Seven Asian Americans -- from soldiers to scientists -- were among the 34 outstanding immigrants who have enriched and strengthened U.S. society and democracy through their contributions and actions, according to the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Every Fourth of July, Carnegie Corporation of New York honors the legacy of our founder Andrew Carnegie, a Scottish immigrant, by recognizing an extraordinary group of immigrants who have made notable contributions to the progress of American society.
The Class of 2021 represents more than 30 countries of origin and emphasizes service to society, including honorees who are recognized for helping others as medical providers and researchers; as advocates for the disadvantaged, disabled, and disenfranchised; and as changemakers in politics, voting rights, climate change, and teaching.
Overall the honorees have a wide variety of backgrounds and careers, including the chairman and CEO of Pfizer; the head of Google’s interactive design; the creator of language-learning software Duolingo; winners of the Pulitzer, Nobel, Vilcek and Beard prizes; and celebrities such as actress Helen Mirren and comedian John Oliver.
The 2021 Asian American honorees working in service to society:
Jun Cho
Supply Specialist, Delaware National Guard
BORN IN: South Korea
Growing up in India, Gina Gopinath did not know anyone who worked in economics. It was more common for children to aspire to become a doctor or an engineer. She studied science through high school and when her parents’ friends suggested that she would enjoy success working for the country’s administrative services, she went to Delhi to study economics. This was in the early 1990s, when India was facing an economic crisis. Gopinath was hooked, and her interest in international finance and economics only continued to grow.
Gopinath took a “leave of public service” from her job teaching international studies and economics at Harvard University to assume the position as chief economist of the International Monetary Fund. Called “one of the world’s outstanding economists,” Gopinath focuses her research on international finance and macroeconomics. She has been widely published in top economics journals and has received numerous honors, including election as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2019, she was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, the highest honor India’s government gives to overseas Indians and persons of Indian origin.
Gopinath says that her most important advice is to have inner strength because you really have to believe in what you are capable of to keep pushing your ideas forward. “It’s exactly what the world is worried about: recession, jobs, inequality. It’s so clear to people these are important issues. And given my science background, I like that I’m bringing in some mathematical rigor … to understand these issues of the day.”
Young Kim
U.S. Congresswoman, California, District 39
BORN IN: South Korea
The youngest of seven children, Young Kim grew up in South Korea and immigrated to the United States with her family when she was 12. She is now one of the first three Korean American women elected to Congress. A member of the Republican Party, she represents the 39th district in the House of Representatives, which includes parts of Los Angeles, Orange, and San Bernardino counties.
“My election really proves that the promise of America is alive,” she told Fox News. “I'm the living proof of it.”
Kim is in favor of giving legal status to Dreamers — immigrants whose parents brought them here unlawfully when they were children and who now meet certain eligibility requirements (for example, they had to have come to the U.S. before reaching their 16th birthday).
“Their only crime is that they had loving, caring parents and family members [who] brought them over here — crossing the border, risking their lives because they wanted to provide the opportunity to realize the American dream for their next generation,” Kim said.
Kim was the first Korean American Republican woman elected to the California State Assembly, and she once worked for a congressman who held the seat that she now holds. Before entering politics, she was a financial analyst and a controller for a manufacturing company, and she also started a business in women’s sportswear and hosted a public affairs TV show. Since arriving in Congress, Kim has been a strong advocate for small businesses during COVID recovery efforts.
Kamlesh Lulla
NASA Scientist (Fmr. Chief Scientist for Earth Observations, Space Shuttle/ISS), Senior Advisor for University Research and Technology Collaboration at Johnson Space Center, NASA
BORN IN: India
He has trained astronauts, helped develop the International Space Station’s observational science capabilities, and published vital research on topics such as climate change science. An internationally recognized scientist with a storied career at NASA that has spanned more than three decades, Kamlesh Lulla is the recipient of three NASA Exceptional Achievement Medals.
A widely published author, Lulla is a senior advisor for university research and technology collaboration at NASA’s Johnson Space Center and the former chief scientist for Earth Observations (Space Shuttle).
