Marian Anderson
Civil rights icon and African American contralto, who had a ground-breaking career in classical music from the mid-1920s through the late 1950s.
Tag Archives: Presidential Medal of Freedom
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Mary Lasker
Medical philanthropist, political strategist, and health activist Mary Lasker acted as the catalyst for the rapid growth of the biomedical research enterprise in the United States after World War II.
Joan Ganz Cooney
American television producer and one of the creators of the iconic children’s educational television show “Sesame Street.”
Mildred Dresselhaus
Jewish-American physicist, materials scientist, and nanotechnologist known as the “Queen of Carbon Science.”
Margaret Hamilton
American computer scientist, systems engineer, and business owner; director of MIT Instrumentation Laboratory’s Software Engineering Division, a crucial role in developing onboard flight software for NASA’s Apollo program.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver
Eunice Mary Kennedy Shriver was a key figure in the Kennedy family, known for her philanthropy. She founded the Special Olympics, a sports organization for those with physical and intellectual disabilities, earning her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1984 for her dedicated efforts.
Barbara Mikulski
American politician who served as a U.S. Senator from Maryland from 1987 to 2017, making her the longest-serving woman in the history of the United States Congress at the time of her retirement.
Annie Dodge Wauneka
Navajo leader and activist
Katherine Johnson
Katherine Johnson was an African-American mathematician who made contributions to NASA’s space program. She was featured in the book and film Hidden Figures.
Sandra Day O’Connor
Sandra Day O’Connor, the first female Supreme Court Justice of the United States, was one of the most influential Americans of the 1980s and 1990s.