Immigrants & America 250: People Across United States History

Bernardo de Gálvez was born in Spain in 1746 and was a colonial administrator who supported the American colonies during the Revolutionary War. As governor of Spanish Louisiana, he led successful attacks against British forces along the Gulf Coast, capturing key locations such as Baton Rouge, Mobile, and Pensacola.

Thomas Paine was born in England in 1737 and immigrated to the United States in 1774. Paine was a political writer whose ideas promoted independence, individual rights, and shaped the American Revolution. Notable works include Common Sense (1776), The American Crisis (1776), and Rights of Man (1791).

Esther de Berdt Reed was born in England in 1746 and immigrated to the United States in 1770. With the Continental Army facing several defeats, Reed used her position to mobilize women into political action. In 1780, she founded the Ladies Association of Philadelphia. This association raised over $300,000 to aid the Continental Army.

Alexander Hamilton was born in the late 1750's in Nevis and immigrated to the United States in 1772. Hamilton was a writer who contributed to The Federalist Papers and a statesman who shaped the U.S. Constitution. Considered one of the Founding Fathers, Hamilton served as the New York delegate to the Constitutional Convention (1787) and was the first Secretary of the Treasury of the United States (1789).

Samuel Slater was born in England in 1768 and immigrated to the United States in 1789. Slater was a businessman, industrialist, and founder of the American cotton-textile industry. Four years after he arrived in the United States, Slater established the first successful cotton mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. His innovations helped lay the foundation for the growth of the American textile industry and early industrialization.

Éleuthère Irénée "E.I." du Pont was born in France in 1771 and immigrated to the United States in 1800. DuPont was a business leader, scientist, inventor, and philanthropist who founded the DuPont company in 1802. The company produced gunpowder along the Brandywine River in Delaware, laying the foundation for what would become a global chemical manufacturing enterprise.

Mary Ann Duff was born in England in 1794 and immigrated to the United States in 1810. Duff was a "leading tragic actress" who appeared in plays and theaters in New York and Boston.

Thomas Kensett was born in England in 1786 and immigrated to the United States in 1806. Kensett was an engraver, inventor, and entrepreneur who received one of the first U.S. patents in 1825 for preserving food in tin-plated iron cans, which laid the foundation to create shelf-stable foods.

John Brown Russwurm was born in Jamaica in 1799 and immigrated to the United States in 1812. Russwurm was a journalist, activist, abolitionist, teacher, and scholar becoming one of the first African American to graduate from a U.S. college (1826). The following year, Russwurm co-founded Freedom’s Journal, the first African American–owned and operated national newspaper in the United States.

Margaret Haughery was born in Ireland in 1813 and immigrated to the United States with her family in 1818. Haughery was a philanthropist known as the “Bread Woman of New Orleans” and the "Angel of the Delta" for her tireless work feeding the city’s poor and orphaned children. She raised money and established orphanages and charitable organizations in New Orleans that served all children regardless of their race, religion, ethnicity, or social class.

Abraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin was born in Switzerland in 1761 and immigrated to the United States in 1780. Gallatin was a politician and leader who was elected to the House of Representatives in 1795 where he initiated the House Committee on Finance (Ways and Means Committee). Gallatin also served as the fourth U.S. Secretary of the Treasury from 1801-1814 where he played a key role in reducing the national debt, negotiating an end to the War of 1812, funding the Louisiana Purchase, and planning the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Gallatin was a strong advocate for education and Native American rights, and co-founded the American Ethnological Society in 1842.

Albert Bierstadt was born in Germany in 1830 and immigrated with his family to the United States in 1831. Bierstadt was a painter who produced large-scale landscapes and panoramic scenes of the American West. In 1858, Bierstadt made his debut in New York at the National Academy of Design with a painting of Lake Lucerne and the Swiss Alps.

