Carnegie Corp. celebrates immigrants, including 8 Asian Americans

The Carenegie Corporation honors this year's 20 Great Immigrants.

Sometimes, some Americans, especially Donald Trump and his anti-immigrant minion Steven Miller, have to be reminded that the United States is a land of immigrants.

Carnegie Corporation of New York announces the 2025 Class of Great Immigrants, Great Americans, recognizing 20 distinguished naturalized American citizens whose contributions have enriched our society and helped to strengthen our democracy. Eight of the 20 honorees are from Asia.

“The US is a nation of immigrants, and our ongoing support of nonpartisan organizations that help establish legal pathways for citizenship continues to enrich the very fabric of American life,” said Dame Louise Richardson, president of Carnegie, who is a naturalized American citizen born in Ireland. “We applaud this year’s 20th class and the hundreds of ‘Great Immigrants, Great Americans’ before them.”

The 2025 Class of Great Immigrants is comprised of naturalized citizens from 16 countries who are leaders across academia, the arts, business, journalism, medicine, philanthropy, and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math).

Every Fourth of July since 2006, Carnegie has celebrated the exemplary contributions of immigrants to American life, as part of its focus on reducing political polarization and strengthening democracy.

The Asian Americans honored by Carnegie this year are:

• Akiko Iwasaki (Japan) Professor of Immunobiology, Dermatology, and Epidemiology, Yale School of Medicine

• Maz Jobrani (Iran) Comedian, Actor, and Author

• Michele Kang (South Korea) Businesswoman, Sports Team Owner, and Philanthropist

• Shahid Khan (Pakistan) President and CEO, Flex-N-Gate

• Manjusha (Manju) P. Kulkarni (India) Executive Director, AAPI Equity Alliance

• Priyamvada Natarajan (India) Professor of Astronomy and Physics, Yale University

• Manoochehr Sadeghi (Iran) Grand Master Musician and Educator

• Yuan Yuan Tan (China) Former Prima Ballerina, San Francisco Ballet

The rest of the 2025 Class of Great Immigrants are:

• Tope Awotona (Nigeria) Founder and CEO, Calendly

• Moungi Bawendi (France) Professor of Chemistry, MIT

• Helen M. Blau (England) Director, Baxter Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology, and Professor, Stanford University

• Roger Cohen (England) Journalist and Paris Bureau Chief, The New York Times

• Simon Johnson (England) Professor of Entrepreneurship, MIT Sloan School of Management

• María Teresa Kumar (Colombia) President and CEO, Voto Latino

• Tania León (Cuba) Composer, Conductor, and Educator

• Sandra Leisa Lindsay (Jamaica) Vice President, Public Health Advocacy, Northwell Health

• Luciano Marraffini (Argentina) Professor, The Rockefeller University, and Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

• Kareem Rahma (Egypt) Comedian, Artist, and Musician

• Raúl Ruiz (Mexico) U.S. Congressman, California, District 25

• Avi Wigderson (Israel) Professor of Mathematics, Institute for Advanced Study

The White House, under the second Trump administration, has implemented several significant policies and actions related to immigration, including border security, enforcement of immigration laws, and restrictions on certain types of immigration. 

The Trump administration's harsh deportation policy that is supposed to focus on violent undocumented immigrants has swept immigrants who have green cards or are in the US legally but may have minor infractions. In so doing, the impression given the rhetoric and actions of the administration has spread to the negative image of all immigrants, even those who are here legally.

Naturalization and the legal integration of immigrants are part of the foundation’s overarching goal of reducing political polarization for a strong democracy. According to the American Immigration Council, a Carnegie grantee whose research is cited in the new comic book, there are 48 million immigrants in America, about half are naturalized US citizens, and more than seven million are eligible to apply for citizenship. Among Fortune 500 companies, 230 were founded by immigrants or children of immigrants, and among business owners, one in four is an immigrant.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Great Immigrants, Great Americans tribute, Carnegie has commissioned a free comic book featuring more than a dozen inspiring stories as told by naturalized U.S. citizens. 

        FYI: Read the stories of this year's Great Immigrants

In recognition of immigrants who, says Vartan Gregorian, President of Carnegie Corporation of New York, “infuse our society with energy, talent and renewed belief in all of cherished our institutions,” the foundation has run a full page advertisement in the New York Times Independence Day issue celebrating women and men who have become “Americans by choice.”

The advertisement declares:

"The United States of America remains a land of immigrants. Andrew Carnegie, who founded Carnegie Corporation of New York in 1911, was an immigrant from Scotland. We at Carnegie Corporation salute his legacy, along with the contributions of the millions of other immigrants who have made, and continue to make, our nation strong and vibrant. We are committed to helping immigrants become integrated into the civic fabric of our nation because enlightened citizenship is the everlasting strength of our democracy. Our national motto, E pluribus unum— 'out of many, one' — continues to be an ideal we can all aspire to and a true guiding light for our nation."

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news, views and chismis from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X or at the blog Views From the Edge. Now on BlueSky.

World Bank President, Oscar winner among Asian American immigrants honored by Carnegie

As Immigrant Heritage Month came to a close, on June 28 the Carnegie Corporation of New York announced its annual list of Great Immigrants, honoring 35 naturalized citizens who have enriched and strengthened our society and our democracy.

