Apple co-founder Steve Jobs has been nominated for Time’s 2011 Person of the Year, and should he be awarded with the distinction, will be the first person to do so after they have passed away.
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs
Mr. Jobs was nominated by NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams. The nominations are made by a six-member panel that this year includes Mr. Williams, “Saturday Night Live” head writer Seth Meyers, actor Jesse Eisenberg, Chef Mario Batali, attorney Anita Hill, and conservative lobbyist Grover Norquist.
Mr. Williams said during his nomination speech:
One guy, who changed our world, and I said to Seth Meyers as we walked across 6th Ave, ‘Just look with me on this one block walk at how he changed the world around us. Look at how he changed the world.’ Not only did he change the world, but he gave us that spirit again that something was possible that you could look at a piece of plastic or glass and move your finger — that’s outlandish. You could make things bigger or smaller like that. ‘Oh the places you’ll go’ and oh the way you will change forever the music and television industries. So may he rest in peace, Steve Jobs, and the spirit he represents, are my nominee for Person of the Year.
Other nominees Mr. Jobs is up against include U.S. senate candidate Elizabeth Warren, the Tunisian fruit vendor Mohamed Bouazizi for starting the Arab Spring, American journalist Michael Pollen, Egyptian activist Esraa Abdel, and angry people. Yes, angry people.
Mr. Meyers backed up the angry people nomination by saying, “I do think that angry people are the Person of the Year because I think they’re right to be angry.”
Now that the nominations are in, Time will announce the new Person of the Year in December.