Barbra Streisand, Stephen Sondheim & More to Receive Presidential Medal of Freedom

Barbara Streisand, Gloria and Emilio Estefan and Stephen Sondheim are among the 17 individuals who will receive the 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor. President Obama will present the recipients with their honor at the White House on November 24. Sondheim was awarded the medal last year but was unable to attend the official ceremony.

Streisand won Oscars for her iconic performance in Funny Girl and for the song “Evergreen” from A Star is Born. Her illustrious career has always had roots in musical theater, from numerous albums of show tunes to the movie musicals Yentl and Hello, Dolly!. Gloria and Emilio Estefan’s lives and music are the subjects of the new Broadway musical On Your Feet!. Sondheim’s numerous accolades include eight Tonys and Grammys, an Oscar and a Pulitzer.

Additional recipients this year include Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors founder Bonnie Carroll, former Indiana Representative Lee Hamilton, NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, baseball legend Willie Mays, Maryland’s senior Senator Barbara Mikulski, acclaimed classical musician Itzhak Perlman, Environmental Protection Agency pioneer William Ruckelshaus, Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg and singer-songwriter James Taylor. Posthumous honors will be given to Yankees icon Yogi Berra, Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, Native American rights advocate Billy Frank, Jr. and civil rights leader Minoru Yasui.