Read about this year's winner, Landau Eugene Murphy Jr., here.
Sunday Gazette-Mail West Virginians of the Year:
1951 - OKEY L. PATTESON, 23rd governor, chief creator of the West Virginia Turnpike.
1952 - WALTER S. HALLANAN, former Huntington Herald-Dispatch editor, state official, oilman, chairman of 1952 Republican National Convention.
1953 - ADM. FELIX B. STUMP, from Parkersburg, commander of the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet.
1954 - GEN. CHARLES E. YEAGER, from Lincoln County, World War II air hero and test pilot, first to break the sound barrier.
1955 - LEONARD RIGGLEMAN, longtime president of Morris Harvey College (now the University of Charleston), moved the school from Barboursville.
1956 - JOHN D. HOBLITZELL JR., of Parkersburg, education leader, appointed U.S. senator.
1957 - MICHAEL L. BENEDUM, "the Great Wildcatter," Bridgeport native, oil millionaire, philanthropist.
1958 - WILLIAM J. THOMPSON, Kanawha circuit judge, advocate of probation.
1959 - JERRY WEST, SAM HUFF, West Virginia basketball and football heroes.
1960 - FRED OTTO, Kanawha Valley civic leader, manager who helped save the DuPont Belle plant from phase-out.
1961 - CHARLES HODEL, orphan who lost a leg, became dynamic publisher of Beckley newspapers.
1962 - PEARL BUCK, Nobel Prize-winning author, born in Pocahontas County.
1963 - CYRUS VANCE, veteran U.S. diplomat and secretary of state.
1964 - SEN. JENNINGS RANDOLPH, member of Congress since the 1930s, chief author of Appalachian Regional Commission.
1965 - THE REV. LEON SULLIVAN, Charleston-born civil rights leader, created job training for blacks, planned phase-out of apartheid in South Africa.
1966 - WALTER F. REUTHER, United Auto Workers union president, born in Wheeling.
1967 - REV. HILARION CANN, BISHOP FRED HOLLOWAY, RABBI SAMUEL COOPER and BISHOP WILBURN CAMPBELL, four state leaders in church efforts for civil rights.
1968 - PHYLLIS CURTIN, from Clarksburg, GEORGE CRUMB JR. from Charleston, opera soprano and composer.
1969 - DR. DANIEL HALE, Princeton physician and conservationist, created flood-control dam and safe water supply.
1970 - WILLIAM T. BROTHERTON JR., of Charleston, state Senate president, creator of the Legislature's corruption-probing commission.
1971 - DR. JOHN C. NORMAN, Charleston-born surgeon and medical researcher.
1972 - ARCH A. MOORE JR., 28th governor, dynamic in his first term.
1973 - ARNOLD MILLER, Cabin Creek disabled miner, elected president of the UMW after crusading against union corruption.
1974 - SEN. ROBERT C. BYRD, who rose from Raleigh County poverty to leadership in Congress.
1975 - DR. JAMES HARLOW, physicist, 16th president of West Virginia University.
1976 - JAMES DAVID BARBER, Charleston native, Duke University political scientist, author of books on presidency.
1977 - SEN. ROBERT C. BYRD, chosen again after he attained national power as Senate majority leader.
1978 - MARY LEE SETTLE, from Charleston, renowned novelist.
1979 - MAURICE G. BROOKS, WVU biologist, author of four books on mountain wildlife.
Read about this year's winner, Landau Eugene Murphy Jr., here.
Sunday Gazette-Mail West Virginians of the Year:
1951 - OKEY L. PATTESON, 23rd governor, chief creator of the West Virginia Turnpike.
1952 - WALTER S. HALLANAN, former Huntington Herald-Dispatch editor, state official, oilman, chairman of 1952 Republican National Convention.
1953 - ADM. FELIX B. STUMP, from Parkersburg, commander of the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet.
1954 - GEN. CHARLES E. YEAGER, from Lincoln County, World War II air hero and test pilot, first to break the sound barrier.
1955 - LEONARD RIGGLEMAN, longtime president of Morris Harvey College (now the University of Charleston), moved the school from Barboursville.
1956 - JOHN D. HOBLITZELL JR., of Parkersburg, education leader, appointed U.S. senator.
1957 - MICHAEL L. BENEDUM, "the Great Wildcatter," Bridgeport native, oil millionaire, philanthropist.
1958 - WILLIAM J. THOMPSON, Kanawha circuit judge, advocate of probation.
1959 - JERRY WEST, SAM HUFF, West Virginia basketball and football heroes.
1960 - FRED OTTO, Kanawha Valley civic leader, manager who helped save the DuPont Belle plant from phase-out.
1961 - CHARLES HODEL, orphan who lost a leg, became dynamic publisher of Beckley newspapers.
1962 - PEARL BUCK, Nobel Prize-winning author, born in Pocahontas County.
1963 - CYRUS VANCE, veteran U.S. diplomat and secretary of state.
1964 - SEN. JENNINGS RANDOLPH, member of Congress since the 1930s, chief author of Appalachian Regional Commission.
1965 - THE REV. LEON SULLIVAN, Charleston-born civil rights leader, created job training for blacks, planned phase-out of apartheid in South Africa.
1966 - WALTER F. REUTHER, United Auto Workers union president, born in Wheeling.
