President Barack Obama is awarding the nation's highest civilian honor to the late Juliette Gordon Low, who founded the Girl Scouts 100 years ago in Savannah.

The White House announced Thursday that Low is among 13 Americans chosen to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Low died in 1927, but the Girl Scouts are still going strong with 2.3 million members nationwide.

Low isn't the only Medal of Freedom recipient this year with Georgia ties.

Also being honored is physician and epidemiologist William Foege, who helped lead the campaign credited with eradicating smallpox in the 1970s. Foege has served as director of the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control as well as executive director of the Carter Center founded by former President Jimmy Carter.

Tags: Savannah, Girl Scouts, Presidential Medal of Freedom, Juliette Gordon Low