The president of Ohio University has called Lulla a “genuine people-to-people ambassador for the United States” who promotes understanding through science diplomacy. He has been praised for his mentoring skills, and for how much he has done to develop young talent in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Furthermore, Lulla is committed to the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders community, working to raise awareness about the role of Asian Americans in various fields.
Lulla’s honors include the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award, one of the highest awards given by the government of India, and the Ellison Onizuka Award, named after the Asian American astronaut who inspired Lulla.
Lulla credits his successful career to values drawn from his Asian American heritage, including “high-level education (two PhD degrees); dedication to family and profession; integrity, respect for others, and hard work.”
Ali Zaidi grew up in America’s Rust Belt, going on to serve in the Obama administration for eight years and later becoming the highest-ranking Pakistani American in President Biden’s administration as deputy White House national climate advisor.
After the Obama administration, Zaidi worked as a senior advisor at the law firm of Morrison & Foerster. He later served as deputy secretary for energy and environment and as chairman of climate policy and finance for the State of New York. He also taught at Stanford University, where he founded the Lawyers for a Sustainable Economy Initiative, which provides pro bono legal services to entrepreneurs and nonprofits focusing on sustainability. He has worked to improve energy security, to reduce carbon pollution and the country’s dependence on foreign oil, and to create green jobs.
Zaidi has said that immigrants do not take things for granted. “Within a generation you’re able to see how the rungs of the ladder of opportunity are laid out in front of you, and you can see the hands that pull you up,” he told Vanity Fair in 2017. “You see people pull you up and you say, O.K., I’ve got to do the same thing for other people.”
Zaidi’s family left Pakistan when he was five, moving from Karachi, a predominantly Muslim city of eight million, to a rural, mostly Christian town of just 7,000 people in Pennsylvania.
“It was a community that helped us get on our feet and chase after our dreams,” he said. “That’s the America that I think my parents saw as a beacon across the ocean.”
She became very interested in the molecular basis of life, going on to pioneer an imaging method that allows scientists to see microscopic cellular structures. Awarded the 2021 Lurie Prize in Biomedical Sciences, Zhuang has been said to “make visible the invisible,” paving the way for a better understanding of the spatial and functional organizations of molecules and cells.
Zhuang is professor of chemistry and chemical biology and the David B. Arnold Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University, and she is also an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Her awards include the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences and a MacArthur Fellowship, among many others.
Zhuang believes that immigrants’ diverse backgrounds help foster scientific findings. “People who grow up in a different culture, they think differently, they have a different approach to things,” she said after receiving the 2020 Vilcek Prize in Biomedical Science. “So actually, it’s the best way to advance science.”
She is thankful that she is able to do her multidisciplinary work in the United States. “The scientific environment of this country is really great,” she said. “You feel the freedom of doing whatever you want. The sky is the limit.”
According to a study by Pew Research Center, the nation’s immigrants are essential to driving growth in the U.S. workforce at a time when the population of working-age adults is declining. Immigrants make up 14% of the population, yet the country has been unable to develop comprehensive immigration reform that would create a pipeline to citizenship.
The 2021 Asian American honorees working in service to society:
Jun Cho
Supply Specialist, Delaware National Guard
BORN IN: South Korea
A Delaware-based National Guardsman, Jun Cho was deployed to Washington, D.C., following the January 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol. This meant he would have to miss his naturalization ceremony, which was scheduled to take place in Philadelphia.
Learning about Cho’s predicament, a Colorado congressman arranged a special ceremony for Cho, who serves with the 262nd Heavy Equipment Maintenance Repair Company.
“I feel great that I get to become an American,” he said. “I’m so proud to be Korean and I’m proud to be American as well, and to be a part of the U.S. Army.”
Cho said his dad used to tell stories from his service in the Korean army and his two older brothers joined the U.S. Army, so he knew he would follow in their footsteps. Not yet a citizen, he was ineligible for most scholarships, so joining the National Guard lifted the financial burden from his immigrant parents, who run a dry-cleaning business. Cho is majoring in economics at the University of Delaware, where he is a member of the ROTC.
