16 Honored With Medal Of Freedom

President Barack Obama presents the Medal of Freedom to physicist Stephen Hawking ,In a ceremony at the White House, Prof Hawking, 67, who is completely paralysed by motor neuron disease, was among 16 renowned “agents of change” chosen to receive the medal. -


President Obama presents the Medal of Freedom to actor Sidney Poitier. Ailing Sen. Edward Kennedy also was honored.



President Obama shares a laugh with Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Chita Rivera, who, as a Puerto Rican-American, broke barriers as an actress, singer and dancer to become a Broadway star in West Side Story.


Muhammad Ali's Presidential Medal of Freedom on display at the Muhammad Ali Center


An emotional Kara Kennedy accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her father, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, yesterday.



Medal and other accoutrements including undress ribbon, miniature, and lapel badge.


-President Barack Obama confers Medal of Freedom on Joseph Medicine Crow, the only surviving Plains Indian war chief, as fellow recipient actor Sidney Poitier looks on. The other 14 honorees include actress Chita Rivera, former Irish president Mary Robinson, Sen. Ted Kennedy, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, British physicist Stephen Hawking and civil rights leader Rev. Joseph Lowery-


The Presidential Medal of Freedom is a decoration bestowed by the President of the United States and is, along with the equivalent Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of Congress, the highest civilian award in the United States. It is designed to recognize individuals who have made "an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors." The award is not limited to United States citizens


At his first Medal of Freedom conferral, President Obama ran a tight ship of a ceremony, which began slightly after 3 p.m. and clocked in at about 40 minutes' worth of speechifying and medal-bestowing in the glittering East Room, the largest room in the White House. This year, actor Sidney Poitier, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Broadway star Chita Rivera, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and former Irish president Mary Robinson were among the 16 who received the nation's highest civilian honor.

Among the recipients of the Medal of Freedom: Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and noted physicist Stephen Hawking, Honored, but not present, Sen. Edward Kennedy, whose daughter Cara accepted on his behalf. He continues his battle with brain cancer at his home in Massachusetts.


Medal Recipients are:-

- Nancy Goodman Brinker, the founder of breast cancer organization Susan G. Komen for the Cure
- Pedro Jos Greer Jr., a Miami physician who works with the city's poor and homeless
- Stephen Hawking, British physicist
- Jack Kemp, politician and sports icon
- Sen. Edward Kennedy
- Billie Jean King, tennis pro
- Joseph Lowery, civil rights movement champion
- Joseph Medicine Crow, 95, last living Plains Indian war chief
- Harvey Milk, gay rights activist
- Sandra Day O'Connor, first woman on U.S. Supreme Court
- Sidney Poitier, actor and ambassador
- Chita Rivera, singer, dancer, actress
- Mary Robinson, the first female president of Ireland
- Janet Davison Rowley, the first scientist to identify the causes of leukemia and other cancers
- Desmond Tutu, anti-apartheid activist
- Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank to provide loans to the poor in his native Bangladesh

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