This week, the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans announced its 2015 class of fellows. Every year, this fellowship program honors and supports the graduate education of 30 new Americans – permanent residents, naturalized citizens and children of naturalized parents.
Paul and Daisy Soros, Hungarian immigrants themselves and American philanthropists, launched this program in 1997 as a way to give back to the country that had provided them and their children with opportunities. The fellowship program became the vehicle to provide opportunities to other new Americans, particularly those at critical points in their education, and to call attention to the diverse contributions new Americans make to the quality of life in the United States.
Many of this year’s fellows are naturalized citizens pursuing graduate degrees in a variety of fields:
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Mark Minghao Xue
Award to support a MS in computer science at Stanford Universit |
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Oswaldo (Oz) Hasbún Avalos
Award to support work toward an MD at Columbia University |
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Ledina Gocaj
Award to support work toward a JD at Harvard Law School |
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Evgeniya Kim Award to support work toward an MBA at Yale School of Management |
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Minh-Duyen Thi Nguyen
Award to support work toward an MD |
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Cecil Benitez
Award to support work toward an MD at Stanford Medical School |
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Sandra Portocarrero Award to support work toward a PhD in sociology at Columbia University |
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Eugene Rusyn Award to support work toward a JD at Yale Law School |
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Yakir Reshef Award to support work toward an MD and a PhD in computer science at Harvard University and MIT |
Learn more about this talented group of new Americans and read the bios for the full class of fellows here.
Applications are currently being accepted for the 2016 class of fellows. Learn more about the fellowship or apply online. Applications for the Class of 2016 are due November 1, 2015.