Federico Fernández Cavada was born in Cuba in 1831 and moved to the United States in 1838. Cavada was an abolitionist, military officer, and writer who served as a captain, engineer, and topographer with the Balloon Corps during the Civil War. Cavada was captured in 1863 and spent six months at Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia. After he was released in 1864, he published a book, LIBBY LIFE: Experiences of A Prisoner of War in Richmond, Virginia, 1863-64, detailing his life after being held captive. After the Civil War, Cavada served as a consul in Cuba. He resigned from this position in 1869 and fought against Spanish rule in the Ten Years War. He was captured by Spanish forces and executed by firing squad in July of 1871.

Ernestine Louise Potowski Rose was born in Poland in 1810 and immigrated to the United States in 1836. Working alongside Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Potowski co-founded the National Woman Suffrage Association in 1869, which aimed to enact a constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote.

Levi Strauss was born in 1829 in the Kingdom of Bavaria, German Confederation. In 1847, Strauss and his family immigrated to the United States first settling in New York before traveling to California during the Gold Rush. In 1873, Strauss, along with tailor Jacob Davis, invented blue jeans, a staple that we still wear to this day.

Joseph Pulitzer was born in Hungary in 1847 and immigrated to the United States in 1864 to serve in the Union Army during the Civil War. Pulitzer was a politician, journalist, and newspaper publisher. He transformed newspapers to be both informative and a source of entertainment by including investigative reporting, comics, sports, and lifestyle sections. Pulitzer purchased the newspaper The World (New York World) in 1883 and turned it into a profitable and successful newspaper. In 1917, the Pulitzer Prize was established in his honor.

Leonora Kearney Barry was born in Ireland in 1849 and immigrated to the United States in 1852. Kearney was a labor organizer and women's rights activist who documented labor conditions and the exploitation of women workers in factories. Kearney advocated for equal pay for equal work and protections against sexual harassment. In 1886, Kearney was elected as the General Investigator of Women’s Work within the Knights of Labor. She was the first and only woman to hold national office within the Knights of Labor.

Senda Berenson was born in Russia in 1868 and immigrated to the United States in 1875. Berenson was an educator and athlete. She was known as the “Mother of Women’s Basketball" for introducing an adaptation of the game at Smith College in 1892. In 1901, Berenson introduced field hockey at Smith College. Thirty-one years after her death, Berenson was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1985.

Mary Harris “Mother” Jones was born in Ireland in 1837 and immigrated first to Canada and then the United States around 1860. Jones was an activist and labor organizer who advocated for working families such as miners, railroad workers, and factory workers. Jones led several workers’ strikes during. Additionally, in 1903, Jones led the “March of the Mill Children” to draw attention harsh child labor practices. Jones marched from Philadelphia to New York City and to President Theodore Roosevelt’s home on Long Island, New York. The magazine Mother Jones was first published in 1976 and is named after her.

Bert Williams was born in the Bahamas in 1874 and immigrated to the United States three years later with his family. Williams was a groundbreaking actor, entertainer, and recording artist who became one of the most prominent Black performers of the early 20th century. A star of vaudeville and musical theater, he headlined the landmark Broadway production In Dahomey in 1903.

Clara Lemlich Shavelson was born in Russia (modern day Ukraine) in 1886 and immigrated to the United States in 1903. She was horrified by the working conditions she and other immigrant women experienced in the garment industry in New York City’s Lower East Side. She became a leader in the International Ladies Garment Workers Union. In 1909, Lemlich organized the largest general strike ever to protest the poor working conditions in garment factories.

Rose Schneiderman was born in 1882 in Russia (modern day Poland) and immigrated to the United States in 1890. Schneiderman was a labor organizer and women’s rights activist who advocated for fair wages and better working conditions for women. Schneiderman became a leader in the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union and in 1917 was elected President of the New York Women’s Trade Union League.

Bhagat Singh Thind was born in India in 1892 and immigrated to the United States in 1913 to attend graduate school. Thind was a World War I veteran and civil rights advocate whose legal battle over U.S. citizenship became a landmark case. While in the U.S. Army, Thind applied for U.S. citizenship, which was initially approved. However, the Bureau of Naturalization opposed it, overturning the court order as he was not considered "white" under The Naturalization Act of 1790. Thind applied for citizenship again and was granted citizenship in 1920. Again, the Bureau of Naturalization opposed it and appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1923, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Thind in United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind, determining that he was not considered “white” under naturalization laws. This decision reinforced racial restrictions on citizenship. Thind regained citizenship in 1935 after Congress granted legal status to all World War I veterans. In 1940, immigrants from India were eligible for naturalization. Thind spent his life writing and lecturing on philosophy.

Kahlil Gibran was born in Lebanon in 1883 and first immigrated to the United States with his parents in 1895. Gibran continued his studies in Lebanon and then returned back to the United States in 1903. Gilbran is a poet, artist, philosopher, and writer whose works appeared in both Arabic and English. Gibran's notable English works include The Madman (1918), The Forerunner (1920), and The Prophet (1923).

Claude McKay was born in Jamaica in 1890 and came to the United States in 1912 to attend college and later became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1940. McKay was a writer, poet, and novelist who was a central figure and voice of the Harlem Renaissance. McKay's notable works include the sonnet, If We Must Die (1919), the novel, Home to Harlem (1928), and numerous poems.

Read transcripts and written texts and listen to songs from the Florida Folklife collections.This collection documents life histories, beliefs, and music of African American, Anglo-American, Arabic, Bahamian, Cuban, Greek, Italian, Minorcan, Seminole, Slovak, and Syrian cultures and communities throughout Florida.

Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope was born in England in 1903 and immigrated to the United States in 1908. Hope was an actor, entertainer, singer, dancer, and comedian. He appeared in films, radio, theater, and television screens across the world. In 1938, Hope starred in his first feature film, The Big Broadcast of 1938, which included the Oscar-winning “Thanks for the Memory” song. Hope was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1963, was a Kennedy Center Honors awardee in 1985, and received the National Medal of Arts in 1995.

Recorded by Sidney Robertson Cowell in Carmel, California in 1939, this song captures Alf Nilssen singing “Aa kjore vatten, aa kjore ve” (hauling water and hauling wood) in Norwegian.

Recorded by Sidney Robertson Cowell in Fresno, California in 1940, this song captures Francisco and Matias Etcheverry singing, “I duski denean zoin eder den itzala” (When the sun shines everywhere, how good the shade is!) in Basque.

Irving Berlin was born in Russia in 1888 and immigrated to the United States in 1893 to escape religious persecution. Berlin was a composer, lyricist, and songwriter who wrote more than 800 songs for the Broadway stage and screen. Berlin's career spanned over six decades and is best known for classics like “White Christmas”, “God Bless America", and “There’s No Business like Show Business.” Berlin won an Academy Award in 1943 for his song "White Christmas" which debuted in 1942 in the film Holiday Inn.

Gerty Theresa Cori was born in Austria-Hungary (modern day Czech Republic) in 1896. In 1920, she earned her Doctorate in Medicine at the German University of Prague (now part of Charles University). Two years later, in 1922, Cori immigrated to the United States. Cori was a biochemist who developed the “Cori Cycle” of carbohydrate metabolism in the body. She and her husband Carl Ferdinand Cori won the Nobel prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1947.

Maureen O'Hara was born in Ireland in 1920 and immigrated to the United States in 1939 to pursue an acting career. O'Hara starred in numerous classic films over the course of six decades, including The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939), The Black Swan (1942), Miracle on 34th Street (1947), The Quiet Man (1952), and The Parent Trap (1961).

George Balanchine was born in Russia in 1904 and immigrated to the United States in 1933. Balanchine was a choreographer who became one of the most influential figures in twentieth-century ballet. In 1946, Balanchine founded the Ballet Society, Two years later in 1948, he co-founded the New York City Ballet with Lincoln Kirstein.

