Awarded since 2000.
| Name | Occupation | Birth | Death | Known for |
|---|
| Hank Aaron |
Baseball |
5-Feb-1934 |
|
Hit 755 home runs over his career |
| Madeleine Albright |
Diplomat |
15-May-1937 |
|
Bill Clinton's Secretary of State |
| Muhammad Ali |
Boxing |
17-Jan-1942 |
|
Floated like butterfly, stung like bee |
| Harry Belafonte |
Singer/Songwriter |
1-Mar-1927 |
|
Calypso singer |
| Tony Bennett |
Singer |
3-Aug-1926 |
|
Left his heart in San Francisco |
| Larry Bird |
Basketball |
7-Dec-1956 |
|
Boston Celtics |
| Judy Blume |
Author |
12-Feb-1938 |
|
Author of children's books |
| William F. Buckley |
Columnist |
24-Nov-1925 |
27-Feb-2008 |
National Review |
| Carol Burnett |
Actor |
26-Apr-1933 |
|
The Carol Burnett Show |
| Benjamin S. Carson |
Doctor |
18-Sep-1951 |
|
Pediatric neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins |
| Benny Carter |
Jazz Musician |
8-Aug-1907 |
12-Jul-2003 |
Jazz and big bandleader |
| Johnny Cash |
Country Musician |
26-Feb-1932 |
12-Sep-2003 |
The Man in Black |
| Vint Cerf |
Scientist |
23-Jun-1943 |
|
Co-Designed Internet's TCP-IP protocol |
| Linda Chavez |
Activist |
17-Jun-1947 |
|
Neoconservative activist, pundit |
| Julia Child |
Chef |
15-Aug-1912 |
13-Aug-2004 |
Haute cuisine with a unique voice |
| Beverly Cleary |
Author |
12-Apr-1916 |
|
Children's author, Ramona Quimby series |
| David Copperfield |
Magician |
16-Sep-1956 |
|
Disappeared the Statue of Liberty |
| Bill Cosby |
Comic |
12-Jul-1937 |
|
Comedy fixture, pudding industry shill |
| Merce Cunningham |
Dancer |
16-Apr-1919 |
26-Jul-2009 |
Merce Cunningham Dance Company |
| Michael DeBakey |
Doctor |
7-Sep-1908 |
11-Jul-2008 |
Father of cardiovascular surgery |
| Marian Wright Edelman |
Activist |
6-Jun-1939 |
|
Founder, Children's Defense Fund |
| Ahmet Ertegün |
Business |
21-Jul-1923 |
14-Dec-2006 |
Atlantic Records co-founder |
| Suzanne Farrell |
Dancer |
16-Aug-1945 |
|
Ballerina, NYC Ballet |
| John Kenneth Galbraith |
Economist |
15-Oct-1908 |
29-Apr-2006 |
Modern economics renegade |
| Stephen Jay Gould |
Biologist |
10-Sep-1941 |
20-May-2002 |
Evolutionary scientist |
| Katharine Graham |
Publisher |
16-Jun-1917 |
17-Jul-2001 |
Washington Post publisher, 1966-79 |
| Ursula K. Le Guin |
Novelist |
21-Oct-1929 |
|
The Left Hand of Darkness |
| Mickey Hart |
Drummer |
11-Sep-1943 |
|
Drummer for Grateful Dead |
| Herblock |
Cartoonist |
13-Oct-1909 |
7-Oct-2001 |
Editorial Cartoonist, The Washington Post |
| Al Hirschfeld |
Artist |
21-Jun-1903 |
20-Jan-2003 |
Pen and ink caricaturist |
| Quincy Jones |
Music Producer |
14-Mar-1933 |
|
Musician, Composer, Producer |
| Jackie Joyner-Kersee |
Track and Field |
3-Mar-1962 |
|
Track and Field medalist |
| Max Kampelman |
Diplomat |
7-Nov-1920 |
|
US Ambassador to the CSCE |
