Most Admired People of the Year

Sixteen-year-old Greta Thunberg of Sweden stepped on to the world stage this year as an outspoken environmental and climate-change activist and became the youngest Time Person of the Year for 2019. She was invited to speak at the U.N. Climate Action Summit in September 2019, and crossed the Atlantic on a zero-emissions yacht, with her father and crew. After arriving in New York, Thunberg spoke at a massive climate action event before speaking at the U.N., an occasion that was marked by her frank tone about the future of the planet.

Despite facing impeachment inquiries, sexual assault accusations, and other infamies, President Donald Trump’s approval rating among Republicans stands at 86%, according to a Gallup poll, and it has never fallen below 79%. Among Democrats, Trump is seen in quite a different light. Only 7% of Democrats approve of the president, and his approval rating among Democrats has never been more than 12%.

Crowned Miss World in 2000, Priyanka Chopra became a Bollywood actress and singer beginning in 2002. American audiences came to know her from her appearance on the FBI-themed series “Quantico.” Priyanka is a global UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Child Rights, and UNICEF plans to honor her this month with its Danny Kaye Humanitarian Award for her work in promoting environmentalism, health and education, and women’s rights.

The 82-year-old pontiff is the first Jesuit pope and the first from the Americas (he’s from Argentina). The leader of the 1.2 billion Catholics has spoken out vigorously against income inequality and is concerned about the impact of climate change. His trip to Japan in November was the first papal visit to that country in 38 years. While visiting Nagasaki, one of the cities destroyed by an atomic bomb in World War II, Pope Francis spoke out against the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

At 86, Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the oldest Supreme Court justice, and one of its most resilient. She has battled lung, pancreatic, and colorectal cancer, has a stent in her heart, and bounced back after being hospitalized with broken ribs. Ginsburg, who has become something of a folk hero, is affectionately called “Notorious R.B.G” — a play on the late rapper Notorious B.I.G. nickname. She has been the subject of the book “Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg” and the biographical movie “On the Basis of Sex” based on her early legal cases.