P.D. Soros Fellowship for New Americans

Celebrating Immigrant Mothers

We asked a few of our newest Paul & Daisy Soros Fellows about their moms in honor of Mother's Day!

Q&A: Lilian Mehrel’s Film “Water Melts” Debuts at the Tribeca Film Festival

2013 Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow Lilian Mehrel’s romantic comedy Water Melts will be shown at the Tribeca Film Festival between April 26 – May 4, 2019.

The Opportunity You Shouldn't Pass Up: Apply

The 2020 application is open. Are you a New American who is 30 or younger and who will be in graduate school full-time in the 2020-2021 academic year? Check out the full eligibility requirements, learn about the Fellowships and apply by November 1, 2019.

Sunita Puri: In the Borderlands Between Life & Death

2004 Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow Sunita Puri's memoir, “That Good Night: Life and Medicine in the Eleventh Hour" chronicles her life as the child of immigrants and her training and work as a palliative care doctor, Sunita is medical director for palliative care at Keck Hospital and Norris Cancer Center of the University of Southern California.

Social Entrepreneur Andres Idarraga: Founder of Creci & Mentel

2009 Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow and Colombian immigrant Andres Idarraga is promoting investment in Latin America through his two new companies. Andres, who was incarcerated for six and a half years, believed in the power of education to transform his life. He earned degrees from Brown University and Yale Law School before becoming an attorney, CFO, and social entrepreneur.

1999 Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow Nadine Burke-Harris Appointed As First-Ever California Surgeon General

In January of 2019, 1999 Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow Nadine Burke-Harris was appointed by the governor of California as the state's first surgeon general. Nadine and her family immigrated to the Untied States when she was four.

2018 Paul & Daisy Soros Fellows Announced In The New York Times

Nadine Burke Harris: The Deepest Well

Ramya Parameswaran Is First Author On New Study In Nature Nanotechnology

Irresistible Speakers Designed by the Jofre Brothers, Immigrants from Colombia

2011 Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow Juan Jofre and his brother, Pedro Jofre, launched their own speaker company in 2017. The Jofre brothers designed a speaker that not only has high audio quality, but is also a beautiful side table.

Suhas Rao First Author: Researchers Map Human Genome In 4-D As It Folds

Fei-Fei Li (1999) : Founding Mother of the Artificial Intelligence Revolution

Building technology that reshapes human life

Q&A: Asmaa Elsayed Looks Back At The Fellowship

The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans provides two years of funding for outstanding graduate students who are immigrants and children of immigrants. After two years the Fellows join a lifelong community of past Fellows. Asmaa Elsayed (2015 Fellow) looks back at the first two years of the Fellowship and what they have meant to her.

Eric Chung (2016 Fellow) Co-Authors Study on Asian American Progress in the Legal Profession

The goal of the study is to create a baseline for additional research and inquiry into the topic of Asian Americans in the field. The findings open questions for law firms, law schools, and both the non-profit and public sectors as to how Asian Americans are entering, growing, and succeeding within their walls.

Q&A: Daniela Delgado Looks Back At The Fellowship

The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans provides two years of funding for outstanding graduate students who are immigrants and children of immigrants. After two years the Fellows join a lifelong community of past Fellows. Daniela Delgado looks back at the first two years of the Fellowship and what they have meant to her.

Q&A: MD/PhD Student Gerald Tiu Looks Back At The Fellowship

Gerald Tiu (2015 Fellow) looks back at the first two years of the Fellowship and what they have meant to him. Gerald is currently working towards his MD/PhD at Stanford University in the lab of Maria Barna, where he is investigating novel layers of RNA-mediated gene regulation.

Q&A: MBA Student Steph Speirs Looks Back At The Fellowship

The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans provides two years of funding for outstanding graduate students who are immigrants and children of immigrants. After two years the Fellows join a lifelong community of past Fellows. Stephanie Speirs (2015 Fellow) looks back at the first two years of the Fellowship and what they have meant to her.

Med School Student: Military Service Helped Me Escape Poverty

Three Ways To Honor Immigrant Heritage Month

June is Immigrant Heritage Month

Q&A: Sociology PhD Student Sandra Portocarrero Looks Back At The Fellowship

The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans provides two years of funding for outstanding graduate students who are immigrants and children of immigrants. After two years the Fellows join a lifelong community of past Fellows. Sandra Portocarrero looks back at the first two years of the Fellowship and what they have meant to her.

Podcast: Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships Director Craig Harwood Featured On Accepted Podcast

Director Craig Harwood speaks to Accepted's Linda Abraham about the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans.

Meet the 2017 Paul & Daisy Soros Fellows

We are delighted to announce our 2017 Paul & Daisy Soros Fellows: 30 outstanding immigrants and children of immigrants from all over the country and world who are pursuing graduate school here in the United States. Selected from 1,775 applicants, each of the recipients was chosen for their potential to make significant contributions to US society, culture, or their academic fields and will receive up to $90,000 in funding over two years.

Michelle Kuo’s Memoir on Race and Equality

After two years as a Teach for America Corps member in Arkansas, Michelle Kuo (2007 Fellow) headed to Harvard Law School to continue on with her career. But just before she graduated she found out that one of her favorite students had been accused of murder and was headed to jail. Grappling with freedom, justice, and privilege, Michelle spent the next seven months meeting with her former student and pouring over books in jail as he awaited trial.

Pursuing the Potential of Abandoned Pharmaceuticals

Two Paul & Daisy Soros Fellows are behind the largest biotech IPO in history—Vivek Ramaswamy (2011 Fellow), the founder and CEO of Roivant Sciences, and Pavan Cheruvu (2004 Fellow), the chief of staff at Roivant Sciences.

The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships Featured On The Otherhood Podcast

Public Radio International's Rupa Shenoy features The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans on her podcast about immigrants and children of immigrants: Otherhood.

Leen Katrib’s Architectural Plans For Refugees Receives International Recognition

Leen Katrib's (2016 Fellow) architecture proposal for the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan received honorable mention in the inaugural Place and Displacement competition hosted by Ideation Worldwide in early 2017. The competition sought proposals that looked at refugee camps and architecture that could support refugee market activities. The competition received more than 300 proposals from 700 participants from 43 countries, and there was only one winner and one honorable mention for the Zaatari refugee camp.

Q&A: Valentin Bolotnyy and Fellow Harvard and MIT Graduate Students Create Map of Doctors Impacted by Immigration Executive Order

2013 Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow Valentin Bolotnyy worked with his colleagues in the economics departments at MIT and Harvard to create an interactive map that shows how the March 6, 2017 immigration executive order impacts healthcare in the United States.

Q&A: David Noah Founds New Computer Science High School in the Bronx

2008 Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow David Noah is a teacher and school leader at Success Academies. He is leaving in 2017 to found a computer science high school in The Bronx.

Q&A: Abubakar Abid Develops App to Help Refugees and Immigrants

When 2016 Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow Abubakar Abid saw that Syrian refugees were in need of translation services he decided he wanted to help: he developed an app that crowd-sources translators via Facebook messenger.

Dena Simmons Delivers TED Talk: How students of color confront impostor syndrome

Photo by Ryan Lash

US Senator Dianne Feinstein Features 2016 Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow Denisse Rojas in Her San Francisco Chronicle Op-Ed About Dreamers

Q&A: Emily Martin's New Book of Poetry

2010 Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow Emily Martin reflects on her new book of poetry, "Objects of Hunger."

The Class of 2019: Infographics

Learn about the 2019 Paul & Daisy Soros Fellows; infographics cover gender, heritage, university, and more.

Roxana Daneshjou Begins Chairship of The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans' Fellows Association (PDSFA)

Roxana Daneshjou has begun her term as the new chair of The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellows Association (the PDSFA), the alumni organization of the fellowship program. Roxana will not only lead alumni activities for all 625 Paul & Daisy Soros Fellows, she will also join the board of trustees of The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans. Eva Luo (2012 Fellow) will join the board as the new East Coast activities coordinator, and Eric Chung (2016 Fellow) and Lorenzo Sewanan (2017 Fellow) will join the board as co-coordinators of technology and communications.

Jazz Speaks Interviews 2017 Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow David Adewumi

Harvard Medical School Celebrates 2018 Paul & Daisy Soros Fellows

Chitra Akileswaran's Startup, Cleo, Announced A $10.5 Million Series A Round

Paul & Daisy Soros Fellows: A Map of Emigration & Immigration

Explore where Paul & Daisy Soros Fellows and their families are from around the world, as well as the towns and cities that they have called home in the United States.

Charlotte Agenda: 22 Questions With Alexandra Villarreal O’Rourke

Q&A: Akbar Hossain Looks Back At The Fellowship

The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans provides two years of funding for outstanding graduate students who are immigrants and children of immigrants. After two years the Fellows join a lifelong community of past Fellows. Akbar Hossain (2016 Fellow) looks back at the first two years of the Fellowship and what they have meant to him.

