President Honors Georgetowner Madeleine Albright as Medal of Freedom Recipient

President Barack Obama will honor Madeleine Albright, who lives in the West Village and teaches at , with the Medal of Freedom along with 12 other recipients later this spring. The Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian honor in the United States.

"These extraordinary honorees come from different backgrounds and different walks of life, but each of them has made a lasting contribution to the life of our Nation," said the President in a prepared statement.

Albright served as the 64th United States Secretary of State from 1997 to 2001 under President William Clinton. She was the first woman to hold that position.

Other recipients include (biographical details are directly from the press release about the announcement):

John Doar: He was a legendary public servant and leader of federal efforts to protect and enforce civil rights during the 1960s. He served as Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice.

Bob Dylan: He is one of the most influential American musicians of the 20th century, Dylan released his first album in 1962.

William Foege: A physician and epidemiologist, Foege helped lead the successful campaign to eradicate smallpox in the 1970s.

John Glenn: A former United States Marine Corps pilot, astronaut, and United States Senator. In 1962, he was the third American in space and the first American to orbit the Earth.

Gordon Hirabayashi: He openly defied the forced relocation and internment of Japanese Americans during World War II

Dolores Huerta: A civil rights, workers, and women’s advocate. With Cesar Chavez, she co-founded the National Farmworkers Association in 1962.

Jan Karski: He served as an officer in the Polish Underground during World War II and carried among the first eye-witness accounts of the Holocaust to the world.

Juliette Gordon Low: Born in 1860, Low founded the Girl Scouts in 1912.

Toni Morrison: One of the nation’s most celebrated novelists, Morrison is renowned for works such as Song of Solomon, Jazz, and Beloved, for which she won a Pulitzer Prize in 1988

Shimon Peres: An ardent advocate for Israel's security and for peace, Shimon Peres was elected the ninth President of Israel in 2007.

John Paul Stevens: Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1975 to 2010, when he retired as the third longest-serving Justice in the Court’s history.

Pat Summitt: All-time winningest leader among all NCAA basketball coaches.