The Young American Award is an award of the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded ...

for outstanding college students ages 19 through 25 who have achieved excellence in the fields of art, athletics, business, community service, education, government, humanities, literature, music, religion, and science; and have given service to their community, state, and/or country. The award was presented at both the national and the local council levels, but the national program was discontinued in 2009 due to funding. A maximum of five national awards had been presented annually while local awards continue to be unlimited. Each local council made the determination for nominating its candidates for national competition. Recipients of the national award also received a $7,500 cash award that was primarily funded by

Learning for Life Learning for Life (LFL) is a United States school and work-site based youth program that is an affiliate of the Boy Scouts of America. It utilizes programs designed for schools and community-based organizations that are designed to prepare yout ...

. Membership in any of the BSA or Learning for life programs is not obligatory.

Award

The national award consisted of a silver medallion suspended from a red, white and blue ribbon worn around the neck. The medallion bears the images of young man and a young woman above a wreath. Local recipients receive a gold version of the medallion affixed to a wooden plaque. Recipients may wear the corresponding square knot insignia, with a silver knot on a red, white and blue background, on the BSA uniform.

History

The award was first presented in 1954 by the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...

as the Young American Award for Service and the Young American Award for Bravery. Each of these awards were to be presented to two young people from each state and territory annually. The Justice Department had trouble promoting the award and approached the BSA for assistance in 1966. With the launch of coeducational

Exploring Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

in 1968, the BSA took on the role of soliciting and receiving nominations, and assumed the program in 1971. The awards were originally available to youth ages 15 through 25; in 2005, it was changed to college students ages 19 through 25. The original medals were suspended from neck ribbons, but the BSA soon changed them to a table medal, with the medallion placed in a block of

acrylic glass Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) belongs to a group of materials called engineering plastics. It is a transparent thermoplastic. PMMA is also known as acrylic, acrylic glass, as well as by the trade names and brands Crylux, Plexiglas, Acrylite ...

. The ribbon version of the medal was restored for the national award after the introduction of

Venturing Venturing is a core program of the Boy Scouts of America for young men and women ages 14 (or 13 and graduated the eighth grade) through 20. It is one of the Boy Scouts' three programs for older youth, which also include Sea Scouts and Explorin ...

. The square knot insignia is the same as was used for three former

awards: the Explorer Silver Award, Exploring Achievement Award and the Exploring G.O.L.D. Award. This knot may also be worn by those Scouting and Venturing leaders who have earned the predecessor awards.

National Recipients

From 1968 through 2008, there have been 188 recipients of the national award. 1968 * Greg Bamford, Colorado * Anthony Watson, Illinois * William Cobb, Nevada * Ann Marie Kaminski, Nebraska * Rick Sowash, Ohio 1969 * Michael Shearn, Texas * Debra George, Wyoming * Joseph Lundy, California * Staff Sgt. Dwight H. Johnson, Michigan * George Begay, Arizona 1970 * Rodney Earl Donaldson, Texas * Paul Douglas Ring, Arizona * John Parker Stewart, Colorado * Rex Kern, Ohio * Madeline Manning Jackson, Ohio * Jennifer Sue Inskeep, Kansas 1971 * David Powell, Utah * Craig R. Rudlin, Virginia * Clayton Taylor, Oklahoma * James Heath, New York * Claudia Turner, South Carolina * Virginia A. Stroud, Wyoming 1972 * Charles Ealey, Jr. Ohio * Janet Lynne Nowicki, Illinois * Suzonne Elizabeth Quave, Louisiana * Larry Lee Shaw, Utah * Larry Simpson, Tennessee 1973 * Rufus Washington, Jr., North Carolina * Stephen Brady, Hawaii * Robert Meldrum, Utah * Larry Eisenberg, Illinois * Judy Bochenski, Oregon * Robert Charles Howe, Illinois 1974 * Roger Henry Brown, Jr., Georgia * Kenneth Beale, Jr., Pennsylvania * Aaron J. Jorgensen, Minnesota * Darrel Owen Pace, Ohio 1975 * Graciela Trilla, New York * Garth Cox, Ohio * Ashby Boyle II, Utah * Thomas Camp, Nebraska * Stanley Roach, Oklahoma * Stan Tenenbaum, New York 1976 * Fredrick McClure, Texas * Nancy Ann Kraemer, New York * Terri Sue Hannon, Kansas * John L. Dardenne, Jr., Louisiana * Mary Van Lear Wright, Massachusetts * Bradley Haddock, Kansas * Angela Lea Garner, Tennessee * Eileen Devine, California * John E. Hayashi, Missouri * Gerald R. Castellianos, Florida *

Dorothy Hamill Dorothy Stuart Hamill (born July 26, 1956) is a retired American figure skater. She is the 1976 Olympic champion and 1976 World champion in ladies' singles. Early life Hamill was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Chalmers and Carol Hamill. Her fat ...

, Connecticut 1977 * Lee Zachary Maxey, Texas * Mark Daniel Worrell, Pennsylvania * David Gene McKenney, United States Air Force Academy * Allen Matheson Hughes, Utah * Douglas Leighton Bandow, California * Richard David Thomas, Idaho * Beth Susan Dochinger, Ohio * Ruth Lydia Bonaparte, Oregon * Robert Hoke Perkins, Jr. 1978 * Kathy Howard, Oklahoma * William Grau, New Jersey * Joseph Rabatin, Minnesota * Kenneth Allen, Nebraska * Mary Beth Caruso, Massachusetts * Larry Kwak, Kansas 1979 * Steve Cauthen, Kentucky * Catherine Lazaro, Texas * Richard Preister, Nebraska * Jill Sterkel, California * Scott Trotter, Utah * David Tulanian, California 1980 * Peggy Ann Hall, Iowa * Robert J. Hayashi, Missouri * Mark W. Leinmiller, Georgia *

Nancy Lieberman Nancy Elizabeth Lieberman (born July 1, 1958), nicknamed "Lady Magic", is an American former professional basketball player and coach in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) who is currently a broadcaster for the Oklahoma City Thun ...

, New York * Steadman Shealy, Alabama * Kerry L. Sorenson, Utah 1981 * Karen L. Middleton, Wisconsin * Jeffrie A. Herrmann, New York * Jennifer L. Shaw, Connecticut * Roger W. Slead, Missouri * Davalu D. Smith, Texas * Sherri L. Dalphonse, New Hampshire 1982 * John Ashley Null, Kansas * Timothy Michael Delorey, Florida * Vincent Arnold Lazaro, Texas * Cynthia Ann Reeves, Oklahoma * Karl Julius Edelmann, Michigan * Anthony Deh-Chuen So, Delaware 1988 * Douglas C. Barnhart, Pennsylvania * Ron Brooks, New Jersey * Paul Gonzales, California * Laura Hengehold, Ohio * Anne V. Ingram, North Carolina 1990 * Peter Boyer, Rhode Island * John M. Garrison, Texas * Hugh Herr, Pennsylvania * Vick Huber, Delaware * Talia Melanie McCray, Colorado 1992 * Frank Bradish, Idaho * Derek Y. Kunimoto, Hawaii * Arthur J. Ochoa, Delaware * Mark Smith, Oregon * Trina R. Williams, Indiana 1993 * Tracy L. Collett, Georgia * Marlon Harmon, Wisconsin * Hung Pham, Colorado * Michael E. Plochocki, New York * Joseph E. Ponzo, Massachusetts 1994 * Harold Richard Davis, Jr., South Carolina * Javier David Margo, Jr., Texas * Lethuy Thi Nguyen, Oklahoma * Jamel Oeser-Sweat, New York * Roderick D. Tranum, Georgia 1995 * Kevin Michael Crozier, Colorado * Renee Kylene Hamel, Oklahoma * Preston Hopson, III, Michigan * Robert Lester Murry, Massachusetts * Phillip Charles Rodriguez III, California 1996 * David Quinn Gacioch, New York * Joel Morales, Jr., Texas * Nan-Phong Duy Phan, California * Randolph Walker, Jr., Mississippi * Julie Anne Waller, North Carolina 1997 * Robert Edward Hugh Ferguson, Jr., Utah * Christopher Todd Fullerton, Georgia * Yukitoshi Murasaki, Florida * Matthew John Spence, California * Sabrina Martinique Thompson, North Carolina 1998 * Amanda Gayle Cox, Georgia * Kirk Cristman Fistick, Maryland * G. Christopher Jones, Oklahoma * Denise Yvette Margo, Texas * Hayata Kristy Poonyagariyagorn, Oregon 1999 * Justin Daniel Guerra, Missouri * Erica Camille Quick, North Carolina * Sylvester George Tan, Georgia * Michelle Irene Towle, Minnesota * John J. van Velthuyzen, Washington 2000 * Julius Demarcus Jackson, Texas * Carl Frederick Regelmann, New York * Svati Singla, North Carolina * Alison L. Smith, Minnesota * Christopher Kirill Sokolov, California 2001 * James W. Johnson, Pennsylvania * Jason Wayne Kemp, North Carolina * Hong-Ly Thi La, Maryland * Cyrus Jerrerson Lawayer IV, Maryland * Evan Michael Todd, Colorado 2002 * Michael John Beckel, Minnesota * Lindsey D. Cameron, Texas * Christina Hsiung Chen, Texas * Mark Alan Mallak, Florida * Edward J. Walneck, Arizona 2003 * Kyle James Cline, Illinois * Brett Michael Patrick Klukan, Pennsylvania * Katherine Ann Knuth, Minnesota * Akeem Rasheed Samuels, New Jersey * Jonathan P. Wilkerson, Texas 2004 * Aaron Azur Allen, California * Elizabeth Anne Beckel, Minnesota * Evan Eugene Hunsberger, California * James Steven Kleckner, Wisconsin * Kevin Koo, New Hampshire 2005 * Robert Kyle Alderson, Oklahoma * Aubyn Cathleen Burnside, South Carolina * Christopher Alan Kerzich, Illinois * Melanie Alise Perry, Missouri * Michael David Sekora, Pennsylvania 2006 * Benjamin Jacob Ulrich Banwart, Minnesota * Mark Christopher Bicket, Oklahoma * Richard B. Birrer, New York * Shreyans C. Parekh, California * Phillip D. Stewart, Nevada 2007 * Fernando S. Arán Jr., Florida * Daniel Cayce, Arkansas * Michael Alexander Hayoun, New Jersey * Michael Quang Nguyen, California * Logan Mark Skelley, Missouri 2008 * Paul Jacob Parker Banwart, Minnesota * Gary Conard Bosshardt, Utah * Welland Dane Burnside, South Carolina * Sameer Gupta, Georgia * Evan Jameson Spencer, Arizona Per the national office national awards will no longer be given.

References

{{Scouting Advancement and recognition in the Boy Scouts of America Student awards Awards and decorations of the United States Department of Justice

Award

History

National Recipients

See also

References