Joe Biden awarded Jane Goodall the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2025. The presentation recognized her groundbreaking chimpanzee research and decades of environmental advocacy.
Biden announced Goodall among the 19 recipients of the United States’ highest civilian honor in January 2025. Goodall’s work at Tanzania’s Gombe Stream National Park transformed scientific understanding of chimpanzee behavior, including tool use, hunting, family bonds, and conflict.
The award is sometimes confused with other honors Goodall received, including appointment as a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2004 and the Templeton Prize in 2021. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is specifically a U.S. presidential award, making Biden the canonical answer.