Billy Wilder was born in Austria in 1906 and moved to Berlin, Germany to work as a screenwriter. Due to the rise of the Nazi Party and antisemitism in Germany, Wilder was forced to move to France and in 1934, Wilder immigrated to the United States. Wilder was a U.S. Army veteran, Kennedy Center Honors awardee, and Academy Award winning film director, screenwriter, and producer. Over the course of five decades, he directed or co-wrote classic movies such as Double Indemnity (1944), The Lost Weekend (1945), Sunset Boulevard (1950), The Seven Year Itch (1955), Some Like It Hot (1959), The Apartment (1960), One, Two, Three (1961), and Avanti! (1972).

Desi Arnaz was born in Cuba in 1917 and fled to the United States with his family in 1933 due to political unrest. Arnaz was an actor, Broadway performer, musician, and television producer who is best known for starring alongside his wife, Lucille Ball, in the television show, I Love Lucy which premiered in 1951.

Chien-Shiung Wu was born in China in 1912 and immigrated to the United States in 1934 to pursue her PhD in physics at the University of California at Berkeley. Wu was a pioneering experimental physicist who in 1956, "provided the first experimental proof that the principle of parity conservation does not hold in weak subatomic interactions." Her experiments disproved the long-held principle of parity conservation, contributing to a Nobel Prize awarded to her male collaborators, Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen Ning Yang, while she was overlooked. In 1975, Wu received the National Medal of Science.

Ayn Rand was born in Russia in 1905 and immigrated to the United States in 1926. Rand was a writer who published famous works such as We the Living (1936), Anthem (1938), The Fountainhead (1943), and Atlas Shrugged (1957).

Dalip Singh Saund was born in India in 1899 and immigrated to the United States in 1920 to study. Saund earned a master's degree and PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. Saund became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1949 and was the first Indian American and Asian American politician elected to the United States Congress. In 1956, Saund was elected as a Democrat to the U.S. House of Representatives in California taking office in 1957.

Peter Safar was born in Austria in 1924. Due to his Jewish identity, Safer was sent to a forced labor camp in Bavaria. In 1948, Safer graduated from the University of Vienna and the following year, he immigrated to the United States to complete his surgical training at Yale University. In 1957, Safar demonstrated cardiopulmonary resuscitation techniques combined with chest compressions, the foundation of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR). Known as the "father of CPR," Safar played a key role in establishing the first intensive care unit at Baltimore City Hospital (1958). In 1966, Safer helped develop the first U.S. paramedic emergency medical service in Pittsburgh (Freedom House Ambulance Service).

Maria Goeppert-Mayer was born in the German empire (modern day Poland) in 1906 and earned her PhD in Physics at the University of Göttingen in 1930. She immigrated to the United States shortly after. Goeppert pioneered the development of the shell-nuclear model. Goeppert won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1963.

Larry Itliong was born in the Philippines in 1913 and immigrated to the United States in 1929. Itliong was a labor organizer and civil rights activist who fought for better pay and benefits for agricultural workers. In 1965, Itliong led a strike against the grape growers near Delano, California. Itliong was a central figure in the creation of the United Farm Workers (UFW) union.

Oscar de la Renta was born in the Dominican Republic in 1932 and immigrated to the United States in 1963. De la Renta was a fashion designer and philanthropist who launched his label in 1965. De la Renta built a global brand whose designs were worn by celebrities, singers, and U.S. First Ladies such as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Nancy Reagan, Hillary Clinton, and Michelle Obama.

Lenore Gertrude Briggs was born in Grenada in 1928 and immigrated to the United States in 1965. As a lifelong teacher and educator, Briggs opened Mom’s Center for Early Childhood Development (Mom's) in 1973 in Brooklyn, New York. After earning her master's degree from New York University in 1986, Briggs renamed Mom's to Lefferts Gardens Montessori School, one of the first Black-owned Montessori schools in Brooklyn. Briggs was dedicated to providing affordable, accessible, and Montessori-based education to families in in the local area.

Saul Bellow was born in Canada in 1915 and immigrated to the United States in 1924. In 1937, Bellow earned his bachelor’s degree in anthropology at the University of Chicago. Through his writings, Bellow explored the human identity and the search for meaning in modern society. Bellow won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1976.

Listen to a 1977 interview with Selma Jacobson discussing Swedish hemslöjd (traditional handicrafts) and halmslöjd (straw weaving) in Chicago, Illinois.

Ieoh Ming "I.M." Pei was born in China in 1917. Pei came to the United States in 1935 to study at the University of Pennsylvania. As an architect, Pei created noteworthy buildings such as the east Building of the National Gallery of Art (1978), the John F. Kennedy Library (1979), the glass pyramid at the Louvre Museum (1989), and numerous other buildings in the United States and around the world. Pei received multiple awards including the Pritzker Architecture Prize (1983), Japan Art Association’s Praemium Imperiale prize (1989), and the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom (1993).

Listen to recordings and stories among Japanese and Japanese American foodways and traditions in the Nagashima household in Billings Montana.

View photos of Taissa Decyk and Ukrainian embroidery.

Baruj Benacerraf was born in Venezuela in 1920 and immigrated to the United States in 1940. Benacerraf earned his Doctor of Medicine from the Medical College of Virginia (Now part of Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine) in 1945. Benacerraf led the discovery of how (IR) genes dictate immune response. Benacerraf won the Nobel prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1980.

Carolina Herrera was born in Venezuela in 1939 and immigrated to the United States in 1980. Herrera is a fashion designer who launched her clothing brand Carolina Herrera in 1981. Herrera’s designs have been worn by celebrities, singers, and former U.S. First Ladies such as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Michelle Obama.

Isabel Allende was born in Peru to Chilean parents in 1942. Due to political concerns, Allende and her family first moved to Venezuela in 1973 and then immigrated to the United States in 1987. Allende is a philanthropist, writer, and novelist whose works include The House of the Spirits (1982), Of Love and Shadows (1984), Paula (1994), City of the Beasts (2002), My Invented Country (2003), The Sum of Our Days (2007), A Long Petal of the Sea (2019), and The Soul of a Woman (2020). Allende has been recognized and received more than 35 literary awards in addition to receiving the 2014 Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Michael J. Fox was born in Canada in 1961 and moved to the United States in 1979 to pursue an acting career. Fox is an Emmy award winning actor who starred on television including Family Ties (1986-1988) and Spin City (1996-2002) as well as the films Back to the Future (1985, 1989, 1990), Casualties of War (1989), The American President (1995), Mars Attacks! (1996), and Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie (2023). Fox is an activist who created the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research in response to his own personal diagnosis with Parkinson’s in 1991. In 2025, Fox was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Gloria Estefan was born in Cuba in 1957 and immigrated to the United States in 1959 after the Cuban Revolution. Estefan is an Academy Award-nominated, GRAMMY Award-winning singer, songwriter, author, actress, and philanthropist who played a major role in bringing Latin rhythms into American music. In 1975 Estefan became the lead singer of the Miami Sound Machine, where she sang alongside her Cuban husband, Emilio Estefan who founded the band. Together, the Miami Sound Machine produced well known songs like "Conga" (1985) and "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You" (1987), as well as the song “Get on Your Feet” (1989) that appeared on Estefan's solo album.

Yuan T. Lee was born in Taiwan in 1936 and immigrated to the United States in 1962 to study at the University of California at Berkeley, earning his PhD in 1965. Lee is a chemist who is a leader in the development of chemical-reaction dynamics. Lee won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1986.

Sandra Cauffman was born in Costa Rica in 1962 and immigrated to the United States in 1983. Cauffman is an electrical engineer and leader who worked at NASA for 37 years (1988-2025). Cauffman played a key role in advancing space exploration, implementing earth science missions such as the MAVEN Mars probe and the Hubble Space Telescope, and leading rocket launches and satellite deployments. Cauffman is a George Mason University alumnus, earning both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Mason.

