Madhulikka Sikka, Rakesh Khurana recognized as ‘Pride of America’.
By Sujeet Rajan
NEW YORK: Three Indian Americans, including Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney, Southern District of New York, and a Pakistani American, are among 38 eminent personalities dubbed as the ‘Pride of America’ by Carnegie Corporation and selected as 2015 ‘Great Immigrant’ honorees, on the eve of the nation’s birthday on July 4th.
“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,” Corporation President Vartan Gregorian said in a statement, about the honorees. “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.”
This year marks the 10th annual immigrant recognition from the corporation, a nonprofit set up by Andrew Carnegie in 1911.
Apart from Bharara, the other two Indian Americans are: Rakesh Khurana, Professor, Dean, Harvard College; and Madhulika Sikka, Vice President, Executive Editor, Mic. Indian-origin physician and writer Abraham Verghese is also included in the list, but his roots are listed as from Ethiopia, the country he emigrated from, to the US.
Noted attorney and civil rights activist Rabia Chaudry is the lone Pakistani American amongst the honorees this year, which includes the actress and singer Thalia from Mexico, writer Anchee Min from China and Thomas Campbell, the Director and CEO, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, who emigrated from England.
The 2015 Carnegie 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)
· 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)
· 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).