![President Barack Obama awards former Illinois Rep. Abner Mikva the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Monday, Nov. 24, 2014, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington.](https://will.illinois.edu/images/uploads/40987/mikva-2__medium.jpg)
Abner Mikva, Liberal Voice From Illinois, Dies At 90
Abner Mikva, a former Illinois congressman, state legislator, federal appellate judge and presidential adviser, has died. The head of Mikva Challenge, a leadership organization Mikva founded, says Mikva died Monday in hospice care at Rush University Medical Center.