On Sunday, Dec. 29, The Tennessean will reveal the editors’ selection for Person (of People) of the Year.
It has been a tradition for The Tennessean to name an individual or group who have made an extraordinary contribution or impact to communities in and across Tennessee.
In 2023, for example, the honorees were the Metro Nashville police officers who responded to The Covenant School shooting. Scroll to read the honorees since 2006.
In the lead-up to the big reveal, we would like to know who readers think the 2024 Tennessean of the Year should be. Take our survey below.
We may use some of your answers in a follow up column. Thank you!
Online Form – The Tennessean Person of the Year
These are the people whom The Tennessean editorial board honored as People of the Year from 2006 to 2022.
- 2006 : Country music icon and state patron saint Dolly Parton
- 2007: Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore
- 2008: Former Belmont University President Bob Fisher
- 2009: Medical researchers of Meharry Medical College including James Hildreth, then a researcher and now president
- 2010: Former Nashville Mayor Karl Dean
- 2011: Musicians and power couple Vince Gill and Amy Grant
- 2012: Vanderbilt researchers Marion Kainer and April Pettit
- 2013: Musician, philanthropist and now “Era Tour” icon and billionaire Taylor Swift
- 2014: Michael Burcham, former CEO of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center
- 2015: The late attorney and politician John Jay Hooker
- 2016: The heroes and survivors of Sevier County, including Dolly Parton
- 2017: Former U.S. Sen. Bob Corker
- 2018: Former Gov. Bill Haslam and First Lady Crissy Haslam ; James Shaw Jr. , hero of the Waffle House shooting; Ashley Judd, YWCA of Nashville and Middle Tennessee and Sexual Assault Center for their to end domestic violence and sexual assault and aid survivors
- 2019 : Natchez Trace Parkway heroes who worked to prevent suicide on the bridge
- 2020: Charlane Oliver (now a state Senator) and Tequila Johnson, then co-executive directors of The Equity Alliance (Johnson leads the organization now)
- 2021: The founders of the Fuller Story in Franklin, Tennessee who sought to tell a holistic narrative about the Civil War — Rev. Kevin Riggs, Rev. Hewitt Sawyers, Rev. Chris Williamson, and Battle of Franklin Trust CEO Eric Jacobson
- 2022: The ‘builders’ of Nashville for making the “it” city – Church Street developer Tony Giarratana, Metro Planning Director Lucy Kempf, Stand Up Nashville and Workers’ Dignity/Dignidad Obrera
- 2023: Covenant School shooting Nashville police responders