Obama Names 21 Recipients of Medal of Freedom

Michael Jordan, Tom Hanks, Bruce Springsteen, and more
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Nov 16, 2016 6:55 PM CST
Obama Names 21 Recipients of Medal of Freedom
President Barack Obama is honoring Michael Jordan, Cicely Tyson, Tom Hanks, and others with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.   (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

President Obama is honoring actors Robert DeNiro, Cicely Tyson, Tom Hanks, and Robert Redford with the nation's highest civilian honor, the AP reports. They are among 21 people Obama plans to recognize with the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House next Tuesday. Honorees from the sports world include basketball players Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Jordan, along with veteran sports broadcaster Vin Scully. Entertainers include Ellen DeGeneres, Diana Ross, and Bruce Springsteen.

Other honorees are philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates, polymath physicist Richard Garwin, architect Frank Gehry, designer Maya Lin, Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels, attorney Newt Minow, mathematician and computer scientist Margaret H. Hamilton, and Eduardo Padrón, president of Miami Dade College in Florida. Posthumous honors will go to Native American advocate Elouise Cobell and Rear Adm. Grace Hopper. (More Presidential Medal of Freedom stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X