Sylvanus Thayer Award

The Sylvanus Thayer Award is an award that is given each year by the United States Military Academy at West Point. Sylvanus Thayer was the fifth superintendent of that academy and in honor of his achievements, the award was created. Under his tenure, Thayer transformed West Point into an excellent engineering school.

Official description of the award
"The Thayer Award, established in honor of Col. Sylvanus Thayer, 'Father of the Military Academy,' is presented to an outstanding citizen whose service and accomplishments in the national interest exemplify the Military Academy motto, "Duty, Honor, Country." The Association of Graduates has presented the award annually since 1958."

"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 name is inscribed on a memorial plaque in Washington Hall, the cadet dining facility."

The recipient is approved by the Board of Directors, and announced in late winter. The Award is presented in the following October.

Criteria
Active-duty and retired American military servicemen are eligible for this award, but many civilians have received the award who contributed to the military in a positive way, like Bob Hope, Walter Cronkite or recently Tom Brokaw. Currently, recipients are required to be non-West Point graduates.

Recipients
This is the list of the award's recipients:
 * 1958 – Ernest Lawrence
 * 1959 – John Foster Dulles
 * 1960 – Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.
 * 1961 – Dwight D. Eisenhower
 * 1962 – Douglas MacArthur
 * 1963 – John J. McCloy
 * 1964 – Robert A. Lovett
 * 1965 – James B. Conant
 * 1966 – Carl Vinson
 * 1967 – Francis Spellman
 * 1968 – Bob Hope
 * 1969 – Dean Rusk
 * 1970 – Ellsworth Bunker
 * 1971 – Neil Armstrong
 * 1972 – Billy Graham
 * 1973 – Omar Bradley
 * 1974 – Robert Daniel Murphy
 * 1975 – W. Averell Harriman
 * 1976 – Gordon Gray
 * 1977 – Robert Ten Broeck Stevens
 * 1978 – James R. Killian Jr.
 * 1979 – Clare Boothe Luce
 * 1980 – Theodore M. Hesburgh
 * 1981 – James E. Webb
 * 1982 – David Packard
 * 1983 – James H. Doolittle
 * 1984 – Stanley Rogers Resor
 * 1985 – Frank Pace Jr.
 * 1986 – Edward Teller
 * 1987 – Barry Goldwater
 * 1988 – Warren E. Burger
 * 1989 – Ronald Reagan
 * 1990 – Mike Mansfield
 * 1991 – Paul H. Nitze
 * 1992 – George Shultz
 * 1993 – Cyrus R. Vance
 * 1994 – George Herbert Walker Bush
 * 1995 – Barbara Jordan
 * 1996 – John W. Vessey
 * 1997 – Walter Cronkite
 * 1998 – Colin Powell
 * 1999 – Norman R. Augustine
 * 2000 – Henry Alfred Kissinger
 * 2001 – Daniel K. Inouye
 * 2002 – The American Soldier
 * 2003 – Gordon R. Sullivan
 * 2004 – Robert J. Dole
 * 2005 – Sandra Day O'Connor
 * 2006 – Tom Brokaw
 * 2007 – Frederick Kroesen
 * 2008 – William Perry
 * 2009 – H. Ross Perot
 * 2010 – James Baker
 * 2011 - Robert M. Gates
 * 2012 - Ike Skelton
 * 2013 – Madeleine Albright