2002: The Whistle-Blowers

Time's 'Person of the Year' 2001-2012

In 2002, Time listed several "whistle-blowers" as Person of the Year, including Sherron Watkins of Enron, Coleen Rowley of the FBI and Cynthia Cooper of WorldCom. Above: Enron Vice President of Corporate Development Sherron Watkins testifies on Capitol Hill Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2002 before the Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Enron. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)

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Person of the Ye... President Barack Obama has been named Time magazine's "Person of the Year" for 2012.

"We are in the midst of historic cultural and demographic changes, and Obama is both the symbol and in some ways the architect of this new America," Time Editor Rick Stengel told NBC's "Today" show, where he announced the selection on Dec. 19.

The short list for the honor included Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager who was shot in the head for advocating for girls' education, as well as Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Italian physicist Fabiola Giannati.

Obama also received the honor in 2008, when he was President-elect.

Source: Associated Press
2011: The Protes... In a year that saw protests in places ranging from Egypt's Tahrir Square to Wall Street, Time Magazine's Person of the Year for 2011 was "The Protester." (AP Photo/Time Magazine)

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2010: Mark Zucke... With Facebook exceeding 400 million users in 2010, founder Mark Zuckerberg was Time's Person of the Year. Above: Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg speaks in the Galileo Auditorium on Microsoft’s Silicon Valley Campus in Mountain View, Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2010. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

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2009: Ben Bernan... In 2009, Time credited Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke with preventing a much deeper financial crisis. Above: Bernanke in Washington on July 22, 2009, before the Senate Banking Committee hearing on the semi-annual monetary policy report.(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

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2008: Barack Oba... Elected as 44th President, Time named Barack Obama as Person of the Year. Above: Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama D-Ill., waves during a commercial break during MSNBC's Hardball College Tour hosted by Chris Matthews at West Chester University in West Chester, Pa., Wednesday, April 2, 2008. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
2007: Vladimir P... In what was expected to by his final year as Russia's President, Time picked Vladimir Putin as Person of the Year. Above: Russian President Vladimir Putin smiles on a bank of the Khemchik River in the Tuva region of Siberia on Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2007. When he flexes Russia's diplomatic and military muscle, President Vladimir Putin always makes headlines. (AP Photo/ RIA Novosti, Dmitry Astakhov, Presidential Press Service)

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2006: 'You' Citing the growing power of the everyday person to influence public discourse through social media sites like YouTube, Time named “You” as the Person of the Year in 2006. Above: This image from the web site youtube.com, shows an anti-drug public service announcement released by the White House on Monday, Sept. 18, 2006. The Bush administration is taking its fight against illegal drugs to YouTube, the trendy Internet video service. The decision to distribute anti-drug, public service announcements and other videos over YouTube represents the first concerted effort by the U.S. government to influence customers of the popular service. (AP Photo/youtube.com)

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2005: 'The Good ... In 2005, Time named the Person of the Year "The Good Samaritans," listing Bill Gates, Melinda Gates and Bono as "three people on a global mission to end poverty, disease — and indifference." Above: Time Magazine's 2005 Persons of the Year are announced on a billboard in New York's Times Square, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2005. 2005's honorees include Bill Gates, Melinda Gates and rock star Bono for their charitable work and activism focused on reducing global poverty and improving world health. (AP Photo/Jennifer Szymaszek)

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2004: George W. ... After being elected to his second term, Time named President George W. Bush Person of the Year. Above: President George Bush, right, rubs the head of Alphonso Jackson, acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, before making his remarks at the White House Conference on Faith-Based and Community Initiatives event in Los Angeles Wednesday, March 3, 2004. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)

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2003: The Americ... With the war in Iraq starting in March of 2003 and the war in Afghanistan entering its third year, Time named the American solider Person of the Year. Above: United States Army and Marine troops hunker in a bunker at their base in the Kuwaiti desert during an air raid alert as missiles were launched by Iraq into Kuwait, Thursday, March 20, 2003. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

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2002: The Whistl... In 2002, Time listed several "whistle-blowers" as Person of the Year, including Sherron Watkins of Enron, Coleen Rowley of the FBI and Cynthia Cooper of WorldCom. Above: Enron Vice President of Corporate Development Sherron Watkins testifies on Capitol Hill Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2002 before the Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Enron. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)

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2001: Rudolph Gi... As the nation grappled with the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Time named New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani Person of the Year in 2001. Above: New York Gov. George Pataki, left, New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, center, and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., tour the site of the World Trade Center disaster, in this Sept. 12, 2001, file photo. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty/FILE)

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.