Yo-Yo Ma being honored at the Laureate Celebration, 2002
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2008 MERYL STREEP
Arts
Widely respected as one of our most distinguished and talented actors, actress and two-time Academy Award winner Meryl Streephas portrayed an astonishing array of roles in an illustrious career in the theater, film, and television. Click to read more about Meryl Streep.
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2007 TED TURNER
Public Service & The Humanities
Ted Turner - media visionary, businessman, environmentalist, conservationist, and philanthropist - was the recipient of the sixth annual Benjamin Franklin Creativity Laureate Award in a ceremony that portrayed his life, work, inspirations and role models, and the creative turning points and highlights in his career.
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2006 JULES FEIFFER
Arts
Jules Feiffer's Pulitzer Prize-winning comic strip influenced and entertained readers for decades. His internationally syndicated cartoon ran for 42 years in the Village Voice, weaving the social, political, and personal into a perceptive, challenging, often hilarious mix.
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2005 SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR
Public Service & The Humanities
Sandra Day O'Connor became the first female appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1981. Pursuing a career in a male-dominated profession, with quiet determination, she rose to the top of her field. A pragmatic, moderate and creative jurist, known for her dispassionate and meticulously researched opinions on the bench, she has been both mentor and role model, further opening the door for women at all levels of the legal profession.
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2004 ERIC KANDEL
Science
Eric Kandel received the 2000 Nobel Prize in physiology for his groundbreaking work on how new experiences are incorporated into the mind as learning and memory at the cellular level, by studying the nervous system of the sea slug Aplysia. He is Senior Investigator, Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons and Senior Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
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2003 DANIEL PATRICK MOYNIHAN
Public Service
Daniel Patrick Moynihan was an unapologetic intellectual who offered challenging and groundbreaking solutions to public policy dilemmas, including welfare, poverty, and racism. Formerly a professor of government at Harvard University, he has written and edited many books. He served as Senator of New York from 1977-2001, and was ambassador to India (1973-75) and to the United Nations (1975-76).
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2002 YO-YO MA
Arts
The multifaceted career of internationally acclaimed cellist and musicologist Yo-Yo Ma is testament to his continual search for new ways to stimulate artistic growth and renewal. Drawing his inspiration from a wide circle of collaborators and diverse traditions, he established the Silk Road Project and numerous innovative educational programs. The beauty and simplicity of Yo-Yo Ma's own creativity was a magical inspiration.
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