He became a U.S. citizen in January, in a nearly empty room not far from the U.S. Capitol building he was protecting. “Thank you to my parents for taking the chance and flying over here to give their children a better life,” he said. “To all my friends out there, I just want to say, thank you, because it’s hard being an immigrant and they just treated me like family.”
During the ceremony, Cho took an oath to defend the U.S. Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic — a pledge that had already been put to the test for the young national guardsman by first-hand experience.
Learning about Cho’s predicament, a Colorado congressman arranged a special ceremony for Cho, who serves with the 262nd Heavy Equipment Maintenance Repair Company.
“I feel great that I get to become an American,” he said. “I’m so proud to be Korean and I’m proud to be American as well, and to be a part of the U.S. Army.”
Cho said his dad used to tell stories from his service in the Korean army and his two older brothers joined the U.S. Army, so he knew he would follow in their footsteps. Not yet a citizen, he was ineligible for most scholarships, so joining the National Guard lifted the financial burden from his immigrant parents, who run a dry-cleaning business. Cho is majoring in economics at the University of Delaware, where he is a member of the ROTC.
He became a U.S. citizen in January, in a nearly empty room not far from the U.S. Capitol building he was protecting. “Thank you to my parents for taking the chance and flying over here to give their children a better life,” he said. “To all my friends out there, I just want to say, thank you, because it’s hard being an immigrant and they just treated me like family.”
During the ceremony, Cho took an oath to defend the U.S. Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic — a pledge that had already been put to the test for the young national guardsman by first-hand experience.
Gita Gopinath
Chief Economist, International Monetary Fund
BORN IN: India
Chief Economist, International Monetary Fund
BORN IN: India
Growing up in India, Gina Gopinath did not know anyone who worked in economics. It was more common for children to aspire to become a doctor or an engineer. She studied science through high school and when her parents’ friends suggested that she would enjoy success working for the country’s administrative services, she went to Delhi to study economics. This was in the early 1990s, when India was facing an economic crisis. Gopinath was hooked, and her interest in international finance and economics only continued to grow.
Gopinath says that her most important advice is to have inner strength because you really have to believe in what you are capable of to keep pushing your ideas forward. “It’s exactly what the world is worried about: recession, jobs, inequality. It’s so clear to people these are important issues. And given my science background, I like that I’m bringing in some mathematical rigor … to understand these issues of the day.”
Min Kao
Cofounder and Executive Chairman, Garmin International
BORN IN:Taiwan
In 1989, Min Kao and another engineer, the late Gary Burrell, pooled their savings and convinced Kao’s relatives to invest in a new company. Working out of an office that started with just two folding chairs, they founded Garmin, a portmanteau of their first names. It is now a multibillion-dollar company employing more than 17,000 people — a world leader in producing consumer navigation devices.
Kao has helped build technology for organizations such as the U.S. Army and NASA. A multibillionaire who has been profiled by Forbes and others, he attributes his success to being part of a larger team. “Ideas can come from anybody,” he told the Wichita Eagle newspaper. “Our people,” says Kao, “are the most valuable asset we have.… Diversity is an integral part of who we are as a company, and our success is a result of people with different backgrounds and experiences coming together to offer their best.” He has stepped down as CEO of Garmin and now serves as its executive chairman.
Kao, who grew up in a small Taiwanese town and served in Taiwan’s navy, came to the United States on a student visa. He earned master’s and doctorate degrees in engineering from the University of Tennessee, going on to make the largest private donation in the school's history. Speaking about his decision to fund construction of a new building to house the university’s departments of electrical engineering and computer science, Kao observed, “It is my hope that this building will inspire its graduates to develop and pursue ideas that will create jobs and shape the world.”
Cofounder and Executive Chairman, Garmin International
BORN IN:Taiwan
Kao has helped build technology for organizations such as the U.S. Army and NASA. A multibillionaire who has been profiled by Forbes and others, he attributes his success to being part of a larger team. “Ideas can come from anybody,” he told the Wichita Eagle newspaper. “Our people,” says Kao, “are the most valuable asset we have.… Diversity is an integral part of who we are as a company, and our success is a result of people with different backgrounds and experiences coming together to offer their best.” He has stepped down as CEO of Garmin and now serves as its executive chairman.
Kao, who grew up in a small Taiwanese town and served in Taiwan’s navy, came to the United States on a student visa. He earned master’s and doctorate degrees in engineering from the University of Tennessee, going on to make the largest private donation in the school's history. Speaking about his decision to fund construction of a new building to house the university’s departments of electrical engineering and computer science, Kao observed, “It is my hope that this building will inspire its graduates to develop and pursue ideas that will create jobs and shape the world.”
Young KimU.S. Congresswoman, California, District 39
BORN IN: South Korea
The youngest of seven children, Young Kim grew up in South Korea and immigrated to the United States with her family when she was 12. She is now one of the first three Korean American women elected to Congress. A member of the Republican Party, she represents the 39th district in the House of Representatives, which includes parts of Los Angeles, Orange, and San Bernardino counties.
“My election really proves that the promise of America is alive,” she told Fox News. “I'm the living proof of it.”
Kim is in favor of giving legal status to Dreamers — immigrants whose parents brought them here unlawfully when they were children and who now meet certain eligibility requirements (for example, they had to have come to the U.S. before reaching their 16th birthday).
“Their only crime is that they had loving, caring parents and family members [who] brought them over here — crossing the border, risking their lives because they wanted to provide the opportunity to realize the American dream for their next generation,” Kim said.
Kim was the first Korean American Republican woman elected to the California State Assembly, and she once worked for a congressman who held the seat that she now holds. Before entering politics, she was a financial analyst and a controller for a manufacturing company, and she also started a business in women’s sportswear and hosted a public affairs TV show. Since arriving in Congress, Kim has been a strong advocate for small businesses during COVID recovery efforts.
NASA Scientist (Fmr. Chief Scientist for Earth Observations, Space Shuttle/ISS), Senior Advisor for University Research and Technology Collaboration at Johnson Space Center, NASA
BORN IN: India
He has trained astronauts, helped develop the International Space Station’s observational science capabilities, and published vital research on topics such as climate change science. An internationally recognized scientist with a storied career at NASA that has spanned more than three decades, Kamlesh Lulla is the recipient of three NASA Exceptional Achievement Medals.
A widely published author, Lulla is a senior advisor for university research and technology collaboration at NASA’s Johnson Space Center and the former chief scientist for Earth Observations (Space Shuttle).
The president of Ohio University has called Lulla a “genuine people-to-people ambassador for the United States” who promotes understanding through science diplomacy. He has been praised for his mentoring skills, and for how much he has done to develop young talent in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Furthermore, Lulla is committed to the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders community, working to raise awareness about the role of Asian Americans in various fields.
Lulla’s honors include the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award, one of the highest awards given by the government of India, and the Ellison Onizuka Award, named after the Asian American astronaut who inspired Lulla.
Lulla credits his successful career to values drawn from his Asian American heritage, including “high-level education (two PhD degrees); dedication to family and profession; integrity, respect for others, and hard work.”
Ali Zaidi
Deputy White House National Climate Advisor
BORN IN: Pakistan
Deputy White House National Climate Advisor
BORN IN: Pakistan
After the Obama administration, Zaidi worked as a senior advisor at the law firm of Morrison & Foerster. He later served as deputy secretary for energy and environment and as chairman of climate policy and finance for the State of New York. He also taught at Stanford University, where he founded the Lawyers for a Sustainable Economy Initiative, which provides pro bono legal services to entrepreneurs and nonprofits focusing on sustainability. He has worked to improve energy security, to reduce carbon pollution and the country’s dependence on foreign oil, and to create green jobs.
Zaidi has said that immigrants do not take things for granted. “Within a generation you’re able to see how the rungs of the ladder of opportunity are laid out in front of you, and you can see the hands that pull you up,” he told Vanity Fair in 2017. “You see people pull you up and you say, O.K., I’ve got to do the same thing for other people.”
Zaidi’s family left Pakistan when he was five, moving from Karachi, a predominantly Muslim city of eight million, to a rural, mostly Christian town of just 7,000 people in Pennsylvania.