| George F. Kennan |
Diplomat |
16-Feb-1904 |
17-Mar-2005 |
Architect of US policy of Soviet containment |
| B. B. King |
Musician |
16-Sep-1925 |
|
King of the Blues |
| Billie Jean King |
Tennis |
22-Nov-1943 |
|
Defeated Bobby Riggs in '73 Battle of the Sexes |
| Jeane Kirkpatrick |
Government |
19-Nov-1926 |
7-Dec-2006 |
Reagan's UN Ambassador |
| Annie Leibovitz |
Photographer |
2-Oct-1949 |
|
Celebrity photographer |
| Carl Lewis |
Track and Field |
1-Jul-1961 |
|
Olympian |
| John Lewis |
Politician |
21-Feb-1940 |
|
Congressman, Georgia 5th |
| Alan Lomax |
Musicologist |
31-Jan-1915 |
19-Jul-2002 |
Preserved thousands of folksongs |
| Yo-Yo Ma |
Cellist |
7-Oct-1955 |
|
Cellist, The Silk Road Ensemble |
| Mark McGwire |
Baseball |
1-Oct-1963 |
|
583 home runs |
| Rita Moreno |
Actor |
11-Dec-1931 |
|
West Side Story, Electric Company |
| Toni Morrison |
Author |
18-Feb-1931 |
|
Beloved |
| I. M. Pei |
Architect |
26-Apr-1917 |
|
Designed Louvre's glass pyramid |
| Jaroslav Pelikan |
Historian |
17-Dec-1923 |
13-May-2006 |
The Christian Tradition |
| Itzhak Perlman |
Violinist |
31-Aug-1945 |
|
Israeli violinist |
| Colin Powell |
Government |
5-Apr-1937 |
|
US Secretary of State, 2001-05 |
| Leontyne Price |
Singer |
10-Feb-1927 |
|
Operatic soprano |
| Tito Puente |
Musician |
20-Apr-1923 |
31-May-2000 |
Popular Latin bandleader |
| Sally Ride |
Astronaut |
26-May-1951 |
23-Jul-2012 |
First American woman in space |
| Cal Ripken |
Baseball |
24-Aug-1960 |
|
American League MVP 1983, 1991 |
| Fred Rogers |
TV Personality |
20-Mar-1928 |
27-Feb-2003 |
Mister Rogers |
| Philip Roth |
Novelist |
19-Mar-1933 |
|
Portnoy's Complaint |
| Martin Scorsese |
Film Director |
17-Nov-1942 |
|
Taxi Driver |
| Pete Seeger |
Singer/Songwriter |
3-May-1919 |
|
We Shall Overcome |
| Maurice Sendak |
Author |
10-Jun-1928 |
8-May-2012 |
Where The Wild Things Are |
| Bobby Short |
Singer |
15-Sep-1924 |
21-Mar-2005 |
Cabaret singer at the Carlyle Hotel |
| Stephen Sondheim |
Composer |
22-Mar-1930 |
|
West Side Story |
| Steven Spielberg |
Film Director |
18-Dec-1946 |
|
E.T. |
| Dr. Ralph Stanley |
Musician |
27-Feb-1927 |
|
Bluegrass musician |
| Gloria Steinem |
Activist |
25-Mar-1934 |
|
Founder, Ms. Magazine |
| Isaac Stern |
Violinist |
21-Jul-1920 |
22-Sep-2001 |
Violin virtuoso |
| Barbra Streisand |
Singer |
24-Apr-1942 |
|
You Don't Bring Me Flowers |
| William Styron |
Novelist |
11-Jun-1925 |
31-Oct-2006 |
The Confessions of Nat Turner |
| Harold E. Varmus |
Scientist |
18-Dec-1939 |
|
Genetic causes of cancer |
| Gwen Verdon |
Dancer |
16-Jan-1925 |
18-Oct-2000 |
Damn Yankees |
| Fred Whipple |
Astronomer |
5-Nov-1906 |
30-Aug-2004 |
Comet Guy |
| Tiger Woods |
Golf |
30-Dec-1975 |
|
Greatest living golfer |
| Herman Wouk |
Novelist |
27-May-1915 |
|
The Caine Mutiny |