1967 - REV. HILARION CANN, BISHOP FRED HOLLOWAY, RABBI SAMUEL COOPER and BISHOP WILBURN CAMPBELL, four state leaders in church efforts for civil rights.
1968 - PHYLLIS CURTIN, from Clarksburg, GEORGE CRUMB JR. from Charleston, opera soprano and composer.
1969 - DR. DANIEL HALE, Princeton physician and conservationist, created flood-control dam and safe water supply.
1970 - WILLIAM T. BROTHERTON JR., of Charleston, state Senate president, creator of the Legislature's corruption-probing commission.
1971 - DR. JOHN C. NORMAN, Charleston-born surgeon and medical researcher.
1972 - ARCH A. MOORE JR., 28th governor, dynamic in his first term.
1973 - ARNOLD MILLER, Cabin Creek disabled miner, elected president of the UMW after crusading against union corruption.
1974 - SEN. ROBERT C. BYRD, who rose from Raleigh County poverty to leadership in Congress.
1975 - DR. JAMES HARLOW, physicist, 16th president of West Virginia University.
1976 - JAMES DAVID BARBER, Charleston native, Duke University political scientist, author of books on presidency.
1977 - SEN. ROBERT C. BYRD, chosen again after he attained national power as Senate majority leader.
1978 - MARY LEE SETTLE, from Charleston, renowned novelist.
1979 - MAURICE G. BROOKS, WVU biologist, author of four books on mountain wildlife.
1980 - CHARLES PETERS JR., from Charleston, former legislator, publisher of The Washington Monthly.
1981 - SHARON ROCKEFELLER, public broadcasting advocate, wife of Sen. Jay Rockefeller.
1982 - ARTHUR RECHT, Wheeling circuit judge who mandated equality between rich and poor county school systems.
1983 - JAMES "BUCK" HARLESS, Mingo County lumber and coal mogul, philanthropist.
1984 - MARY LOU RETTON, from Fairmont, Olympic gold medalist in gymnastics.
1985 - LOUISE McNEIL PEASE, from Pocahontas County, state poet laureate.
1986 - DALE NITZSCHKE, president of Marshall University, leader in innovative educational concepts.
1987 - ROBERTA EMERSON, curator who expanded Huntington Museum of Art.
1988 - DON NEHLEN, football coach who led WVU to an 11-0 season.
1989 - MICHAEL CAREY, U.S. attorney who cleaned up corruption in Mingo County and state government.
1990 - SEN. ROBERT C. BYRD, chosen a third time for bringing billions of dollars worth of federal projects to West Virginia.
1991 - SEN. JAY ROCKEFELLER, legislator, secretary of state, governor and U.S. senator.
1992 - LYELL CLAY, HAZEL RUBY McQUAIN, CHARLIE ERICKSON, JOAN EDWARDS and other philanthopists - "The Givers" who support West Virginia projects.
1993 - The entireWVU FOOTBALL TEAM, for another undefeated season.
1994 - HENRY LOUIS "SKIP" GATES, Mineral County native who became Harvard's top black scholar, won a MacArthur "genius award" and wrote a book about his boyhood in West Virginia.
1995 - ROBERT C. FRASURE, from Morgantown, a deputy assistant secretary of state who was killed while trying to negotiate peace in Bosnia's civil war.
1996 - GASTON CAPERTON, upon completing two terms as a successful, progressive governor, whose tenure brought economic growth and few scandals.
1997 - ELIZABETH HALLANAN, one of America's few female federal judges, who reformed child support and voided a state plan for government-sponsored religion in schools.
1998 - ADM. JOSEPH LOPEZ, a Fayette County native who rose through the ranks to command U.S. forces in Bosnia and the Mediterranean.
1999 - BOB PRUETT, Marshall University football coach who selflessly turned down big-money offers - and his CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM.
2000 - JOHN CHAMBERS JR., president of the Internet giant, Cisco Systems, which enables computers to communicate, thus spurring the Information Age.
2001 - The WEST VIRGINIA NATIONAL GUARD, for a year of duty against floods, forest fires and terrorism.
2002 - SEN. ROBERT C. BYRD, a courageous lone voice resisting the plunge to war in Iraq.
2003 - PFC. JESSICA LYNCH of Wirt County, who became America's hero after she was severely injured, captured and then rescued in Iraq fighting.
2004 - CHARLIE JONES, longtime West Virginia barge and coal operator, providing jobs through one of the state's few home-based corporations.
2005 - WEST VIRGINIA SOLDIERS serving, fighting and dying in Iraq and Afghanistan, and their burdened families at home.
2006 - DAVID HARDESTY for his long years of fine leadership at West Virginia University.
2007 - JENNIFER GARNER for her success as a movie and Broadway actress, along with humanitarian works and public devotion to her home state.
2008 - BETTY SCHOENBAUM, Charleston philanthropist, for her many gifts enhancing life in the state capital.
2009 - JIM JUSTICE, Greenbrier County philanthropist who saved The Greenbrier resort and helps numerous West Virginia causes.
2010 - GEN. ALLEN TACKETT, retiring after long career of leading and improving the West Virginia National Guard.
2011 - LANDAU EUGENE MURPHY JR., Logan County singer who won $1 million in the nationwide "America's Got Talent" television show competition and became a popular and positive image of West Virginia.
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