ...

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 Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. He served with dis ...

, and

Omar Bradley Omar Nelson Bradley (12 February 1893 – 8 April 1981) was a senior Officer (armed forces), officer of the United States Army during and after World War II, rising to the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. He wa ...

- but graduates are no longer eligible. One

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graduate,

Ross Perot Henry Ross Perot ( ; June 27, 1930 – July 9, 2019) was an American businessman, politician, and philanthropist. He was the founder and chief executive officer of Electronic Data Systems and Perot Systems. He ran an Independent politician ...

, has received the award.

Recipients

The following is the list of the award's recipients: *1958 – Dr. Ernest Lawrence *1959 – Secretary

John Foster Dulles John Foster Dulles (February 25, 1888 – May 24, 1959) was an American politician, lawyer, and diplomat who served as United States secretary of state under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 until his resignation in 1959. A member of the ...

*1960 – Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. *1961 – President

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

*1962 – General of the Army

*1963 – Secretary John J. McCloy *1964 – Secretary Robert A. Lovett *1965 – Ambassador James B. Conant *1966 – Congressman Carl Vinson *1967 - Cardinal

Francis Spellman Francis Joseph Spellman (May 4, 1889 – December 2, 1967) was an Catholic Church in the United States, American Catholic prelate who served as Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, Archbishop of New York from 1939 until his death in 1967. F ...

*1968 – Mr.

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was an American comedian, actor, entertainer and producer with a career that spanned nearly 80 years and achievements in vaudeville, network radio, television, and USO Tours. He appeared ...

*1969 – Secretary Dean Rusk *1970 – Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker *1971 – Mr.

Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aerospace engineering, aeronautical engineer who, in 1969, became the Apollo 11#Lunar surface operations, first person to walk on the Moon. He was al ...

*1972 – Pastor

Billy Graham William Franklin Graham Jr. (; November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American Evangelism, evangelist, ordained Southern Baptist minister, and Civil rights movement, civil rights advocate, whose broadcasts and world tours featuring liv ...

*1973 – General of the Army

*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 James Edwin Webb (October 7, 1906 – March 27, 1992) was an American government official who served as Undersecretary of State from 1949 to 1952. He was the second Administrator of NASA, Administrator of NASA from February 14, 1961, to Octob ...

*1982 – Mr. David Packard *1983 – General James H. Doolittle *1984 – Secretary Stanley Rogers Resor *1985 – Secretary Frank Pace Jr. *1986 – Dr.

Edward Teller Edward Teller (; January 15, 1908 – September 9, 2003) was a Hungarian and American Theoretical physics, theoretical physicist and chemical engineer who is known colloquially as "the father of the hydrogen bomb" and one of the creators of ...

*1987 – Senator

Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and major general in the United States Air Force, Air Force Reserve who served as a United States senator from 1953 to 1965 and 1969 to 1987, and was the Re ...

*1988 – Chief Justice

Warren E. Burger Warren Earl Burger (September 17, 1907 – June 25, 1995) was an American attorney who served as the 15th chief justice of the United States from 1969 to 1986. Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Burger graduated from the William Mitchell College o ...

*1989 – President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

*1990 – Senator Mike Mansfield *1991 – Secretary Paul H. Nitze *1992 – Secretary

George Shultz George Pratt Shultz ( ; December 13, 1920February 6, 2021) was an American economist, businessman, diplomat and statesman. He served in various positions under two different Republican presidents and is one of the only two persons to have held f ...

*1993 – Secretary Cyrus R. Vance *1994 – President George Herbert Walker Bush *1995 – Congresswoman Barbara Jordan *1996 – General John W. Vessey *1997 – Mr.

Walter Cronkite Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. (November 4, 1916 – July 17, 2009) was an American broadcast journalist who served as anchorman for the ''CBS Evening News'' from 1962 to 1981. During the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trust ...

*1998 – General

Colin Powell Colin Luther Powell ( ; – ) was an Americans, American diplomat, and army officer who was the 65th United States secretary of state from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African-American to hold the office. He was the 15th National Security ...

( 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." *2003 – General Gordon R. Sullivan *2004 – Senator Robert J. Dole *2005 – Justice Sandra Day O'Connor *2006 – Mr.

Tom Brokaw Thomas John Brokaw (; born February 6, 1940) is an American author and retired network television journalist. He first served as the co-anchor of Today (American TV program), ''The Today Show'' from 1976 to 1981 with Jane Pauley, then as the anch ...

*2007 – General Frederick Kroesen *2008 – Secretary William Perry *2009 – Mr. H. Ross Perot *2010 – Secretary

James Baker James Addison Baker III (born April 28, 1930) is an American attorney, diplomat and statesman. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 10th White House chief of staff and 67th United States secretary ...

*2011 – Secretary Robert M. Gates *2012 – Congressman Ike Skelton *2013 – Secretary

Madeleine Albright Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright (born Marie Jana Körbelová, later Korbelová; May 15, 1937 – March 23, 2022) was an American diplomat and political science, political scientist who served as the 64th United States Secretary of State, United S ...

*2014 – Secretary

Condoleezza Rice Condoleezza "Condi" Rice ( ; born November 14, 1954) is an American diplomat and political scientist serving since 2020 as the 8th director of Stanford University's Hoover Institution. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served ...

*2015 – Mr.

Gary Sinise Gary Alan Sinise (; born March 17, 1955) is an American actor, director, producer, musician and humanitarian. Among other awards, he has won a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards. He has ...

*2016 – Director Robert S. Mueller *2017 – President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

*2018 – Secretary Leon E. Panetta *2019 – General Ann E. Dunwoody *2020 – Ambassador

Ryan Crocker Ryan Clark Crocker (born June 19, 1949) is a retired American diplomat who served as a career ambassador within the United States Foreign Service. A recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, he served as United States ambassador to Afg ...

*2021 - Doctor Mae C. Jemison *2022 - Mr. Kenneth Fisher *2023 - Senator Elizabeth Dole *2024 – President

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Notes

References

External links

*
Audio
of speech by 1962 award recipient General Douglas MacArthur {{USMA Thayer Award Awards established in 1958 United States Military Academy 1958 establishments in New York (state)