The National Constitution Center awarded His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet the 2015 Liberty Medal on Monday, October 26, 2015.
Award-winning actor, activist, and philanthropist Richard Gere participated in the presentation and Dr. Thupten Jinpa, the principal English translator to the Dalai Lama, and Dr. Richie Davidson, founder and chair of the Mind and Life Institute, accepted the award on behalf of His Holiness. Kaydor Aukatsang, the Representative of the Dalai Lama to North America, was also in attendance.
A video recorded greeting by His Holiness concluded the ceremony
The 27th annual Liberty Medal Ceremony will also be broadcast on local ABC affiliate, WPVI-TV/6abc at a future date.
The Liberty Medal was established in 1988 to commemorate the bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution. Given annually, the medal honors men and women of courage and conviction who strive to secure the blessings of liberty to people around the globe.
The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia inspires active citizenship as the only place where people across America and around the world can come together to learn about, debate, and celebrate the greatest vision of human freedom in history, the U.S. Constitution.
A private, nonprofit organization, the Center serves as America’s leading platform for constitutional education and debate, fulfilling its Congressional charter “to disseminate information about the U.S. Constitution on a non-partisan basis.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: A complete list of Liberty Medal winners follows.
Past Recipients of the Liberty Medal
| 2014 2013 | MalalaYousafzai*Hillary Clinton, former U.S. Secretary of State |
| 2012 | Muhammad Ali |
| 2011 2010 | Robert M. Gates, former U.S. Secretary ofDefenseTony Blair, former British Prime Minister |
| 2009 | Steven Spielberg |
| 2008 | Mikhail Gorbachev, former Soviet Leader |
| 2007 | Bono and DATA |
| 2006 | George H.W. Bush and William J. Clinton, former U.S. Presidents |
| 2005 | Viktor Yushchenko, former President of Ukraine |
| 2004 | Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan |
| 2003 | Sandra Day O’Connor, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (retired) |
| 2002 | Colin Powell, former U.S. Secretary of State |
| 2001 | Kofi Annan, former United Nations Secretary-General* |
| 2000 | James Watson and Francis Crick, Co-Discoverers of the Structure of DNA |
| 1999 | Kim Dae-jung, former President of South Korea* |
| 1998 | George J. Mitchell, former U.S. Senator and Irish peace negotiator |
| 1997 | CNN International |
| 1996 | King Hussein I of Jordan and former Prime Minister ofIsraelShimon Peres |
| 1995 | Sadako Ogata, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |
| 1994 | Václav Havel, President of the Czech Republic |
| 1993 | F.W. de Klerk, President of South Africa* and Nelson Mandela, President of the African National Congress* |
| 1992 | Thurgood Marshall, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice (retired) |
| 1991 | Oscar Arias Sanchez, former President of Costa Rica and Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders)* |
| 1990 | Jimmy Carter, former U.S. President* |
| 1989 | Lech Walesa, Co-Founder of Solidarity, Poland |
* Nobel Peace Prize Recipients
