Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships Award 2023 Class of Distinguished New Americans

Since 1998, 775 Fellows from 103 countries have been supported in their pursuit of education in the United States. Applications for the 2024-25 academic year are now open; applications will be due October 26, 2023. 

NEW YORK — Today, the board of directors of The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans, a merit-based graduate school program for immigrants and children of immigrants, announced the program’s 2023 Fellows. Selected from nearly 2,000 applicants, the 30 Paul & Daisy Soros Fellows are chosen for their achievements and their potential to make meaningful contributions to the United States across fields of study. They each will receive up to $90,000 in funding to support their graduate studies at institutions such as Harvard University, MIT, Stanford University, and Yale University. Read more about each 2023 Fellow and their heritage here. 

Since the Fellowship’s founding 25 years ago, the program has provided more than $80 million in funding, and recipients have studied a range of fields from medicine and the arts to law and business. “My and Paul’s experiences as immigrants informed our desire to give back by investing in the accomplishments of New Americans,” said Co-Founder Daisy Soros. “It has been a joy to see how our Fellows leverage their education over the years to make a deep impact across communities. I’m delighted to welcome this year’s Fellowship class. As we commemorate the 10th anniversary of Paul’s passing, it is beautiful to see how his legacy lives on through every Fellow.”

“Immigrants, asylum seekers, and refugees have and continue to make our nation stronger,” said Fellowship Director Craig Harwood. “The diverse perspectives and approaches that each Fellow this year, and the many who have come before them, brings to their fields and our society is remarkable and inspiring.”

The new class of Paul & Daisy Soros Fellows have heritage in China, Colombia, Egypt, El Salvador,  Ethiopia, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sweden, and Vietnam. They are studying a wide range of fields, including law, medicine, neuroscience, screenwriting, physics, Chicano and Central American Studies, painting, women’s gender and sexuality studies, mechanical engineering, genetics, and more.

In addition to receiving up to $90,000 in funding for the graduate program of their choice, the 2023 Paul & Daisy Soros Fellows join a distinguished community of past recipients. The alumni network includes US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, who is the first surgeon general of Indian descent and helped lead the national response to Ebola, Zika, and the coronavirus; lawyer Julissa Reynoso, who serves as the US ambassador to Spain and Andorra; Damian Williams, who is the first Black US attorney for the southern district of New York and serves as chair of the attorney general’s advisory committee; and composer Paola Prestini, who was named by NPR as one of the “Top 100 Composers in the World” and plays on major stages across the world.

2024 Application Now Open

The application for the 2024-25 academic year is now open and is due in October of 2023. Selection criteria focuses on accomplishments that show creativity, originality, and initiative and  is open to college seniors, students applying to graduate school, and those who are in the early stages of graduate school. All applicants must be planning to be enrolled full-time in an accredited graduate program in the US in the 2024-25 academic year. In addition, applicants must be 30 or younger as of the application deadline.

Eligible New Americans include green card holders, naturalized citizens, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) recipients, individuals born abroad who graduated from both high school and college in the United States, and the US-born children of two immigrants. Applicants can find full eligibility requirements here.