2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom

President Barack Obama

President Barack Obama delivers remarks at the 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom, on November 24, 2015 at the White House

The Medal of Freedom

The Medal of Freedom as seen at the 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom, on November 24, 2015 at the White House

Recipients of Medal of Freedom

President Obama presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom to seventeen individuals on Tuesday, November 24, 2015 in the East Room of the White House. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the Nation's highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have made meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors. The following individuals were recipients of this award: Yogi Berra ( posthumous) ; Bonnie Carroll; Shirley Chisholm (posthumous); Emilio Estefan; Gloria Estefan; Billy Frank Jr. (posthumous); Lee Hamilton; Katherine G. Johnson; Willie Mays; Barbara Mikulski; Itzhak Perlman; William Ruckelshaus; Stephen Sondheim; Stephen Spielberg; Barbara Streisand; James Taylor; Minoru Yasui (posthumous)

Katherine G. Johnson and Willie Mays

Katherine G. Johnson and Willie Mays at the 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House, on November 24, 2015

Katherine G. Johnson

Katherine G. Johnson received the Presidential Medal of Freedom on November 24, 2015. Katherine Johnson is a pioneer in American space history. A NASA mathematician, Johnson's computations have influenced every major space program from Mercury through the Shuttle program. Johnson was hired as a research mathematician at the Langley Research Center with the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the agency that preceded NASA, after they opened hiring to African-Americans and women. Johnson exhibited exceptional technical leadership and is known especially for her calculations of the 1961 trajectory for Alan Shepard’s flight (first American in space), the 1962 verification of the first flight calculation made by an electronic computer for John Glenn’s orbit (first American to orbit the earth), and the 1969 Apollo 11 trajectory to the moon. In her later NASA career, Johnson worked on the Space Shuttle program and the Earth Resources Satellite and encouraged students to pursue careers in science and technology fields.

Willie Mays

Willie Mays received the Medal of Freedom on November 24, 2015. Willie Mays was a professional baseball player, spending most of his 22 seasons as a center fielder for the New York and San Francisco Giants. Mays ended his career with 660 home runs, making him the fifth all-time record-holder. Known as “The Say Hey Kid,” Mays was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979 and landed on MLB’s All-Time team. In 1951, Mays became one of the first African-American players in Major League Baseball history and won the Rookie of the Year award. Mays also served his country in the United States Army. In his return to Major League Baseball, Mays won the MVP award, and in the 1954 World Series Mays led the Giants to a surprise victory, while making one of the most spectacular plays in sports history, later known simply as “The Catch.”

Emilio Estefan and Gloria Estefan .

Emilio Estefan and Gloria Estefan at the 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom on November 24, 2015

Emilio Estefan

Emilio Estefan received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama on November 24, 2015. Emilio Estefan is a passionate and visionary music producer, entrepreneur, author, and songwriter who has won nineteen Grammy Awards and influenced a generation of artists. As the founding member of the Miami Sound Machine, and later through a decades-long career producing and shaping the work of countless stars, Estefan has helped popularize Latin music around the world. He has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Emilio Estefan is an inductee to the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame and a recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.

Gloria Estefan

Gloria Estefan received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama on November 24, 2015. Gloria Estefan is a singer, songwriter, actor, and entrepreneur who introduced Latin music to a global audience. The Cuban-American lead singer of the Miami Sound Machine has had chart topping hits such as “Conga,” “Rhythm is Gonna Get You,” and “Anything for You.” Estefan has won seven Grammy Awards and is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 100 million records worldwide. She is an inductee to the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame and a recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. Estefan became one of the first mainstream Hispanic artists to crossover between English and Spanish language music paving the way for countless other Latin artists to follow

Barbra Streisand

Barbra Streisand at the 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom November 24, 2015 at the White House

Steven Spielberg and Barbra Streisand

Steven Spielberg and Barbra Streisand at the 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom, on November 24, 2015 at the White House

Barbra Streisand

Barbra Streisand received the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House on November 24, 2015 at the White House. Barbra Streisand is one of our Nation’s most gifted talents. Her body of work includes extraordinary singing, acting, directing, producing, songwriting, and she is one of the few performers to receive an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and a Tony. Her performance in 1968’s Funny Girl endeared her to Americans for generations, and she won her first Academy Award for her role in that film. In 1984, she became the first woman to win a Golden Globe for Best Director, which she won for the motion picture Yentl. Streisand is also a recipient of four Peabody Awards, in addition to the National Medal of Arts and Kennedy Center Honors. In 2009, she endowed the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center at Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, which works to correct gender inequality in the research of a disease which each year kills more women than men.

James Brolin

Streisand's Husband, James Brolin, captures an image of Barbra receiving the Medal of Freedom

Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg received the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House on November 24, 2015 at the White House. Steven Spielberg, an American film director, producer and philanthropist received the 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.

James Taylor

James Taylor received the 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama on November 24, 2015. As a recording and touring artist, James Taylor has touched people with his warm baritone voice and distinctive style of guitar-playing for more than 40 years, while setting a precedent to which countless young musicians have aspired. Over the course of his celebrated songwriting and performing career, Taylor has sold more than 100 million albums, earning gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards for classics ranging from Sweet Baby James in 1970 to October Road in 2002. In 2015 Taylor released Before This World, his first new studio album in thirteen years, which earned him his first ever #1 album. He has won multiple Grammy awards and has been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the prestigious Songwriters Hall of Fame.