Each Fourth of July since 2006, the philanthropic foundation has invited Americans to celebrate these exemplary individuals by participating in its online public awareness campaign, Great Immigrants, Great Americans. #GreatImmigrants

Among the honorees are Ajay Banga, the newly installed World Bank President, Academy Award winner Ke Huy Quan and "Pachinko" author Min Jin Lee.

 In an interview with Carnegie, Banga expressed the importance of diversity that immigrants bring to the US workplace:

"At the end of the day, if you surround yourself with people who look like you, who walk like you and talk like you, and grew up in the same places you did and worked with you in your prior jobs, then you will have a sense of comfort of hiring people around you who have that familiarity. But you will also have the same blind spots. You will miss the same trends. You will miss the same opportunities."

Lee, whose novel “Pachinko” was a National Book Awards finalist, said she was honored to be on the Carnegie list because “it’s an honest look at America.”

“There’s this thinking that immigrants are yellow, black, and brown people from somewhere else and ‘they have all these needs,’ rather than ‘they have all these assets,’ ” said Lee, who emigrated from South Korea with her family when she was a child. 

“I think that this list is a really good reflection of our assets, what we bring to the table, and how we make the team stronger.”

Lee told the Associated Press that anti-immigrant political rhetoric is essentially a distraction from economic inequality and ongoing systemic racism.

“Toxic rhetoric against immigrants really forgets the entire history of America, which is that without immigrants, we have nothing,” she said. “I’m really grateful that the Carnegie Corporation of New York is bringing back the centrality of immigration as a force for good in the United States.”

For generations, immigrants have come to the United States seeking opportunities for themselves and their families. Among this year’s honorees are individuals who have fostered opportunities for others through their work as educators, mentors, philanthropists, job creators, public servants, storytellers, and advocates.

“The Great Immigrants initiative is a tribute to the legacy of Andrew Carnegie, a Scottish immigrant who, like these honorees, found success in America, contributed enormously to his adopted country, and inspired others to do the same,” said Dame Louise Richardson, president of Carnegie Corporation of New York, and a naturalized citizen who first came to the United States from Ireland as a graduate student. 

“The 35 naturalized citizens honored today embody that tradition, reminding us that the contributions of immigrants make our country more vibrant and our democracy more resilient.”

The2023 Class of Great Immigrants is comprised of naturalized citizens from 33 countries and a wide range of backgrounds and fields. 

The seven Asian American immigrants,are:

• Ajay Banga (India) As the newly elected president of the World Bank, Banga aims to lead the organization in tackling climate change and confronting the toughest challenges facing developing countries.

• Betty Kwan Chinn (China) Founder, Betty Kwan Chinn Homeless Foundation

• Min Jin Lee (South Korea) Author and National Book Award Finalist

• Ted Lieu (Taiwan) US Congressman, California, District 36

• Ke Huy Quan (Vietnam) Academy Award–Winning Actor

• Oscar A. Solis (Philippines) 10th Bishop, Roman Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City

• Ponsi Trivisvavet (Thailand) CEO and Director, Inari
• FYI: For the complete list of immigrants honored by Carnegie, click here.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter or at his blog Views From the Edge.

Seven Asian Americans among 2021's 'Great immigrants' named by Carnegie

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

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.

Gita Gopinath
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 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.”

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.”

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
Deputy White House National Climate Advisor
BORN IN: Pakistan

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.”

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.

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. 

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.

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.”

Carnegie Corp. names it's Great Immigrants for 2019

The founders of Panda Express, a concert violinist, a playwright and the president of Planned Parenthood were among the 10 Asian Americans named as Great Immigrants of 2019 by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Carnegie Corporation of New York released its annual list of Great Immigrants on June 27 in a salute to 38 naturalized citizens who strengthen America’s economy, enrich our culture and communities, and invigorate our democracy through their lives, their work, and their examples. 

Every Fourth of July since 2006, Carnegie Corporation of New York honors Andrew Carnegie’s legacy by celebrating the wide-ranging contributions of immigrants who enrich our communities and culture, strengthen our economy, and invigorate our democracy.

Scottish immigrant Andrew Carnegie rose out of poverty to become one of the greatest contributors to American industry and philanthropy. Carnegie believed that the infusion of talent that immigrants bring to our country keeps American society vibrant, a view that is borne out by the accomplishments of the nearly 600 individuals honored through the initiative to date.

The Asian Americans selected for this year are: Andrew Cherng and Peggy Cherng, cofounders of Panda Express; Theresia Gouw, cofounder, Aspect Ventures; Prabal Gurung, fashion designger; Rahul Jindal,  transplant surgeon; Young Jean Lee, playwright; Midori, concert violinist; Terence Tao, math professor and MacArthur Fellow; Leanna Wen, presisdent and CEO, Planned Parenthood; and Nite Yun, Chef and restaurateur.

The philanthropic foundation, its board of trustees and staff, invite Americans to help celebrate these distinguished individuals by participating in its online tribute titled “Great Immigrants, Great Americans.”

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