The Young American Award is an award of the Boy Scouts of America 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 makes 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. Membership in any of the BSA or Learning for life programs is not obligatory.
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.
The award was first presented in 1954 by the United States Department of Justice 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 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. The ribbon version of the medal was restored for the national award after the introduction of Venturing.
The square knot insignia is the same as was used for three former Exploring 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.
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, 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, 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.
