SANDPOINT — After spending most of his extraordinary life helping others, inventor and philanthropist Dr. Forrest Bird is being recognized today with one of America's highest honors.

President George W. Bush will award Bird the prestigious Presidential Citizens Medal at a White House ceremony this afternoon. The medal, which has been bestowed on fewer than 100 people since its inception in 1969, recognizes U.S. citizens who have performed exemplary deeds of service for the nation.

With the medal, Bird will join an elite group of luminaries from the world of politics, medicine, sports and entertainment. Boxer Muhammad Ali, actress Elizabeth Taylor, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and former Sen. Bob Dole are past recipients of the honor.

"The award just recognizes his outstanding service to his country, to his family and to his friends, so we're all extremely grateful," said Rachel Riddle, Bird's stepdaughter and director of education and community relations at Sagle's Bird Aviation Museum and Invention Center.

Through his numerous inventions, Bird has contributed greatly to the fields of medicine and aviation, according to the National Inventors Hall of Fame, which inducted him in 1995.

Bird is perhaps best known for his work in respiratory care, most notably for the "Bird"  and "Baby Bird" ventilators. Developed in 1970, the "Baby Bird" is credited with drastically lowering infant mortality rates among those suffering from respiration problems.

Bird and his wife, Dr. Pamela Bird, were in Germany for Thanksgiving when they received a call from the White House informing them of the award. Calling the medal a wonderful surprise, Pamela said her husband feels honored and humbled by the recognition.

"Forrest is such a humble man and he was the first one to say, after the call came in, 'This is not only about me, it's about a whole team of people — those who surround me and those who work with me,'" Pamela Bird said.

Speaking from Washington, D.C., on Tuesday evening, Pamela credited her husband's prolonged and wide-ranging success to a strong work ethic, a desire to make the world a better place and an absolute willingness to give credit to those around him.

"I think that Forrest is so honored, and at the same time so humbled that he is able to live his legacy and, while doing that, is able to recognize the people around and with him and to give the glory away," she said.