Billie Jean King

One of the greatest tennis players of all time and a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient for her advocacy for women in sports and LGBTQ rights, Billie Jean King won 39 Grand Slam titles in her tennis career and led the fight for equal pay in tennis. Known for beating Bobby Riggs in 1973's "Battle of the Sexes,” King also helped establish the Women's Tennis Association, the organization that oversees women's professional tennis. In 1990, Life magazine named King one of the "100 Most Important Americans” of the twentieth century. Since retiring from competition in 1983, she established the Billie Jean King WTT Charities Foundation in 1998 and has also served as a director of the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the National AIDS Fund.