Nov. 29, 2016 – Cleveland Heights High School alumnus Richard Garwin (’44) was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama at the White House on Nov. 22.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the Nation’s highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.
Garwin is a polymath physicist who earned a Ph.D. under Enrico Fermi at age 21 and subsequently made pioneering contributions to U.S. defense and intelligence technologies, low-temperature and nuclear physics, detection of gravitational radiation, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computer systems, laser printing, and nuclear arms control and nonproliferation. He directed Applied Research at IBM’s Thomas J. Watson Research Center and taught at the University of Chicago, Columbia University, and Harvard University. The author of 500 technical papers and a winner of the National Medal of Science, Garwin holds 47 U.S. patents, and has advised numerous administrations.
Garwin lived on Washington Boulevard in University Heights while he attended CHHS before going on to earn a bachelor’s degree from the Case Institute of Technology in 1947 and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1949.
Garwin was inducted into the Cleveland Heights High School Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame in 1984.
"The Presidential Medal of Freedom is not just our nation's highest civilian honor - it's a tribute to the idea that all of us, no matter where we come from, have the opportunity to change this country for the better,” said President Obama. “From scientists, philanthropists, and public servants to activists, athletes, and artists, these 21 individuals have helped push America forward, inspiring millions of people around the world along the way."
Garwin was one of 21 people to receive the honor this year, joining a group that also included:
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- Elouise Cobell (posthumous)
- Ellen DeGeneres
- Robert De Niro
- Bill and Melinda Gates
- Frank Gehry
- Margaret H. Hamilton
- Tom Hanks
- Grace Hopper (posthumous)
- Michael Jordan
- Maya Lin
- Lorne Michaels
- Newt Minow
- Eduardo Padrón
- Robert Redford
- Diana Ross
- Vin Scully
- Bruce Springsteen
- Cicely Tyson