Celia Cruz was born in Cuba in 1925 and immigrated to the United States in 1961 following the Cuban Revolution. Known as the “Queen of Salsa”, Cruz was a GRAMMY-award winning singer and one of the most influential voices in Latin music. Cruz was the sole female member of the Fania All Stars supergroup. Cruz collaborated with Ray Barretto for her album “Ritmo en el corazón” (1988) and won her first Grammy award in 1990. Cruz created 75 music tracks and received numerous awards such as the National Medal of Arts (1994) and 13 years after her passing, Cruz was honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2016).

Ileana Ros Lehtinen was born in Cuba in 1952 and immigrated to the United States in 1959. Ros Lehtinen is a politician who earned her Doctor of Education from the University of Miami in 2004. Ros Lehtinen served as a member of the Florida State House of Representatives (1982-1986), was a member of the Florida State Senate (1986-1989), and served as the U.S. Representative for Florida’s 27th congressional district from 1989 to 2019, becoming the first Latina elected to Congress.

Chinua Achebe was born in Nigeria in 1930 and immigrated to the United States in 1990 to teach at Bard College and later Brown University (2009). Achebe was an author, activist, educator, novelist, and poet who was a prominent and influential writer of modern African literature. Achebe published several books, collections, and essays such as Things Fall Apart (1958), Another Africa (1998), Home and Exile (2000), and There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra (2012). Achebe was designated a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador in 1999 and in 2007, Achebe was awarded the Man Booker International Prize.

Michael Mina was born in Egypt in 1969 and immigrated to the United States when he was two years old. Mina is an award-winning chef, restaurateur, and author who is the founder of the Mina Group. Mina opened his first restaurant AQUA in San Francisco, California in 1991. Over time, Mina opened several others restaurants around the world and received numerous awards such as Rising Star Chef of the Year (1997), Best Chef: California (2002), Bon Appétit Chef of the Year (2005), a Michelin Star (2006), Gayot Best Restaurateur (2011), Who’s Who of Food & Beverage (2013), and 50 Most Powerful People in American Fine Dining (2023).

Olufunmilayo Olopade was born in Nigeria in 1957 and immigrated to the United States in 1983 to complete her internship and residency at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. Olopade is a physician, geneticist, scholar, and cancer researcher known for her pioneering work in integrating prevention, early detection, and genetics (particularly the role of BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes) into cancer risk assessment and treatment. In 1992, while working at the University of Chicago, Olopade created the Cancer Risk Clinic which is still in operation today. Olopade won awards and honors for her work such as the American Society for Clinical Oncology Young Investigator Award (1991), James S. McDonnell Foundation Scholar Award (1992), Doris Duke Distinguished Clinical Scientist Award (2000), Phenomenal Woman Award for work within the African-American community (2003), Mac Arthur Fellows Program (2005), William L. McGuire Memorial Lecture Award (2021), and Jill Rose Award (2023).

Listen to a 1995 interview with Angelo Basileo in which he discusses his family’s immigration journey from Italy in the recording “My Folks Came Over from Italy.”

Pierre Omidyar was born in France in 1967 to Iranian parents. Omidyar and his family immigrated to the United States in 1973. As a software engineer, entrepreneur, philanthropist, Omidyar launched eBay, one of the top online market places behind Amazon, in 1995.

Mariano Rivera was born in Panama in 1969 and came to the United States when he was 20 years old after being scouted by the New York Yankees. Rivera played baseball in the minor leagues for five years, before making his Major League baseball debut in 1995. Rivera spent his entire 19-year career with the New York Yankees, earning five World Series championships, five Reliever of the Year awards, 13 All-Star selections, and three Most Valuable Player awards. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019. Rivera is also a philanthropist who alongside his wife Clara Rivera created the Mariano Rivera Foundation in 1998.

Monique Lhuillier was born in the Philippines in 1971 and moved to the United States to study. Lhuillier is fashion and luxury bridal designer and philanthropist who launched her label in 1996 and quickly became a global brand. Lhuillier has dressed singers, celebrities, and former U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama.

