Obama honours Bill, Melinda Gates with Medal of Freedom award

The medal was presented to 21 luminaries who have inspired the US president over the years

US President Barack Obama has honoured Bill and Melinda Gates along with 20 other luminaries with the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom honour who inspired him over the years and "helped make me who I am."

"Today(Wednesday), we celebrate extraordinary Americans who have lifted our spirits, strengthened our union, pushed us toward progress," Obama said as he presented the prestigious presidential medal of freedom to 21 people.

"Everybody on this stage has touched me in a very powerful, personal way, in ways that they probably couldn't imagine," said the outgoing US president.

In addition to Bill and Melinda Gates, other prominent recipients of this award were Margaret H Hamilton, who led the team that created the onboard flight software for NASA's Apollo command modules and lunar modules; Ellen DeGeneres, an award-winning comedian; Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who is the national basketball association's all-time leading scorer.

Richard Garwin- a polymath physicist and Rear Admiral Grace Hopper, who is also known as "Amazing Grace" and "the first lady of software", were also among the recipients.

"For two decades, the Gates Foundation has worked to provide lifesaving medical care to millions- boosting clean water supplies, improving education for our children, rallying aggressive international action on climate change, cutting childhood mortality in half.

"The list could go on. These two have donated more money to charitable causes than anyone, ever," Obama said in his remarks on the occasion.

Frank Gehry, one of the world's leading architects, whose works have helped define contemporary architecture, Obama said has never let popular acclaim reverse his impulse to defy convention.

"I was an outsider from the beginning," he says, "so for better or worse, I thrived on it."

"He's spent his life rethinking shapes and mediums, seemingly the force of gravity itself; the idea of what architecture could be he decided to upend- constantly repurposing every material available, from titanium to a paper towel tube," Obama said.