Obama to Honor Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro, Bruce Springsteen and More With Medal of Freedom

The honorees also include Ellen DeGeneres, Diana Ross and Vin Scully.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is set to honor actors Robert De Niro, Cicely Tyson, Tom Hanks and Robert Redford with the nation's highest civilian honor.

They are among 21 people Obama plans to recognize Tuesday with the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House.

Honorees from the sports world include basketball players Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Jordan, along with veteran sports broadcaster Vin Scully.

Entertainers include Ellen DeGeneres, Diana Ross and Bruce Springsteen.

Other honorees are philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates, polymath physicist Richard Garwin, architect Frank Gehry, designer Maya Lin, Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels, attorney Newt Minow, mathematician and computer scientist Margaret H. Hamilton and Eduardo Padron, president of Miami Dade College in Florida.

Posthumous honors will go to Native American advocate Elouise Cobell and Rear Adm. Grace Hopper.