July 4th Salute to Great Immigrants Who Help Make America Strong--from Carnegie Corporation of New York

NEW YORK, July 2, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- This Independence Day, the Trustees and staff of Carnegie Corporation of New York invite all Americans to join in celebrating naturalized U.S. citizens whose contributions are vital to the fabric of our nation and the strength of our democracy.

For the tenth year, the Corporation is honoring a distinguished group of immigrants and their accomplishments with a full-page public service ad in The New York Times. The 2015 "Great Immigrants: The Pride of America" initiative includes 38 individuals who have helped advance and enlighten our society, culture, and economy. In addition, the Corporation recognizes new citizens with a companion website at greatimmigrants.org, which includes the stories of many other naturalized citizens, video and audio recordings, and interactive quizzes. 

"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 the 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 38 Great Immigrants honored this year come from more than 30 countries around the world and represent leadership in a wide range of professions. They include U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara; higher education leaders Gabriel Esteban, Rakesh Khurana, and Ali Malekzadeh; Nobel laureates Arieh Warshel and Thomas C. Südhof; Google Engineering Director Craig Nevill-Manning; U.S. Army Major General Antonio M. Taguba; immigration attorney Rabia Chaudry; Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas Campbell; Atlanta Braves coach Eddie Pérez; Olympic gymnast Nastia Liukin; Pulitzer Prize-winners Geraldine Brooks and Anne Telnaes; actress Sofía Vergara; singer Thalía; television game show host Alex Trebek; and television producer Lorne Michaels.

Nearly nine million legal permanent residents are currently eligible to naturalize and become U.S. citizens. True to the mission of Andrew Carnegie, Carnegie Corporation of New York supports their civic engagement through the efforts of our grantees, particularly the network of nonprofits that forms the New Americans Campaign. The Corporation is proud to showcase their work and the stories of new and aspiring citizens on its dedicated, multimedia website greatimmigrants.org. Visitors will find easy-to-share videos, StoryCorps podcasts, interactive civics and immigration quizzes, a visual archive of Great Immigrants honorees from the past ten years, a timeline highlighting Andrew Carnegie's life as an immigrant, and an embeddable video featuring the inspiring life of an immigrant who fled civil war in Sierra Leone and is now an American success story.

Share in the celebration of "Great Immigrants: The Pride of America" online and continue the discussion on Facebook and on Twitter @CarnegieCorp, #GreatImmigrants.

Congratulations to the 2015 honorees:

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)

About Carnegie Corporation of New York
Carnegie Corporation of New York was established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding. In keeping with this mandate, the Corporation's agenda focuses on the issues that Andrew Carnegie considered of paramount importance: international peace, the advancement of education and knowledge, and the strength of our democracy.

For more information and interview requests:
Celeste Ford | Manager of Media Relations
Carnegie Corporation of New York
(212) 207-6277 | [email protected]

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150624/225463

SOURCE Carnegie Corporation of New York