Stephen Hawking, the physicist and Cambridge professor, has been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honour by Barack Obama.
President Obama joked that he would not try to attempt to explain the British scientist's work as he bestowed the medal on him.
Prof Hawking, who is completely paralysed by motor neurone disease, joined recipients including Billie Jean King, the former tennis player, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Sidney Poitier, the actor, and Mary Robinson, the former Irish president and United Nations Human Rights Commissioner, at the ceremony in the White House for "extraordinary agents of change".
Others being honoured included Senator Edward Kennedy, who has been battling brain cancer and was not present, Sandra Day O'Connor, a former Supreme Court Justice, and Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who pioneered ''micro loans'' to provide credit to poor people.
At one point during the ceremony, Mr Obama had to dodge the feathers of the head dress worn by Joe Medicine Crow, a native American writer and leader.
Mr Obama, awarding his first presidential medals, also gave a posthumous award to Harvey Milk, the American gay rights activist and politician, who was assassinated in 1978.
Reflecting on those receiving the honour, President Obama said: ''In a moment when cynicism and doubt too often prevail, when our obligations to each other are too often forgotten and when the road ahead can seem too long or hard to tread, these extraordinary men and women, these agents of change remind us that excellence is not beyond our abilities, that hope lies around the corner and that justice can still be won in the forgotten corners of the world.
''They remind us that we each have it within our powers to fulfil dreams, to advance the dreams of others and remake the world for our children.''
Describing Prof Hawking, 67, who gained public fame with his book A Brief History of Time, the president said: ''From his wheelchair, he has led us on a journey to the farthest and strangest reaches of the cosmos. In so doing, he has stirred our imagination and showed us the power of the human spirit.''
The Medal of Freedom was established by President Harry Truman in 1945 to recognise civilians for their efforts during the Second World War. President John F Kennedy reinstated the medal in 1963 to honour distinguished service.
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