German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been named ‘s Person of the Year.

Merkel’s selection was announced Wednesday morning on NBC’s “Today” show.

“Leaders are tested only when people don’t want to follow,” Time editor Nancy Gibbs said in a statement issued Wednesday. “For asking more of her country than most politicians would dare, for standing firm against tyranny as well as expedience and for providing steadfast moral leadership in a world where it is in short supply, Angela Merkel is TIME’s Person of the Year.”

She’s the first individual woman to be recognized since 1986.