This July Carnegie Corporation celebrated its yearly campaign, “Great Immigrants: The Pride of America.” Carnegie Corporation is one of the founding funders of the New Americans Campaign.
The Great Immigrants campaign is a yearly celebration that honors well-known naturalized citizens who have made notable contributions to the progress of our society. It is a salute to the legacy of Andrew Carnegie and other immigrants.
“Our founder, Andrew Carnegie, came to this country as the son of impoverished immigrants and grew up to become one of the greatest contributors to American industry and philanthropy,” said Vartan Gregorian, president of Carnegie Corporation. “His devotion to U.S. democracy stemmed from his conviction that the new infusion of talent that immigrants bring to our country keeps American society vibrant.”
The 2015 honorees include 38 immigrants from more than 30 countries and represent leadership in a wide range of professions:
Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney, Southern District of New York (India)
Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer Prize-winning Author, Journalist (Australia)
Thomas Campbell, Director and CEO, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (England)
Rabia Chaudry, Attorney, Civil Rights Activist (Pakistan)
Mica Ertegun, Interior Designer (Romania)
A. Gabriel Esteban, President, Seton Hall University (Philippines)
Stanley Fischer, Economist; Vice Chair, Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System (Israel)
Jonathan Hunt, Fox News, Chief Correspondent (Canada)
Malek Jandali, Composer, Pianist (Syria)
Rakesh Khurana, Professor, Dean, Harvard College (India)
Marie-Josée Kravis, Economist, Philanthropist (Canada)
Nastia Liukin, Olympic Medal-winning Gymnast (Russia)
Bette Bao Lord, Author, Human Rights Advocate, Philanthropist (China)
Ali Malekzadeh, President, Roosevelt University, Chicago (Iran)
Silvio Micali, Turing Award-winning Professor of Computer Engineering (Italy)
Lorne Michaels, Peabody Award-winning TV Producer (Canada)
Franziska Michor, Vilcek Prize-winning Professor, Computational Biology (Austria)
Anchee Min, Author (China)
Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani, Philanthropist; Chief Investment Officer, Private Wealth Management Group, Goldman Sachs (Iran)
Firouz Naderi, Director, Solar System Exploration, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Iran)
Azar Nafisi, Author, Scholar (Iran)
Craig Nevill-Manning, Engineering Director, Google (New Zealand)
Maria Otero, Fmr. U.S. Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights (Bolivia)
Eddie Pérez, Bullpen Coach, Atlanta Braves (Venezuela)
Ilana Rovner, Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit (Latvia)
Arturo Sandoval, Grammy Award-winning Jazz Trumpeter (Cuba)
Madhulika Sikka, Vice President, Executive Editor, .Mic (India)
Thomas C. Südhof, Nobel Prize-winning Neuroscientist (Germany)
Antonio M. Taguba, U.S. Army Major General, Retired (Philippines)
Ann Telnaes, Pulitzer Prize-winning Political Cartoonist (Sweden)
Thalía, Singer, Actress (Mexico)
Tuyen Tran, Vilcek Prize-winning Fashion Designer (Vietnam)
Alex Trebek, Emmy Award-winning Game Show Host (Canada)
Sofía Vergara, Actress, Director (Colombia)
Abraham Verghese, Physician, Professor, Author (Ethiopia)
Eugene Volokh, Professor, Legal Scholar, Blogger (Ukraine)
Arieh Warshel, Nobel Prize-winning Biochemist (Israel)
Raffi Yessayan, Judge, Massachusetts Superior Court (Lebanon)
As part of the campaign, Carnegie also released a video about Claudius Zorokong, a 30-year-old native of Sierra Leone and naturalized citizen who recently graduated from Hamilton College and began working on Capitol Hill for Congresswoman Niki Tsongas.
Other elements of the Great Immigrants campaign include:
- A citizenship quiz to see if you have what it takes to pass the citizenship test
- Compelling blog posts about family and duty to country written by Geri Mannion and Major General Anthony Taguba
- A Story Corps interview with Cathleen Farrell and her daughter, Manuela, about becoming a U.S. citizen
Nearly 9 million legal permanent residents are currently eligible to naturalize and become U.S. citizens. Carnegie Corporation of New York supports their civic engagement through the efforts of its grantees, particularly the network of nonprofits that forms the New Americans Campaign.