Madeline Korbelová Albright will receive the prestigious Thayer Award in a ceremony hosted by the U.S. Military Academy’s Association of Graduates Thursday, Oct. 17. The Corps of Cadets will conduct a review in her honor at 5 p.m. on the Plain, prior to the award presentation dinner. The review is open to the public.

As a leader on policy and international affairs, Dr. Albright served as the 20th U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and the 64th Secretary of State. She has been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and named chairperson of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and President of the Truman Scholarship Foundation.

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.

Past recipients of the Thayer Award include: Dwight D. Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur, Bob Hope, Neil Armstrong, George H.W. Bush, Barbara Jordon, Walter Cronkite, Tom Brokaw, Colin Powell and Henry Kissinger. Last year’s recipient was Isaac Newton ‘Ike’ Skelton.

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