Swedish American of the Year

• 1960 Rudolf F. Bannow – President (1960) of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and owner of Bridgeport (machine tool brand)
• 1961 Amandus Johnson – Contributions to Swedish-American history and raising awareness of the 300 year jubilee of the Delaware Valley's New Sweden colonies[4]
• 1962 Glenn T. Seaborg (*/**) – Chemist and winner of the 1951 Nobel Prize in nuclear chemistry.[5] Vasa DL 15 Local Lodge 719 is named after Glenn T. Seaborg.
• 1963 Elmer Engstrom – President of the Radio Corporation of America
• 1964 Werner P. Gullander – President (1962) of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). Gullander lived in Palm Desert, CA and passed away in 2000.
• 1965 Rudolph A. Peterson (*) – President of Bank of America
• 1966 G. Hilmer Lundbeck – Executive Director of the Swedish American Line[6]
• 1967 Karl W. Hallden – Head of the industrial firm the Hallden Machine Company[7]
• 1968 Arleigh Albert Burke – Admiral of the United States Navy during World War II and the Korean War, and who served as Chief of Naval Operations during the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations
• 1969 Nils William Olsson (*) – Founder and Director of Swedish Council of America[8]
• 1970 Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin – American astronaut – with astronaut Neil Armstrong (1969), they were the first humans to walk on the Moon
• 1971 Gustav Nyselius – Founder of Mount Vernon Die Casting Company[9]
• 1972 Gerry Rooth – Publisher of Nordstjernan, and the quarterly publication of the Vasa Star, the official magazine of the Vasa Order of America.
• 1973 Eric C. Bellquist – Professor of political science at the University of California, Berkeley
• 1974 Bertil Winström (**) – Past Grand Master of Vasa Order of America and founder of the Vasa National Archives in Bishop Hill, IL
• 1975 Wendell R. Anderson – Politician, Governor of Minnesota 1970
• 1976 Ewald B. Nyquist – Commissioner Of Education (1969–1976) of the State of New York
• 1977 Roger Tory Peterson – Ornithologist, artist, environmentalist, and author of A Field Guide to the Birds
• 1978 Robert Orville Anderson – Founder and executive director of Atlantic Richfield Oil Company ARCO, Los Angeles Richfield Oil Corporation
• 1979 Nils Yngve Wessell (*) – President of Tufts University, Massachusetts

• 1980 Signe Karlström (*) – First woman to be named Swedish-American of the Year. Karlström dedicated her life to membership in and leadership of Swedish-American cultural organizations and strengthening ties between Michigan and Sweden.[11]
• 1981 Curt Carlson (*) – Head of Carlson, a hospitality and travel company; its primary subsidiary is CWT, a travel management company.
• 1982 Russell Peterson – President of the National Audubon Society
• 1983 J. Erik Jonsson – Founder of Texas Instruments
• 1984 Gurli Johnson – Worked for the Salvation Army for 17 years and upheld Swedish traditions through services and radio programs
• 1985 James R. Thompson – Politician, Governor of Illinois and served on the 9/11 Commission
• 1986 Franklin S. Forsberg (*) – Publisher of the Yank, Stars & Stripes, Liberty, and Popular Mechanics magazines
• 1987 Alice L. Carlson (*/**) – Grand Lodge Treasurer, Vice Grand Master, Grand Master for Vasa Order of America
• 1988 Hildor Arnold Barton – Swedish-American historian, taught at University of Alberta, University of California, Santa Barbara and Southern Illinois University
• 1989 Signe Hasso – Actress with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
• 1990 Oscar A. Lundin (*) – Vice President of General Motors
• 1991 Nils Hasselmo (*) – President of the University of Minnesota 1988–1997
• 1992 John N. Nordstrom – Grandson of Nordstrom founder John W. Nordstrom. John N. Nordstrom was the past owner of the Seattle Seahawks (2016)
• 1993 William Rehnquist – Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court
• 1994 Arne H. Carlson – Politician, Minnesota's 37th Governor
• 1995 Richard E. Oldenburg – Director of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) New York.
• 1996 Siri M. Eliason (*) – Started a Scandinavian furniture business and served as the Sweden Honorary Consul General in San Francisco
• 1997 Arnold Lindberg – Career as Technical Director at Disney World[12]
• 1998 Glen E. Brolander (*) – Founding force for the Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center.[13][14]
• 1999 Rod Johnson (*) – Swedish woodcarving

• 2000 Helena Hernmarck – Textile artist
• 2001 Ann-Margret Olsson – Actress, performer
• 2002 Lyndon L. Olson Jr. – US Ambassador to Sweden 1998–2001
• 2003 Marilyn Carlson Nelson – Head of Carlson and subsidiary CWT. Carlson-Nelson is the daughter of founder Curt Carlson.[16]
• 2004 Lars Lerup – Architectural design author, lecturer and exhibitor[17]
• 2005 Jeanne Eriksson Widman (**/Vasa DL 4) – Founder of the Scandinavian Accordion Club of New York. Her father, Walter Eriksson, was an accordion musician and had radio shows in New York.[18]
• 2006 Agneta Nilsson (*/**/Vasa DL 15) – Founder of Swedish Women's Educational Association (SWEA)
• 2007 E. Jan Hartmann (*) – Chair, president and CEO of Ziebart International Corp.
• 2008 Barbro Sachs-Osher – Publisher of Vestkusten, a Swedish-language newspaper.[19][20]
• 2009 Anne–Charlotte Hanes Harvey (*/**/Vasa DL 15) is Professor Emerita of Theater at San Diego State University.[21][22]
• 2010 John Norton[23]
• 2011 Kerstin Lane (*) – Founder of the Swedish American Museum with friend and fellow Swedish immigrant Kurt Mathiasson
• 2012 Ingvar Wikström – Entrepreneur for Swedish food culture[24]
• 2013 Martina Arfwidson – Founder of FACE Stockholm[25]
• 2014 C. Fred Bergsten
• 2015 Emily Tepe – Musician
• 2016 Nils Lofgren – Musician
• 2017 Jan Eliasson – Swedish diplomat who was Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations from July 2012 to December 2016
• 2018 Bruce Karstadt – President/CEO of the American Swedish Institute[26]
• 2019 Eric Nelson – CEO of the National Nordic Museum[27]

(* denotes a member of the Swedish Council of America (SCA) Board of Directors)

(** denotes a member of Vasa Order of America (VOA))

• The Swedish-Americans of the year. Karlstad. 1982. ISBN 9789174001518. OCLC 14132855.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)