Philanthropist Ken Fisher To Receive Thayer Award

WEST POINT, N.Y. –– Kenneth Fisher will receive the prestigious Association of Graduates Thayer Award in a ceremony hosted by the U.S. Military Academy Thursday, Oct. 6. The Corps of Cadets will conduct a parade in his honor at 5 p.m., on the Plain, prior to the award presentation dinner.

Fisher is the Chairman and CEO of Fisher House Foundation, which oversees an international network of comfort homes where military and Veterans’ families can stay at no cost while a loved one is receiving medical treatment.

In 2011, under his leadership, the Fisher House Foundation partnered with the Department of Defense to establish Hero Miles and Hotels for Heroes, which helps provide air travel and hotel lodging for families of service members to stay close by when a Fisher House is not available.

In 2007, Fisher was appointed by the Bush Administration to the President’s Commission on Care of America’s Returning Wounded Warriors and has served on several policy boards in support of former U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter and former U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, and the Board of Directors of the Business Executives for National Security.

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’s 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, Barbara Jordon, Walter Cronkite, Tom Brokaw, Colin Powell, Madeleine Albright, Henry Kissinger and former President George W. Bush. Last year’s recipient was Doctor Mae C. Jemison.

About West Point

The U. S. Military Academy at West Point is a four-year, co-educational, federal, liberal arts college located 50 miles north of New York City. It was founded in 1802 as America's first college of engineering and continues today as the world’s premier leader-development institution, consistently ranked among top colleges in the country. Its mission remains constant—to educate, train, and inspire the Corps of Cadets so that each graduate is a commissioned leader of character committed to the values of Duty, Honor, Country and prepared for a career of professional excellence and service to the nation as an officer in the U. S. Army. For more information, go to www.westpoint.edu.