WASHINGTON, Nov. 22 (UPI) — U.S. President Barack Obama is bestowing the Presidential Medal of Freedom on 21 recipients at the White House Tuesday afternoon.
Among the activists, scientists, philanthropists, athletes and artists being honored are Tom Hanks, Ellen DeGeneres, Robert De Niro, Robert Redford, Lorne Michaels, Bruce Springsteen, Diana Ross and Cicely Tyson.
Former athletes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Jordan, as well as longtime Dodgers baseball broadcaster Vin Scully, are also being recognized, while posthumous awards are being granted to Blackfeet Tribal community leader Elouise Cobell and Rear Adm. Grace Hopper.
Other recipients include philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates, architect Frank Gehry, sculpture and landscape artist Maya Lin, and polymath physicist Richard Garwin.