A Humbled James Taylor

James Taylor received the 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama on November 24, 2015. As a recording and touring artist, James Taylor has touched people with his warm baritone voice and distinctive style of guitar-playing for more than 40 years, while setting a precedent to which countless young musicians have aspired. Over the course of his celebrated songwriting and performing career, Taylor has sold more than 100 million albums, earning gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards for classics ranging from Sweet Baby James in 1970 to October Road in 2002. In 2015 Taylor released Before This World, his first new studio album in thirteen years, which earned him his first ever #1 album. He has won multiple Grammy awards and has been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the prestigious Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Larry Berra

Larry Berra received the 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama on November 24, 2015. Larry Berra, son of baseball legend Yogi Berra, receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom on behalf of his father.

Bonnie Carroll

Bonnie Carroll received the 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama on November 24, 2015.

William Howard Accepts Medal of Freedom for Shirley Chisholm

Shirley Chisholm made history in 1968 by becoming the first African-American woman elected to Congress, beginning the first of seven terms in the House of Representatives. In 1969 she became one of the founding members of what would become the Congressional Black Caucus. Not satisfied, Chisholm went on to make history yet again, becoming the first major-party African-American female candidate to make a bid for the U.S. presidency when she ran for the Democratic nomination in 1972. She was a champion of minority education and employment opportunities throughout her tenure in Congress. After leaving Congress in 1983, Chisholm taught at Mount Holyoke College and frequently lectured and gave speeches at colleges and universities throughout the country

Peggen Frank accepts the Presidential Medal of Freedom for Billy Frank Jr.

Peggen Frank accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her Father-in-Law on November 24, 2015 at the White House Billy Frank, Jr. was a tireless advocate for Indian treaty rights and environmental stewardship, whose activism paved the way for the “Boldt decision,” which reaffirmed tribal co-management of salmon resources in the state of Washington. Frank led effective “fish-ins,” which were modeled after sit-ins of the civil rights movement, during the tribal “fish wars” of the 1960s and 1970s. His magnetic personality and tireless advocacy over more than five decades made him a revered figure both domestically and abroad. Frank was the recipient of many awards, including the Martin Luther King, Jr. Distinguished Service Award for Humanitarian Achievement. Frank left in his wake an Indian Country strengthened by greater sovereignty and a nation fortified by his example of service to one’s community, his humility, and his dedication to the principles of human rights and environmental sustainability.

Lee Hamilton

Lee Hamilton received the 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama on November 24, 2015. Lee Hamilton has been one of the most influential voices on international relations and American national security over the course of his more than 40 year career. From 1965 to 1999, he served Indiana in the United States House of Representatives, where his chairmanships included the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran. Since retiring from Congress, Hamilton has been involved in efforts to address some of our nation’s most high profile homeland security and foreign policy challenges. He served as Vice Chairman of the 9/11 Commission and Co-Chairman of the Iraq Study Group. He was Co-Chairman of the Independent Task Force on Immigration and America’s Future, which issued a report in 2006 calling for reform of the nation’s immigration laws and system. And through the founding of the Center on Congress at Indiana University, he has also been a leading advocate for bi-partisanship and effective governance.

Barbara Mikulski

Barbara Mikulski accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom on November 24, 2015 at the White House. Barbara Mikulski is a lifelong public servant, who has held elected office since 1971. She became the longest serving female Senator in 2011, the longest serving woman in Congress in 2012, and the first female Senator to chair the Senate Appropriations Committee in 2012. Applying what she witnessed in her early career as a social worker and community activist in Baltimore, Maryland to her time in office, Senator Mikulski championed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, and helped establish the NIH Office of Research on Women's Health to include women in federally-funded health research protocols. She also helped to make college more affordable by reforming and increasing Pell grants and student loans and wrote the law that prevents seniors from going bankrupt while paying for a spouse’s nursing home care. She championed investments in research and innovation, most notably saving the Hubble Space Telescope. She is dean of the bipartisan Senate women, serving as their mentor.

Itzhak Perlman

Itzhak Perlman recipient of the 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom on November 24, 2015 Itzhak Perlman is a treasured violinist, conductor and sought-after teacher. Among his many achievements are four Emmy Awards, 16 Grammy Awards, and the 2008 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He was awarded a National Medal of Arts in 2000 and a Kennedy Center Honor in 2003. A native of Israel, he came to the United States at a young age and was introduced to Americans broadly when he appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1958. Mr. Perlman made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1963 when he was 18. In addition to performing internationally and recording the classical music for which he is best known, Perlman has also played jazz, including an album made with jazz pianist Oscar Peterson. Perlman has been the soloist for a number of film scores such as Schindler's List, which subsequently won an Academy Award for Best Original Score. Alongside his wife Toby, Mr. Perlman teaches talented young musicians through the Perlman Music Program. Through his advocacy and his example, he has been an important voice on behalf of persons with disabilities

William Ruckelshaus

William Ruckelshaus accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom on November 24, 2015 at the White House William D. Ruckelshaus is a dedicated public servant who has worked tirelessly to protect public health and combat global challenges like climate change. As the first and fifth Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, under Presidents Nixon and Reagan, he not only shaped the guiding principles of the agency, but also worked diligently to bring the public into the decision making process. Among the EPA’s key early achievements under his leadership was a nationwide ban on the pesticide DDT and an agreement with the automobile industry to require catalytic converters, which significantly reduced automobile pollution. He also demonstrated his commitment to public service and integrity as Deputy Attorney General. During the Watergate crisis, Ruckelshaus and Attorney General Elliot Richardson chose to resign rather than fire the Watergate special prosecutor. Their principled stance was a pivotal moment for the Justice Department and galvanized public opinion for upholding the rule of law. He continues to advance his legacy of collaborative problem solving in his current role at the University of Washington and Washington State University.