Lucy Ogbu-Nwobodo: A Cinderella story 16 years in the making

Du Cheng Named To Crain's New York Business 40 Under 40 Class of 2018

Nusrat Choudhury Featured in Vogue

Tarek Masoud Joins The Board of Trustees Of The American University In Cairo (AUC)

Pavan Cheruvu Named CEO Of Axovant Sciences

Ashvin Swaminathan Is 2018 Recipient Of Morgan Prize

Alice Michelle Augustine Featured In The New York Daily News

Renee Hsia Study: Only 3.3% Of ED Visits 'Avoidable'

Amal El Bakhar Supports Mother and Child’s Effort to Flee Domestic Violence- Wins Sanctuary for Families Above & Beyond Pro Bono Achievement Award

Shantanu Nundy's Work Featured in The Atlantic: Doctors Get Their Own Second Opinions

Roben Farzad's New Book Featured in Vice

Liquid Biopsy May Identify Lung Cancer Tx Failures

A new study by Aadel Chaudhuri (2011 Fellow), who presented the findings at the prestigious Clinical Trials session at the annual meeting for American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) in 2017.

Mayesha Alam: 5 things you need to know about the Rohingya crisis — and how it could roil Southeast Asia

The New American 2017-2018: Our Alumni Magazine

Veterans: Applying for the PD Soros Fellowship

Are you a veteran and an immigrant or the child of immigrants? If you are going to graduate school or are in the first two years of graduate school, consider applying to The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans.

ProFellow: 5 Doctoral Fellowships for Minorities in Education

Q&A: MD Student Sahar Soleimanifard Looks Back At The Fellowship

The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans provides two years of funding for outstanding graduate students who are immigrants and children of immigrants. After two years the Fellows join a lifelong community of past Fellows. Sahar Soleimanifard (2015 Fellow) looks back at the first two years of the Fellowship and what they have meant to her.

Q&A: MD/PhD Student Paras Singh Minhas Looks Back At The Fellowship

The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans provides two years of funding for outstanding graduate students who are immigrants and children of immigrants. After two years the Fellows join a lifelong community of past Fellows. Paras Singh Minhas (2015 Fellow) looks back at the first two years of the Fellowship and what they have meant to him.

Q&A: MD Student Cecil Benitez Looks Back At The Fellowship

The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans provides two years of funding for outstanding graduate students who are immigrants and children of immigrants. After two years the Fellows join a lifelong community of past Fellows. Cecil Benitez (2015 Fellow) looks back at the first two years of the Fellowship and what they have meant to her.

Q&A: MD Student Oz Hasbún Looks Back At The Fellowship

The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans provides two years of funding for outstanding graduate students who are immigrants and children of immigrants. After two years the Fellows join a lifelong community of past Fellows. Oswaldo (Oz) Hasbún Avalos (2015 Fellow) looks back at the first two years of the Fellowship and what they have meant to him.

Q&A: MD Student Arash Fereydooni Looks Back At The Fellowship

The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans provides two years of funding for outstanding graduate students who are immigrants and children of immigrants. After two years the Fellows join a lifelong community of past Fellows. Yale Medicine's Arash Fereydooni (2015 Fellow) looks back at the first two years of the Fellowship and what they have meant to him.

Q&A: Andre Shomorony Looks Back At The Fellowship

The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans provides two years of funding for outstanding graduate students who are immigrants and children of immigrants. After two years the Fellows join a lifelong community of past Fellows. Andre Shomorony (2015 Fellow) looks back at the first two years of the Fellowship and what they have meant to him. He is a student in the joint Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology program, Andre is pursuing an MD with an added focus on biomedical research. He hopes to work at the intersection of engineering and surgery, developing new tools and techniques to improve the field of reconstructive surgery.

He Walked 370 Miles To Escape Somali War And Spent 16 Years In A Kenyan Refugee Camp. Now He's Working In Omaha To Help Others

Q&A: Lucy Ogbu-Nwobodo Looks Back At The Fellowship

The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans provides two years of funding for outstanding graduate students who are immigrants and children of immigrants. After two years the Fellows join a lifelong community of past Fellows. Lucy Ogbu-Nwobodo (2015 Fellow) looks back at the first two years of the Fellowship and what they have meant to her. She is a medical student at UC Davis School of Medicine.