Outstanding American by Choice

Outstanding American by Choice is an award given to naturalized U.S. citizens "who have achieved [...] extraordinary things"[1] by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS).[2] It was established in January 2006 by Emilio T. Gonzalez, then the director of USCIS.[3] As of 2018, about 130 awards have been given.

Awardees

2006

2007

2008

  • Elaine Chao, Taiwanese-born; United States Secretary of Transportation.[6]
  • James S. C. Chao, Chinese-born; founder of the Foremost Group.[6]
  • Anh Duong, Vietnamese-born; Science Advisor to the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information, Plans and Strategy at the Pentagon.[6]
  • John Fugh, Chinese-born; United States Army.[6]
  • Andy García, Cuban-born; actor.[6]
  • Abul Hussam, Bangladeshi-born; professor at George Mason University.[6]
  • Rosario Marin, Mexican-born; Treasurer of the United States.[6]
  • Elsa Murano, Cuban-born; President of Texas A&M University.[6]
  • Robert Olton, Barbadian-born; United States Army.
  • Charles Simic, Serbian-born; Poet Laureate of the United States.[6]
  • Albio Sires, Cuban-born; member of the U.S. House of Representatives.[6]
  • Ramel Turic, Bosnian-born; United States Army.
  • Duncan Wardle, British-born; Vice President Global Public Relations for Disney Parks.[6]
  • Elie Wiesel, Romanian-born; writer.[6]
  • Donald Zacherl, Canadian-born; United States Army.[6]

2009

  • Joseph Cao, Vietnamese-born; member of the U.S. House of Representatives.[7]
  • Subir Chowdhury, Bangladeshi-born; author of management books.[7]
  • Eartha Dengler, German-born; Founder of the Immigrant City Archives.[7]
  • Maria Hinojosa, Mexican-born; journalist and author.[7]
  • Peter C. Lemon, Canadian-born; United States Army.[7]
  • Eva A. Millona, Albanian-born; Executive Director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition.[7]
  • Virginia M. C. da Mota, Portuguese-born; educator.[7]
  • Eskinder Negash, Ethiopian-born; Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.[7]

2010

  • Patrick Corvington, Haitian-born; CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service.[8]
  • Kawther Elmi, Ethiopian-born; Park Ranger for the National Park Service.[8]
  • Oscar Bautista Hilman, Filippino-born; United States Army.[8]
  • Ledum Ndaanee, Nigerian-born; U.S. Marine Corps.[8]
  • Stephan Ross, Polish-born; Founder of the New England Holocaust Memorial.[8]
  • Tibor Rubin, Hungarian-born; United States Army.[8]
  • Rangita de Silva de Alwis, born in ?; Director of the International Human Rights Policy at Wellesley College.[8]
  • Samuel So, born in ?; professor at Stanford University.[8]

2011

  • Madeleine K. Albright, Czech-born; former U.S. Secretary of State.[9]
  • Joseph A. Banco, Jr., Yugoslavian-born; Associate Chief of U.S. Border Patrol at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.[9]
  • Omar Cruz, born in ?; Federal Emergency Management Agency.[9]
  • Arturo E. Howard, Colombian-born; U.S. Coast Guard.[9]
  • Betty Nguyen Phillips, Vietnamese-born; U.S. Secret Service.[9]
  • Alma Plancich, Croatian-born; Executive Director of the Ethnic Heritage Council.[9]
  • Nawar Shora, Syrian-born; Transportation Security Administration.[9]
  • Gerda Weissmann Klein, Polish-born; Founder of Citizenship Counts.[9]
  • Aster Zeleke, Ethiopian-born; U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.[9]

2012

2013

  • Ferozan Alamshahi Akbari, Afghan-born; U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.[11]
  • Pearl B. Chang, Chinese-born; U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.[11]
  • John A. Herrera, Cuban-born; Senior Vice President for Latino Hispanic Affairs at the Self-Help Services Corporation.[11]
  • Rahul M. Jindal, Indian-born; surgeon.[11]
  • Olga B. Koper, Polish-born; Market Manager for the Battelle Memorial Institute.[11]
  • Ramon Melocarela, Dominican-born; U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.[11]
  • Anna Mongayt, Russian-born; Co-founder and Head of Operations at Upstart.[11]
  • Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa, Mexican-born; neurosurgeon.[11]
  • Amarpreet S. Sawhney, Indian-born; President and CEO of Ocular Therapeutix.[11]
  • Sivalingam Sivananthan, Sri Lankan-born; academic.[11]
  • Tsehaye Teferra, Ethiopian-born; Founder and President of the Ethiopian Community Development Council.[11]

2014

2015

  • Maria Contreras-Sweet, Mexican-born; Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration.[13]
  • Mercy A. Diez, United States Army.[13]
  • Daniel Finn, Irish-born; Catholic priest.[13]
  • Larry La, Vietnamese-born; Principal of the Meiwah Restaurant Group.[13]
  • Mariano Rivera, Panamian-born; former baseball pitcher for the New York Yankees.[13]
  • Thalía, Mexican-born; singer-songwriter, actress.[13]
  • Alberto Vasallo, Jr., Cuban-born; Founder of El Mundo newspaper.[13]

2016

2017

References

  1. Geddes, William (November 21, 2017). "Army Reserve Soldier Receives American By Choice Award". United States Army. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  2. "Outstanding Americans By Choice Archives". U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  3. Boone, Dana (April 20, 2006). "Rwandan refugee receives award for her civic works". The Des Moines Register. p. 14. Retrieved June 21, 2018 via Newspapers.com. (Registration required (help)).
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 "2006 Outstanding American by Choice Recipients". U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 "2007 Outstanding American by Choice Recipients". U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "2008 Outstanding American by Choice Recipients". U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "2009 Outstanding American by Choice Recipients". U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "2010 Outstanding American by Choice Recipients". U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "2011 Outstanding American by Choice Recipients". U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "2012 Outstanding American by Choice Recipients". U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "2013 Outstanding American by Choice Recipients". U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  12. 1 2 3 "2014 Outstanding American by Choice Recipients". U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "2015 Outstanding American by Choice Recipients". U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "2016 Outstanding American by Choice Recipients". U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  15. 1 2 "2017 Outstanding American by Choice Recipients". U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
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