Apple’s CEO Tim Cook was among the eight finalists for the Time Magazine 2014 Person of the Year, but this year the publication announced that the honourable title won’t go to a single person, but rather to a number of people who have fought against Ebola in Africa.
Ebola is a war, and a warning. The global health system is nowhere close to strong enough to keep us safe from infectious disease, and “us” means everyone, not just those in faraway places where this is one threat among many that claim lives every day. The rest of the world can sleep at night because a group of men and women are willing to stand and fight. For tireless acts of courage and mercy, for buying the world time to boost its defenses, for risking, for persisting, for sacrificing and saving, the Ebola fighters are TIME’s 2014 Person of the Year, writes Nancy Gibbs for the Time.
Alongside Tim Cook and the Ebola fighters, Time’s shortlist for the title included China’s richest person, Alibaba CEO Jack Ma (former teacher); Russian president Vladimir Putin; Taylor Swift; NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell; Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani; and the protesters in Ferguson.
The Person of the Year honour dates back to 1928, when Time magazine chose Charles Lindbergh as the Man of the Year for 1927. Since then, the magazine has annually designated one man, woman, couple, or concept that had a measurable influence on the world during the previous 12 months.
