West Point, NY: The West Point Association of Graduates (WPAOG) is pleased to announce that actor/writer/director/producer and philanthropist Tom Hanks will receive the 2025 Sylvanus Thayer Award, which has been given annually since 1958 to an outstanding citizen of the United States whose service and accomplishments in the national interest exemplify personal devotion to the ideals expressed in West Point’s motto: “Duty, Honor, Country.” The award will be presented on September 25, 2025, during ceremonies hosted by the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
“Tom Hanks has done more for the positive portrayal of the American service member, more for the caring of the American veteran, their caregivers and their family, and more for the American space program and all branches of government than many other Americans,” says the Honorable Robert A. McDonald, Class of 1975, WPAOG Board Chairman.
“To have my first ever visit to the Academy be to accept such an honor as the Thayer Award is simply astounding. West Point’s legacy of leadership, character, and service to the nation is a powerful example for all Americans. To be recognized by an institution whose graduates have shaped our country’s history through selfless service is both humbling and meaningful,” says Hanks.
Much of Hanks’ five-decade career reflects his support of veterans, the military, and America’s space program. In 1999, Hanks joined Senator Bob Dole, a 2004 Thayer Award recipient, as national spokesperson for the World War II Memorial in Washington, DC. Continuing his commitment to honor those who serve, in 2015, the actor lent his support to Dole’s fundraiser to create the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial in Washington, DC. He has also served as national chairperson of the D-Day Museum Capital Campaign.
In 2017, the Elizabeth Dole Foundation named its Caregiver Champion Award, honoring the extraordinary support of military caregivers and their veterans, after Hanks. Senator Elizabeth Dole, the 2023 Thayer Award recipient, tapped Hanks to chair the foundation’s Hidden Heroes campaign.
“He certainly lives up to the criteria of ‘a great American,’” Dole says.
Hanks earned his first Oscar nomination for “Best Actor” in 1988 for Big, and back-to-back Oscars for leading roles in Philadelphia and Forrest Gump. In 1995, Hanks starred in Apollo 13. In 1998, Hanks starred as Army Captain John H. Miller in Saving Private Ryan, which earned praise, notably from the World War II veteran community, for its realistic depictions of combat. For his portrayal of a World War II Army Ranger company commander, Hanks was inducted as an Honorary Member into the U.S. Army’s Ranger Hall of Fame. He executive-produced the miniseries Band of Brothers in 2001, The Pacific in 2010, and Masters of the Air in 2024. He also wrote and starred in Greyhound, a 2020 film about the Battle of the Atlantic, in which he played a U.S. Navy commander. In recognition of his public platform bringing World War II stories to new generations, the National WWII Museum presented Hanks with its American Spirit Award in 2015. Hanks supports military personnel through the profits and initiatives of his coffee company, Hanx for the Troops, founded in 2023.
Under his Playtone banner, Hanks executive-produced and narrated the 1998 HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon and co-wrote and co-produced the 2005 3-D IMAX film Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon. In between these projects, Hanks received the NASA Public Service Award for his commitment to increasing public interest in space. Hanks has received the American Film Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002, the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Chaplin Award in 2009, a Kennedy Center Honor in 2014, France’s Legion D’Honneur Award in 2016, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom—the United States’ highest civilian honor—in 2016 for his meritorious contribution to American culture. Hanks and his wife of 35 years, Rita Wilson, also support health-related charities including the Children’s Health Fund, Women’s Cancer Research Fund, and the Elizabeth Glazer Pediatric AIDS Foundation.
About West Point
The U.S. Military Academy at West Point is a four-year, co-educational, federal service academy 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 build, educate, train, and inspire the Corps of Cadets to be commissioned leaders of character committed to the Army Values and ready for a lifetime of service to the Army and Nation. Visit www.WestPoint.edu.
