Thirty Outstanding New Americans Each Awarded $90,000 Toward Their Graduate School Studies in US By Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships

NEW YORK, April 14, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans, the premier graduate school fellowship for immigrants and children of immigrants, announced their 2015 recipients. The thirty recipients, called "Fellows", were selected for their potential to make significant contributions to US society, culture, or their academic field, and were selected from a pool of 1,200 applicants.

"I admire the Fellows' ambition, accomplishments and work ethic," said Daisy M. Soros, who co-founded the Fellowship program in 1997 with her late husband, Paul Soros (1926-2013). "They underscore the importance of New Americans to this country." The couple, Hungarian immigrants, contributed $75 million to the organization's charitable trust.

In addition to receiving up to $90,000 in funding for the graduate program of their choice, each new Fellow will join the prestigious community of recipients from past years, which includes US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, leading Ebola researcher Pardis Sabeti, Oscar health insurance co-founder Kevin Nazemi and over 500 other New American leaders.

"It is extraordinary to see all that these Fellows have already accomplished," said Craig Harwood, who directs the Fellowship program. "Whether they are in the sciences, music, medicine, law or education, it is clear that this group of individuals will have a tremendous impact on their respective fields, and on life in this country."

The 2015 class of Fellows includes researchers, mathematicians, writers, scientists, translators, musicians, entrepreneurs and future doctors and lawyers, as well as the first-ever Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow in the field of nursing.  They hail from China, Vietnam, Iran, Nigeria, Somalia, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Albania, Ukraine, Morocco, El Salvador, Mexico, Colombia, Libya, Poland, Russia, Peru, Israel, Oman, Brazil and the United States.

The 2015 cohort of Fellows is extremely diverse in terms of family heritage, field of study and New American status:

• 16 are female; 14 are male.
• The youngest Fellow is 21; the oldest is 30. The average age is 26.
• 22 were born abroad; 8 were born in the US.
• 2 are DACA recipients; 5 are green card holders; 15 are naturalized citizens.
• 13 Fellows are pursuing medicine; 7 natural science; 4 law; 3 music, visual and/or performing arts; 2 computer science; 2 business; 1 social science and 1 education. 3 Fellows are currently pursuing more than 1 degree.
• 14 are first-generation college graduates; 10 are first-generation high school graduates.
• The Fellows attended a total of 23 undergraduate institutions, and will attend a total of 14 graduate schools.

Connect with the Fellowship on Social Media
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pdsoros
Twitter: @PDSoros
Instagram: @PDSoros

2016 Application Now Open
Individuals can learn more about the Fellowship, the current Fellows and the application, as well as sign up for the Fellowship's e-mail list, and an informational session webinar, at the program's website: www.pdsoros.org. The 2016 application is now open, and is due on November 1, 2015 at 11:59 EST.

Selection criteria focuses on accomplishments that show creativity, originality, and initiative in light of the challenges and opportunities that have been part of the applicant's immigration experience. The application is open to college seniors, students in the early stages of their graduate career, and those in the workforce who are seeking graduate training.

Full List of 2015 Fellows
Name, heritage, degree sought and university

1. Mohamad Abedi, Palestinian, PhD in bioengineering at CalTech
2. Oswaldo (Oz) Hasbún Avalos, El Salvadorian, MD at Columbia University
3. Cecil Benitez, Mexican, MD at Stanford Medical School
4. Shinichi Daimyo, Vietnamese and Japanese, MSN at Yale School of Nursing
5. Daniela Delgado, Colombian, MD at Harvard Medical School
6. Amal Elbakhar, Moroccan, JD at Harvard Law School
7. Asmaa Elsayed, Egyptian, EdM in global education at Harvard Graduate School of Education
8. Arash Fereydooni, Iranian, MD
9. Krzysztof Franaszek, Polish, MD at Harvard Medical School and MIT
10. Ledina Gocaj, Albanian, JD at Harvard Law School
11. Tiffanie Hsu, Chinese and Taiwanese, MFA in directing at UCLA
12. Ayan Hussein, Somalian, PhD in neuroscience at Yale University
13. Evgeniya Kim, Uzbek and Korean, MBA at Yale School of Management
14. Allen Lin, Taiwanese, PhD in systems biology at Harvard University
15. Ismael Loera Fernandez, Mexican, PhD in chemistry at Rice University
16. Paras Singh Minhas, Indian, MD and PhD in neuroscience at Stanford School of Medicine
17. Polina Nazaykinskaya, Russian, DMA in composition and music theory at The Graduate Center, CUNY
18. Minh-Duyen Thi Nguyen, Vietnamese, MD and MPH
19. Lucy Ogbu-Nwobodo, Nigerian, MD at UC Davis School of Medicine
20. Sandra Portocarrero, Peruvian, PhD in sociology at Columbia University
21. Yakir Reshef, Israeli, MD and PhD in computer science at Harvard Medical School and MIT
22. Raeuf Roushangar, Egyptian and Iranian, PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology at Michigan State University
23. Eugene Rusyn, Russian, JD at Yale Law School
24. Andre Shomorony, Brazilian, MD at Harvard Medical School and MIT
25. Sahar Soleimanifard, Iranian, MD at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
26. Stephanie Speirs, Korean and Chinese, MBA at MIT Sloan School of Management
27. Gerald Chunt-Sein Tiu, Burmese, MD and PhD in genetics at Stanford University
28. Katherine Karmen Trujillo, Honduran, MA in law and diplomacy at The Fletcher School at Tufts University
29. Mark Minghao Xue, Chinese, MS in computer science at Stanford University
30. Julie Zhu, Chinese, MFA in painting at Hunter College, CUNY

SOURCE Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans