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Award for naturalized citizens of the United States
Outstanding American by Choice is an award given to
naturalized United States citizens "who have achieved [...] extraordinary things"
[1] by the
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) agency of the
US 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
Marina Belotserkovsky, Soviet-born; Director of Russian Communications and Community Outreach at the
Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society .
[4]
José Luis Betancourt, Mexico-born and raised in Texas; Rear-Admiral of the
United States Navy .
[4]
Guarione M. Diaz, Cuban-born; President and Chief Executive Officer of the Cuban American National Council.
[4]
Carlos M. Gutierrez , Cuban-born; U.S. Secretary of Commerce.
[4]
Zalmay Khalilzad , Afghan-born;
United States Ambassador to Iraq .
[4]
Renu Khator , Indian-born; Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs at the
University of South Florida .
[4]
Tom Lantos , Hungarian-born; member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
[4]
Guillermo Linares , Dominican-born; Commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs for New York City.
[4]
Caitriona Lyons, Irish-born; Refugee Program Coordinator for the State of Texas.
[4]
Jose E. Martinez , Dominican-born; U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Florida.
[4]
Mel Martínez , Cuban-born; member of the U.S. Senate.
[4]
Gepsie M. Metellus, Haitian-born; Executive Director of the Sant La Haitian Neighborhood Center.
[4]
Clementine M. Msengi, Rwandan-born; Founder and Executive Director of the Bright Move Network.
[4]
Anne M. O'Callaghan, Irish-born; executive director of the
Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians .
[4]
Eduardo J. Padrón , Cuban-born; President of
Miami Dade College .
[4]
Kiran C. Patel , Zambian-born; Chairman of the Patel Foundation for Global Understanding.
[4]
Marion P. Primomo, German-born; Physician, Hospice and Palliative Medicine.
[4]
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen , Cuban-born; member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
[4]
John F. Timoney , Irish-born; Chief of Police of the
Miami Police Department .
[4]
Fang A. Wong , Chinese-born; Special Operations Specialist with L3 Communications at ILEX Systems.
[4]
2007
USCIS Director Emilio T. Gonzalez with military recipients on September 24, 2007
Eduardo Aguirre , Cuban-born; United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Spain and the Principality of Andorra.
[5]
Rasul Alsalih, Iraqi-born; United States Air Force.
[5]
Oluwasina Awolusi, Nigerian-born; United States Air Force.
[5]
Cristina V. Beato, Cuban-born; Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health at the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services .
[5]
Katja Bullock, German-born; Special Assistant to the President for Presidential Personnel in The White House.
[5]
Josefina Carbonell , Cuban-born; Assistant Secretary for Aging at the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services .
[5]
Franklin Chang Diaz , Costa Rican-born; astronaut.
[5]
Manuel A. Diaz , Cuban-born; Mayor of
Miami .
[5]
Manuel Dominguez, Cuban-born; United States Air Force.
[5]
Ricardo Ernst, Venezuelan-born; professor at
Georgetown University 's
McDonough School of Business .
[5]
Emilio Estefan , Cuban-born; musician, producer, entrepreneur.
[5]
Gloria Estefan , Mexican-born; singer-songwriter.
[5]
Luis Glaser, Austrian-born; Professor of Biology and Special Assistant to the President at the
University of Miami .
[5]
Vartan Gregorian , Iranian-born; President of the
Carnegie Corporation of New York .
[5]
Farooq Kathwari , Indian-born;
[6] Chairman and CEO of
Ethan Allen .
[5]
M.J. Khan , Pakistani-born; Houston City Council Member.
[5]
Alfonso Martinez-Fonts Jr. , Cuban-born; Assistant Secretary of the Private Sector Office at the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security .
[5]
Alejandro Gomez Monteverde , Mexican-born; director/screenwriter.
[5]
Indra Nooyi , Indian-born; Chairman and chief executive officer of
PepsiCo .
[5]
Tze Ng, Hong Kong-born; entrepreneur.
[5]
Miguel Orozco, Ecuadorian-born; community leader.
[5]
Dina Powell , Egyptian-born;
Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs at the
U.S. Department of State .
[5]
Anna Prager, Polish-born; civic leader.
[5]
Mitzie A. Robinson, Jamaican-born; United States Coast Guard.
[5]
Samuel G. Saldívar, Mexican-born; Professor emeritus at the
United States Military Academy .
[5]
John Shalikashvili , Polish-born; General in the United States Army.
[5]
Peter W. Schramm , Hungarian-born; Executive Director of the John M. Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs and Professor of Political Science at
Ashland University .
[5]
Abida S. Shoyeb, Pakistani-born; Officer for the South Atlantic District Veterinary Command of the United States Army.
[5]
Antonio Taguba , Filipino-born; Major-General in the
United States Army .
[5]
Van T. Thai, Vietnamese-born; United States Air Force.
[5]
2008
Elaine Chao , Taiwanese-born;
United States Secretary of Transportation .
[7]
James S. C. Chao , Chinese-born; founder of the
Foremost Group .
[7]
Anh Duong , Vietnamese-born; Science Advisor to the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information, Plans and Strategy at the Pentagon.
[7]
John Fugh , Chinese-born; United States Army.
[7]
Andy García , Cuban-born; actor.
[7]
Abul Hussam , Bangladeshi-born; professor at
George Mason University .
[7]
Rosario Marin , Mexican-born; Treasurer of the United States.
[7]
Elsa Murano , Cuban-born; President of Texas A&M University.
[7]
Robert Olton, Barbadian-born; United States Army.
Charles Simic , Serbian-born; Poet Laureate of the United States.
[7]
Albio Sires , Cuban-born; member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
[7]
Ramel Turic, Bosnian-born; United States Army.
Duncan Wardle, British-born; Vice President Global Public Relations for Disney Parks.
[7]
Elie Wiesel , Romanian-born; writer.
[7]
Donald Zacherl, Canadian-born; United States Army.
[7]
2009
Joseph Cao , Vietnamese-born; member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
[8]
Subir Chowdhury , Bangladeshi-born; author of management books.
[8]
Eartha Dengler, German-born; Founder of the Immigrant City Archives.
[8]
Maria Hinojosa , Mexican-born; journalist and author.
[8]
Peter C. Lemon , Canadian-born; United States Army.
[8]
Eva A. Millona, Albanian-born; Executive Director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition.
[8]
Virginia M. C. da Mota, Portuguese-born; educator.
[8]
Eskinder Negash, Ethiopian-born; Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
[8]
2010
Patrick Corvington, Haitian-born; CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service.
[9]
Kawther Elmi, Ethiopian-born; Park Ranger for the
National Park Service .
[9]
Oscar Bautista Hilman, Filipino-born; United States Army.
[9]
Ledum Ndaanee, Nigerian-born; U.S. Marine Corps.
[9]
Stephan Ross , Polish-born; Founder of the New England Holocaust Memorial.
[9]
Tibor Rubin , Hungarian-born; United States Army.
[9]
Rangita de Silva de Alwis , born in Sri Lanka;
[10] Director of the International Human Rights Policy at
Wellesley College .
[9]
Samuel So, born in Hong Kong; professor at Stanford University.
[9]
2011
Madeleine K. Albright , Czech-born; former U.S. Secretary of State.
[11]
Joseph A. Banco, Jr., Yugoslavian-born; Associate Chief of U.S. Border Patrol at the
U.S. Customs and Border Protection .
[11]
Omar Cruz, Dominican-born; Federal Emergency Management Agency.
[11]
Arturo E. Howard, Colombian-born; U.S. Coast Guard.
[11]
Betty Nguyen Phillips, Vietnamese-born; U.S. Secret Service.
[11]
Alma Plancich, Croatian-born; Executive Director of the Ethnic Heritage Council.
[11]
Nawar Shora, Syrian-born; Transportation Security Administration.
[11]
Gerda Weissmann Klein , Polish-born; Founder of Citizenship Counts.
[11]
Aster Zeleke, Ethiopian-born; U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
[11]
2012
Christopher Che; President and CEO of the Che International Group.
[12]
Anni Chung, Hong Kong-born; President and Chief Executive Officer at Self Help for the Elderly.
[12]
Ping Fu , Chinese-born; President and CEO of Geomagic.
[12]
Khaled Hosseini , Afghan-born; diplomat.
[12]
Michael Moritz , British-born; Partner at
Sequoia Capital .
[12]
Maria Otero , Bolivian-born; Under Secretary Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights.
[12]
Shervin Pishevar Iranian-born; Managing Director of
Menlo Ventures .
[12]
Jan Vilček , Czech-born; academic.
[12]
Vivek Wadhwa , Indian-born; Academic, researcher, writer and entrepreneur.
2013
Ferozan Alamshahi Akbari, Afghan-born; U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
[13]
Pearl B. Chang, Chinese-born; U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
[13]
John A. Herrera, Cuban-born; Senior Vice President for Latino Hispanic Affairs at the Self-Help Services Corporation.
[13]
Rahul M. Jindal , Indian-born; surgeon.
[13]
Olga B. Koper, Polish-born; Market Manager for the
Battelle Memorial Institute .
[13]
Ramon Melocarela, Dominican-born; U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
[13]
Anna Mongayt, Russian-born; Co-founder and Head of Operations at Upstart.
[13]
Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa , Mexican-born; neurosurgeon.
[13]
Amarpreet S. Sawhney, Indian-born; President and CEO of Ocular Therapeutix.
[13]
Sivalingam Sivananthan , Sri Lankan-born; academic.
[13]
Tsehaye Teferra, Ethiopian-born; Founder and President of the Ethiopian Community Development Council.
[13]
2014
2015
Maria Contreras-Sweet , Mexican-born; Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration.
[15]
Mercy A. Diez, United States Army.
[15]
Daniel Finn, Irish-born; Catholic priest.
[15]
Larry La, Vietnamese-born; Principal of the Meiwah Restaurant Group.
[15]
Mariano Rivera , Panamian-born; former baseball pitcher for the
New York Yankees .
[15]
Thalía , Mexican-born; singer-songwriter, actress.
[15]
Alberto Vasallo, Jr., Cuban-born; Founder of El Mundo newspaper.
[15]
2016
2017
References
^ Geddes, William (November 21, 2017).
"Army Reserve Soldier Receives American By Choice Award" . United States Army . Retrieved June 21, 2018 .
^
"Outstanding Americans By Choice Archives" . U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services . Retrieved June 21, 2018 .
^ 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 .
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"2006 Outstanding American by Choice Recipients" . U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services . 22 August 2011. Retrieved June 21, 2018 .
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"2007 Outstanding American by Choice Recipients" . U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services . 22 August 2011. Retrieved June 21, 2018 .
^ Bumiller, Elisabeth (6 August 1998).
"PUBLIC LIVES; Promoter of Peace for a Himalayan Paradise" . The New York Times .
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"2008 Outstanding American by Choice Recipients" . U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services . 22 August 2011. Retrieved June 21, 2018 .
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"2009 Outstanding American by Choice Recipients" . U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services . 22 August 2011. Retrieved June 21, 2018 .
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"2010 Outstanding American by Choice Recipients" . U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services . 22 August 2011. Retrieved June 21, 2018 .
^ admin.
"Over 5,000 become citizens at Fenway – Massachusetts Society" . Retrieved 2022-05-05 .
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"2011 Outstanding American by Choice Recipients" . U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services . 26 October 2011. Retrieved June 21, 2018 .
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"2012 Outstanding American by Choice Recipients" . U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services . 26 June 2012. Retrieved June 21, 2018 .
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"2013 Outstanding American by Choice Recipients" . U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services . 3 June 2013. Retrieved June 21, 2018 .
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"2014 Outstanding American by Choice Recipients" . U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services . 8 July 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2018 .
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"2015 Outstanding American by Choice Recipients" . U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services . 12 November 2015. Retrieved June 21, 2018 .
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"2016 Outstanding American by Choice Recipients" . U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services . 21 December 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2018 .
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"Johan Uvin: Pathways to Citizenship Through Career and Technical Education" . ED.gov Blog . 2015-06-30. Retrieved 2020-05-05 .
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"2017 Outstanding American by Choice Recipients" . U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services . 20 November 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2018 .