This year President Barack Obama awarded Justice Sandra Day O’Connor ’52 (BA ’50) the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. The award, which O’Connor received in August, is given to individuals who make an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors, according to a White House press release. Regarding this year’s 16 recipients, President Obama said, “Each has been an agent of change. Each saw an imperfect world and set about improving it, often overcoming great obstacles along the way. Their relentless devotion to breaking down barriers and lifting up their fellow citizens sets a standard to which we all should strive.”

Among her many achievements, Justice O’Connor was the first woman to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court and the first woman to lead a state senate as majority leader. At a time when women rarely entered the legal profession, she excelled at the law school, where she served on the Stanford Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif.