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, ColoradoAnthony Watson, IllinoisWilliam Cobb, NevadaAnn Marie Kaminski, NebraskaRick Sowash, Ohio1969
Michael Shearn, TexasDebra George, WyomingJoseph Lundy, CaliforniaStaff Sgt. Dwight H. Johnson, MichiganGeorge Begay, Arizona1970
Rodney Earl Donaldson, TexasPaul Douglas Ring, ArizonaJohn Parker Stewart, ColoradoRex Kern, OhioMadeline Manning Jackson, OhioJennifer Sue Inskeep, Kansas1971
David Powell, UtahCraig R. Rudlin, VirginiaClayton Taylor, OklahomaJames Heath, New YorkClaudia Turner, South CarolinaVirginia A. Stroud, Wyoming1972
Charles Ealey, Jr. OhioJanet Lynne Nowicki, IllinoisSuzonne Elizabeth Quave, LouisianaLarry Lee Shaw, UtahLarry Simpson, Tennessee1973
Rufus Washington, Jr., North CarolinaStephen Brady, HawaiiRobert Meldrum, UtahLarry Eisenberg, IllinoisJudy Bochenski, OregonRobert Charles Howe, Illinois1974
Roger Henry Brown, Jr., GeorgiaKenneth Beale, Jr., PennsylvaniaAaron J. Jorgensen, MinnesotaDarrel Owen Pace, Ohio1975
Graciela Trilla, New YorkGarth Cox, OhioAshby Boyle II, UtahThomas Camp, NebraskaStanley Roach, OklahomaStan Tenenbaum, New York1976
Fredrick McClure, TexasNancy Ann Kraemer, New YorkTerri Sue Hannon, KansasJohn L. Dardenne, Jr., LouisianaMary Van Lear Wright, MassachusettsBradley Haddock, KansasAngela Lea Garner, TennesseeEileen Devine, CaliforniaJohn E. Hayashi, MissouriGerald R. Castellianos, FloridaDorothy Hamill, Connecticut1977
Lee Zachary Maxey, TexasMark Daniel Worrell, PennsylvaniaDavid Gene McKenney, United States Air Force AcademyAllen Matheson Hughes, UtahDouglas Leighton Bandow, CaliforniaRichard David Thomas, IdahoBeth Susan Dochinger, OhioRuth Lydia Bonaparte, OregonRobert Hoke Perkins, Jr.1978
Kathy Howard, OklahomaWilliam Grau, New JerseyJoseph Rabatin, MinnesotaKenneth Allen, NebraskaMary Beth Caruso, MassachusettsLarry Kwak, Kansas1979
Steve Cauthen, KentuckyCatherine Lazaro, TexasRichard Preister, NebraskaJill Sterkel, CaliforniaScott Trotter, UtahDavid Tulanian, California1980
Peggy Ann Hall, IowaRobert J. Hayashi, MissouriMark W. Leinmiller, GeorgiaNancy Lieberman, New YorkSteadman Shealy, AlabamaKerry L. Sorenson, Utah1981
Karen L. Middleton, WisconsinJeffrie A. Herrmann, New YorkJennifer L. Shaw, ConnecticutRoger W. Slead, MissouriDavalu D. Smith, TexasSherri L. Dalphonse, New Hampshire1982
John Ashley Null, KansasTimothy Michael Delorey, FloridaVincent Arnold Lazaro, TexasCynthia Ann Reeves, OklahomaKarl Julius Edelmann, MichiganAnthony Deh-Chuen So, Delaware1988
Douglas C. Barnhart, PennsylvaniaRon Brooks, New JerseyPaul Gonzales, CaliforniaLaura Hengehold, OhioAnne V. Ingram, North Carolina1990
Peter Boyer, Rhode IslandJohn M. Garrison, TexasHugh Herr, PennsylvaniaVick Huber, DelawareTalia Melanie McCray, Colorado1992
Frank Bradish, IdahoDerek Y. Kunimoto, HawaiiArthur J. Ochoa, DelawareMark Smith, OregonTrina R. Williams, Indiana1993
Tracy L. Collett, GeorgiaMarlon Harmon, WisconsinHung Pham, ColoradoMichael E. Plochocki, New YorkJoseph E. Ponzo, Massachusetts1994
Harold Richard Davis, Jr., South CarolinaJavier David Margo, Jr., TexasLethuy Thi Nguyen, OklahomaJamel Oeser-Sweat, New YorkRoderick D. Tranum, Georgia1995
Kevin Michael Crozier, ColoradoRenee Kylene Hamel, OklahomaPreston Hopson, III, MichiganRobert Lester Murry, MassachusettsPhillip Charles Rodriguez III, California1996
David Quinn Gacioch, New YorkJoel Morales, Jr., TexasNan-Phong Duy Phan, CaliforniaRandolph Walker, Jr., MississippiJulie Anne Waller, North Carolina1997
Robert Edward Hugh Ferguson, Jr., UtahChristopher Todd Fullerton, GeorgiaYukitoshi Murasaki, FloridaMatthew John Spence, CaliforniaSabrina Martinique Thompson, North Carolina1998
Amanda Gayle Cox, GeorgiaKirk Cristman Fistick, MarylandG. Christopher Jones, OklahomaDenise Yvette Margo, TexasHayata Kristy Poonyagariyagorn, Oregon1999
Justin Daniel Guerra, MissouriErica Camille Quick, North CarolinaSylvester George Tan, GeorgiaMichelle Irene Towle, MinnesotaJohn J. van Velthuyzen, Washington2000
Julius Demarcus Jackson, TexasCarl Frederick Regelmann, New YorkSvati Singla, North CarolinaAlison L. Smith, MinnesotaChristopher Kirill Sokolov, California2001
James W. Johnson, PennsylvaniaJason Wayne Kemp, North CarolinaHong-Ly Thi La, MarylandCyrus Jerrerson Lawayer IV, MarylandEvan Michael Todd, Colorado2002
Michael John Beckel, MinnesotaLindsey D. Cameron, TexasChristina Hsiung Chen, TexasMark Alan Mallak, FloridaEdward J. Walneck, Arizona2003
Kyle James Cline, IllinoisBrett Michael Patrick Klukan, PennsylvaniaKatherine Ann Knuth, MinnesotaAkeem Rasheed Samuels, New JerseyJonathan P. Wilkerson, Texas2004
Aaron Azur Allen, CaliforniaElizabeth Anne Beckel, MinnesotaEvan Eugene Hunsberger, CaliforniaJames Steven Kleckner, WisconsinKevin Koo, New Hampshire2005
Robert Kyle Alderson, OklahomaAubyn Cathleen Burnside, South CarolinaChristopher Alan Kerzich, IllinoisMelanie Alise Perry, MissouriMichael David Sekora, Pennsylvania2006
Benjamin Jacob Ulrich Banwart, MinnesotaMark Christopher Bicket, OklahomaRichard B. Birrer, New YorkShreyans C. Parekh, CaliforniaPhillip D. Stewart, Nevada2007
Fernando S. Arán Jr., FloridaDaniel Cayce, ArkansasMichael Alexander Hayoun, New JerseyMichael Quang Nguyen, CaliforniaLogan Mark Skelley, Missouri2008
Paul Jacob Parker Banwart, MinnesotaGary Conard Bosshardt, UtahWelland Dane Burnside, South CarolinaSameer Gupta, GeorgiaEvan Jameson Spencer, ArizonaPer the national office national awards will no longer be given.