Madeleine Albright was born in Czechoslovakia in 1937. Due to political concerns, Albright and her family immigrated to the United States in 1948. Albright earned a PhD from Columbia University in 1976 and was the first woman to serve as U.S. Secretary of State (1997 - 2001).

Ana Navarro was born in Nicaragua in 1971 and immigrated to the United States with her mother and siblings in 1980. Navarro is a political strategist, commentator, and advisor who has served as a Republican strategist, a political analyst, and has appeared on the television show The View since 2013. Navarro earned her law degree from St. Thomas University School of Law in 1997. She served on Florida Governor Jeb Bush’s transition team as the director of immigration policy and was the national cochair of Senator John McCain’s Hispanic Advisory Council.

Marcus Samuelsson was born Ethiopia in 1970 and is a Swedish-raised and Emmy winner chef, restaurateur, and author. Samuelsson initially moved to the United States in 1991 where he worked as an apprentice at the New York restaurant, Aquavit. Samuelsson opened several restaurants and has received numerous awards such as Rising Star Chef of the Year (1999), Best Chef New York City (2003), and Who’s Who of Food & Beverage in America (2016).

Salma Hayek was born in Mexico in 1966 and came to the United States in 1991 to study. Hayek is an Academy Award nominated and Golden Globe winner, actor, producer, and business owner. Hayek starred in Desperado (1995), From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), Frida (2002), Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003), Some Kind of Beautiful (2014), and many other films.

Giada De Laurentiis was born in Italy in 1970 and immigrated to the United States in 1977. De Laurentiis is a chef, author, restauranteur, and Emmy award winning television star who trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. De Laurentiis first appeared on The Food Network’s show Everyday Italian in 2003 followed by several other successful culinary shows.

José Andrés was born in Spain in 1969 and moved to the United States in 1991. Andrés is a two-time Michelin star chef, restaurateur, and humanitarian who founded the World Central Kitchen. Andrés has received numerous awards over time such as Best Chef (2003), Chef of the Year (2004), Outstanding Check (2011), National Humanities Medal (2015), Humanitarian of the Year (2018), and American Express Icon Award (2019). In 2024 Andrés and World Central Kitchen were nominated for the Nobel Prize for Peace, and in 2025 Andrés received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Jawed Karim was born in East Germany to a Bangladeshi father and German mother in 1979. Karim immigrated to the United States in 1992. While working at PayPal in 2002, Karim met Chad Hurley and Steve Chen (who was born in Taiwan in 1978 and immigrated with his parents to the United States in 1986). Karim, Chen, and Hurley founded YouTube in 2005.

Sara Ramírez was born in Mexico in 1975 and immigrated to the United States when they were eight years old. Ramírez graduated from The Juilliard School in 1997. Ramírez is an award-winning Broadway performer who earned a Tony Award in 2005 for their performance in Spamalot. Ramírez is also an actor who starred on the show, Grey's Anatomy.

Hamdi Ulukaya was born in Türkiye in 1972. Ulukaya moved to the United States in 1994 to attend college. Ulukaya is an entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded Chobani, a global yogurt company.

Watch and listen to Flory Jagoda and friends perform traditional Sephardic music originating from the former Yugoslavia and other regions around the world.

Elizabeth H. Blackburn was born in Australia in 1948 and earned her PhD at Cambridge University in 1975. Blackburn moved to the United States that same year to complete her postdoctoral work at Yale University. Blackburn was a leader in the discovery of telomerase and cancer interception. Blackburn won the Nobel prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2009.

Sofía Vergara was born in Colombia in 1972 and immigrated to the United States in 1998. Vergara is an Emmy nominated actor, producer, model, and entrepreneur who starred in Spanish-language and American television shows and films. Vergara is best known for her roles as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett in the show Modern Family (2009-2020), a judge on the reality television show, America's Got Talent, and the lead actor, Griselda Blanco, in the miniseries Griselda (2024).

Mike Krieger was born in Brazil in 1986 and moved to the United States to attend Stanford University where he met Kevin Systrom. In 2010, Mike and Kevin launched the social media networking site, Instagram. Within two years after its launch, Facebook purchased Instagram.

Barkhad Abdi was born in Somalia in 1985 and immigrated with his family first to Yemen and then to the United States in 1999 due to the outbreak of a civil war. Abdi is an actor who was nominated for an Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actor for the movie Captain Phillips (2013).

Lupita Nyong'o was born in Mexico in 1983 but grew up in Kenya. Nyong'o is an actor, author, producer, Broadway performer, and activist who earned her master's degree in acting from the Yale School of Drama in 2012. Nyong'o won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the movie 12 Years a Slave (2013). Nyong'o has appeared in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), Queen of Katwe (2016), Black Panther (2018), Us (2019), The 355 (2022), and A Quiet Place: Day One (2024). In 2016, Nyong'o was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in the Broadway play, Eclipsed.

Listen to and watch “Voices from the Canefields: Folksongs from Japanese Immigrant Workers in Hawaii,” a lecture by Franklin Odo.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was born in Nigeria in 1977 and immigrated to the United States in 1996 to study at Drexel University. Adichie is a novelist, essayist, activist, educator, and scholar who published works such as Half of a Yellow Sun (2006), Americanah (2013), and We Should All Be Feminists (2014).

Listen to and watch “Sounds of Korea: Traditional Music & Dance from New York,” a performance that was recorded in 2014.

Norma Torres was born in Guatemala in 1965 and immigrated to the United States in 1970. Torres is a public servant, advocate, and politician who currently serves as the Democratic U.S. Representative for California’s 35th Congressional District in the Inland Empire, a seat she has held since 2015. Prior to this role, Torres served as the mayor of Pomona (2006-2008), was a member of the California state assembly (2008-2013), and was a member of the California State Senate (2013-2014).

Esther Duflo was born in France in 1972 and moved to the United States to study, earning her PhD at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1999. Duflo is an economist who developed an “experimental approach to alleviating poverty.” Duflo won the Nobel prize in economic science in 2019.

Chutatip “Nok” Suntaranon was born in Thailand and came to the United States settling in Philadelphia in 2010. Suntaranon is a chef, author, and restauranteur who opened the restaurant Kalaya in 2019. In 2023, Suntaranon won the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic.

Debbie Mucarsel-Powell was born in Ecuador in 1971 and immigrated to the United States when she was 14 years old. Mucarsel-Powell is an advocate and politician who served as the U.S. Representative for Florida's 26th congressional district from 2019 to 2021, the first South American-born woman elected to Congress.

Ardem Patapoutian was born in Lebanon in 1967 and immigrated to the United States in 1986. Patapoutian earned his PhD at the California Institute of Technology in 1996. Pataputian is a neuroscientist who discovered the “receptors for touch and temperature.” Patapoutian won the Nobel prize in Physiology and Medicine in 2021.

Katalin Karikó was born in Hungary in 1955 and earned her PhD at the University of Szeged in 1982. Karikó immigrated to the United States in 1985 to work as a postdoctoral researcher at Temple University. Karikó is a biochemist that led the discovery in nucleotide base changes that would later help in the development of a vaccine for Covid-19. Karikó won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2023.

Cristina Rivera Garza was born in Mexico in 1964 and immigrated to the United States in 1989. In 1995, Garza earned her PhD in History from the University of Houston. Garza is an author, scholar, academic, and poet who won the Pulitzer Prize for Memoir or Autobiography for El invencible verano de Liliana (Liliana’s Invincible Summer) in 2024.

Omar M. Yaghi was born in Jordan in 1965 and immigrated to the United States when he was 15 years old to study. Yaghi is a chemist who was a leader in the development of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent organic frameworks (COFs). Yaghi won the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 2025.