2016 Presidential Medal of Freedom Honorees
by yrnej | created - 24 Nov 2016 | updated - 20 Feb 2017 | PublicPresident Obama recently awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for the final time to a group during a ceremony at the White House. The Medal is the highest civilian of the US and recognizes those people 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".
Which of these newest winners do you feel has made the biggest contribution to the way of life of the US?
Discuss the list here
1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Actor | Airplane!
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is an American retired professional basketball player who played 20 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers. During his career as a center, Abdul-Jabbar was a record six-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), a record...
Basketball star, commentator and actor
2. Elouise Cobell
Casting_department | War Party
Elouise Cobell was born on November 5, 1945 in Browning, Montana, USA. She is known for War Party (1988) and 60 Minutes (1968). She was married to Alvin Cobell. She died on October 16, 2011 in Great Falls, Montana, USA.
Blackfeet Tribal community leader and advocate for Native American causes (posthumous)
3. Ellen DeGeneres
Producer | Ellen: The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Emmy-winning talk show host Ellen Lee DeGeneres was born in Metairie, Louisiana, a New Orleans suburb. She is the daughter of Betty DeGeneres (née Elizabeth Jane Pfeffer), a speech therapist, and Elliott Everett DeGeneres, Jr., an insurance agent. Her brother is musician and producer Vance DeGeneres...
TV host, actress and LGBTQ activist
4. Robert De Niro
Actor | Cape Fear
One of the greatest actors of all time, Robert De Niro was born on August 17, 1943 in Manhattan, New York City, to artists Virginia (Admiral) and Robert De Niro Sr. His paternal grandfather was of Italian descent, and his other ancestry is Irish, English, Dutch, German, and French. He was trained ...
Actor, director and producer
Physicist and author of the first hydrogen bomb design
6. Bill Gates
Actor | Frasier
Born William Henry III is an American entrepreneur, business mogul, investor, philanthropist, and widely known as one of the most richest and influential people in the world. William Henry III was born to attorney, William Henry II and teacher, Mary Maxwell Gates in Seattle, Washington, USA.
Bill ...
Tech pioneer and activist
7. Melinda Gates
Producer | Origin
Melinda Gates was born on August 15, 1964 in Dallas, Texas, USA. She is a producer, known for Origin (2023), Smarter Every Day (2011) and Gomorron (1992). She was previously married to Bill Gates.
Businesswoman and philanthropist
8. Frank Gehry
Producer | Miles Ahead
After graduating from Harvard University, Gehry studied architecture. In the middle of his studies he moved to the University of Los Angeles. In 1962 he founded his own architectural firm in Venice, California. In the following years he advanced from a conventional planner to an early ...
Architect
9. Margaret Hamilton
Self | Moon Machines
She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award, by President Barack Obama, in a live televised ceremony held in the East Room of the White House, on November 22, 2016, along with twenty other recipients, the the largest, and final Medal of Freedom ceremony of...
Mathematician and computer scientist who created flight software for NASA
10. Tom Hanks
Producer | Cast Away
Thomas Jeffrey Hanks was born in Concord, California, to Janet Marylyn (Frager), a hospital worker, and Amos Mefford Hanks, an itinerant cook. His mother's family, originally surnamed "Fraga", was entirely Portuguese, while his father was of mostly English ancestry. Tom grew up in what he has ...
Actor, director and advocate for social and environmental causes and for veterans and their families
11. Grace Hopper
Self | Signals
Grace Hopper was born on December 9, 1906 in New York City, New York, USA. She was married to Vincent Foster Hopper. She died on January 1, 1992 in Arlington, Virginia, USA.
Computer scientist and Navy Rear Admiral who became one of the first computer programmers in 1944 (posthumous)
12. Michael Jordan
Actor | Space Jam
Michael Jeffrey Jordan was born in Brooklyn, New York on February 17, 1963. He was the fourth of five children born to James and Deloris. James Jordan was a mechanic and Deloris Jordan was a bank teller. Soon after Michael's birth, James and Deloris felt that the streets of Brooklyn were unsafe to ...
Basketball star, product spokesperson and owned and chairman of the Charlotte Hornets
13. Maya Lin
Self | Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision
Maya Lin was born on October 5, 1959 in Athens, Ohio, USA. She was previously married to Daniel Wolf.
Architect, artist and designer of sculpture and landscape art including the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
14. Lorne Michaels
Producer | Saturday Night Live
Lorne Michaels was born on November 17, 1944 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is a producer and writer, known for Saturday Night Live (1975), 30 Rock (2006) and The Kids in the Hall (1988). He has been married to Alice Barry since 1991. They have three children. He was previously married to Susan ...
Television writer and producer and creator of Saturday Night Live
15. Newton Minow
Self | Infamous Crime Scenes: JFK
Newton Minow was born on January 17, 1926 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He was married to Josephine Baskin. He died on May 6, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Attorney who was chairman of the FCC, is now in private practice and is a philanthropist
16. Eduardo Padron
Self | West Wing Week
He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award, by President Barack Obama, in a live televised ceremony held in the East Room of the White House, on November 22, 2016, along with twenty other recipients, the the largest, and final Medal of Freedom ceremony of ...
President of Miami Dade College and an activist for access and inclusion of high quality, affordable educaion
17. Robert Redford
Actor | The Natural
Born on August 18, 1936, in Santa Monica, California, to Charles Robert Redford, an accountant for Standard Oil, and Martha Redford, Charles Robert Redford, Jr. was a scrappy kid who stole hubcaps in high school and lost his college baseball scholarship at the University of Colorado because of ...
Actor, director, producer, environmentalist and creator of the Sundance Film Festival and the Sundance Film channel
18. Diana Ross
Soundtrack | The Wiz
Best known as the the lead singer of the popular 1960s singing group The Supremes, Diana Ernestine Earle Ross was born on March 26, 1944, in Detroit, Michigan, the second of six children of African-American parents Ernestine Lillian (Moten), a schoolteacher, and Fred Earl Ross, who served in the ...
Singer, actress and dancer, inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
19. Vin Scully
Actor | For Love of the Game
Vin Scully was born on November 29, 1927 in Bronx, New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for For Love of the Game (1999), Secret in Their Eyes (2015) and Fireball 500 (1966). He was married to Sandra Jean Hunt and Joan Louise Crawford. He died on August 2, 2022 in Hidden Hills, ...
Broadcaster for Dodgers baseball, inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame
20. Bruce Springsteen
Soundtrack | Blinded by the Light
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen was born September 23, 1949 in Long Branch, New Jersey, USA. His father, Douglas Frederick Springsteen, worked as a bus driver, and was of Irish and Dutch ancestry. His mother, Adele Ann (Zerilli), worked as a legal secretary, and was of Italian descent. He has an...
Musician and author, inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
21. Cicely Tyson
Actress | The Help
Cicely Tyson was born in Harlem, New York City, where she was raised by her devoutly religious parents, who had come from the Caribbean island of Nevis. Her mother Theodosia was a domestic worker and her her father William was a carpenter and painter. Tyson was discovered by a fashion editor at ...
Stage, television and flim actress
Tell Your Friends