“It was a community that helped us get on our feet and chase after our dreams,” he said. “That’s the America that I think my parents saw as a beacon across the ocean.”
Xiaowei Zhuang
Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University
BORN IN: China
Xiaowei Zhuang was born to two university professors in China: her mother was a mechanical engineer and her father as a physicist. She sometimes watched her father do research at home, and credits her parents with sparking her curiosity and encouraging her to explore.Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University
BORN IN: China
She became very interested in the molecular basis of life, going on to pioneer an imaging method that allows scientists to see microscopic cellular structures. Awarded the 2021 Lurie Prize in Biomedical Sciences, Zhuang has been said to “make visible the invisible,” paving the way for a better understanding of the spatial and functional organizations of molecules and cells.
Zhuang is professor of chemistry and chemical biology and the David B. Arnold Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University, and she is also an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Her awards include the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences and a MacArthur Fellowship, among many others.
Zhuang believes that immigrants’ diverse backgrounds help foster scientific findings. “People who grow up in a different culture, they think differently, they have a different approach to things,” she said after receiving the 2020 Vilcek Prize in Biomedical Science. “So actually, it’s the best way to advance science.”
She is thankful that she is able to do her multidisciplinary work in the United States. “The scientific environment of this country is really great,” she said. “You feel the freedom of doing whatever you want. The sky is the limit.”
According to a study by Pew Research Center, the nation’s immigrants are essential to driving growth in the U.S. workforce at a time when the population of working-age adults is declining. Immigrants make up 14% of the population, yet the country has been unable to develop comprehensive immigration reform that would create a pipeline to citizenship.
The Migration Policy Institute, a research center funded through the Corporation’s Democracy Program, says nine million legal permanent residents (green card holders) are eligible to naturalize, but on average, the process takes eight years and the current backlog is at least four million applicants. In response, the Corporation joined a collaboration of philanthropic funders to establish the New Americans Campaign 10 years ago. The nonprofit provides free legal assistance to legal permanent residents seeking U.S. citizenship.
The Great Immigrants initiative is intended to increase public awareness of immigration’s role in the United States, reflecting the priorities of Andrew Carnegie, a self-made industrialist. In 1911, he established Carnegie Corporation of New York, a grantmaking foundation dedicated to the causes of democracy, education, and international peace.
The Great Immigrants initiative is intended to increase public awareness of immigration’s role in the United States, reflecting the priorities of Andrew Carnegie, a self-made industrialist. In 1911, he established Carnegie Corporation of New York, a grantmaking foundation dedicated to the causes of democracy, education, and international peace.
To date, the Corporation has honored more than 600 outstanding immigrants, whose stories can be viewed through the Corporation’s online database, which is among the leading resources of its type.
The 2021 honorees, who mark the 16th class of Great Immigrants, will be recognized with a full-page public service announcement in the New York Times on the Fourth of July and through a social media campaign using the hashtag #GreatImmigrants.
The 2021 honorees, who mark the 16th class of Great Immigrants, will be recognized with a full-page public service announcement in the New York Times on the Fourth of July and through a social media campaign using the hashtag #GreatImmigrants.
This year’s tribute is dedicated to the immigrant who founded the Great Immigrants initiative in 2006 and whose life epitomized service, Vartan Gregorian, the Corporation’s president from 1997 until his unexpected death in April 2021.
Like the Corporation’s founder, Scottish immigrant Andrew Carnegie, Gregorian was an immigrant of modest means, born and raised as an Armenian in Iran. He arrived in America in 1956 to study at Stanford University, going on to rise to the highest levels of higher education and philanthropy — public service that earned him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Gregorian’s experiences in a new country helped shape his support for the civic integration of immigrants. At his naturalization ceremony in 1979, Gregorian said,
“For us, America is not just a past; it is also a future. It is not just an actuality — it is always a potentiality," said Gregorian at his 1979 naturalization ceremonty. "America’s greatness lies in the fact that all its citizens, both new and old, have an opportunity to work for that potentiality, for its unfinished agenda.”
No comments:
Post a Comment