Medal of Freedom: Madeline Albright, Bob Dylan among this year’s recipients

Madeline Albright, the nation's first female Secreatary of State, and music pioneer Bob Dylan are among this year's Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients, the White House announced Thursday.

President Barack Obama will award the medals, the nation's highest civilian honor, in a ceremony at the White House later this spring, The Associated Press reported.

More from GlobalPost: Bob Dylan favorite to take Nobel Prize for literature (VIDEO)

"These extraordinary honorees come from different backgrounds and different walks of life, but each of them has made a lasting contribution to the life of our nation," Obama said in a statement. "They’ve challenged us, they've inspired us, and they've made the world a better place. I look forward to recognizing them with this award."

More from GlobalPost: Pat Summitt, Tennessee women's basketball coach, steps down

Among the other honorees:

— John Glenn, first American to orbit the Earth

— John Doar, civil rights attorney

— William Foege, physician who led the campaign to eradicate smallpox

— Gordon Hirabayashi, openly defied the forced relocation and internment of Japanese Americans during World War II

— Dolores Huerta, civil rights workers and women's advocate

— Jan Karski, officer in the Polish Underground during World War II and one of the first people to provide accounts of the Holocaust to the world

— Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts

— Toni Morrison, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist

— Shimon Peres, Israeli president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate

— John Paul Stevens, former Supreme Court Justice

— Pat Summitt, former women's basketball coach at the University of Tennessee

Click here for an alphabetized list of past Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients.