Daniel Kahneman. Photo: Wikipedia.

American-Israeli Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman was one of 16 recipients Wednesday of the United States’ highest civilian honor, The Presidential Medal of Freedom.

In awarding him the honor, U.S. President Obama noted that Kahneman, “alongside Amos Tversky… applied cognitive psychology to economic analysis, laying the foundation for a new field of research and earning the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2002.”

He “basically invented the study of human decision making,” Obama said.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is America’s highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have contributed to the security or national interests of the country, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.

Kahneman was fêted at a White House ceremony alongside other luminaries, including former president Bill Clinton and media mogul Oprah Winfrey.