As the Fourth of July approached in 2006, Carnegie Corporation of New York launched its Great Immigrants initiative, recognizing an inspiring group of well-known naturalized citizens from all walks of life whose contributions have helped us advance the progress of our society. Each July 4th that followed, the project highlighted a new group of distinguished foreign-born Americans who have helped make us who we are as a nation. The accomplishments of these men and women—architects, musicians, athletes, scholars, judges, politicians, physicists, actors, diplomats, military officers, fashion designers, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, writers, and more—are as diverse as their life stories.

The Vilcek Foundation has bestowed 56 Vilcek Prizes and Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise to distinguished immigrants since 2006. We are happy to note that nearly half of the prizewinners—24 out of 56—have also been recognized by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Following is a list of Vilcek Foundation Prizewinners, with their countries of birth, included in Great Immigrants: The Pride of America. (The numbers in parentheses refer to the year in which the person was listed in Great Immigrants.)

 

José Andrés, Spain (2011)

Mikhail Baryshnikov, Latvia (2006)

Carlos Bustamante, Peru (2012)

Roberta Capp, Brazil (2016)

Christo, Bulgaria (2011)

Osvaldo Golijov, Argentina (2013)

Yibin Kang, China (2011)

Michel Kouakou, Cote d’Ivoire (2012)

Yo-Yo Ma, France (2006)

Harmit Singh Malik, India (2011)

Joan Massagué Solé, Spain (2010)

Dinaw Mengestu, Ethiopia (2011)

Franziska Michor, Austria (2015)

Mike Nichols, Germany (2008)

Neri Oxman, Israel (2014)

Pardis Sabeti, Iran (2014)

Denise Scott Brown, Zambia (2010)

Charles Simic, Yugoslavia

Alice Ting, Taiwan (2012)

Ham Tran, Vietnam (2013)

Tuyen Tran, Vietnam (2015)

Alexander Varshavsky, Russia (2010)

Joanna Wysocka, Poland (2013)

Huda Zoghbi, Lebanon (2011)