The Carnegie Corporation of New York has announced its annual list of distinguished immigrants to the United States whose experiences have enriched and strengthened American society.

The 2022 list honors 34 naturalized citizens from 32 countries with a wide range of backgrounds, career paths, and contributions to their adopted country. The foundation made the announcement as part of its Great Immigrants, Great Americans campaign, which has honored nearly 700 immigrants since 2006.

This year’s honorees include academics, celebrities, and artists, among them Nobel laureates Syukuro Manabe (born in Japan) and Ardem Patapoutian (Lebanon); the novelist and National Book Award-winning novelist Malinda Lo (China); actress, director, and screenwriter Julie Delpy (France), Grammy Award-winning musician Neil Young (Canada); and CNN White House correspondent MJ Lee (South Korea). Also honored were community leaders, businesspeople, and civil servants including Punit Renjen (India),  global CEO of Deloitte; Tashitaa Tufaa (Ethiopia), CEO of Metropolitan Transportation Network, a Minnesota school bus company; Ibrahim Cissé (Niger), an MIT professor of physics and winner of the 2021 Vilcek Prize; Lina Hidalgo (Colombia), the first woman elected judge and chief executive of Harris County, Texas; and Aquilino Gonell (Dominican Republic), a U.S. Capitol police officer who received the Congressional Gold Medal following the January 6, 2021, insurrection on Capitol Hill.

Established by Andrew Carnegie—himself an immigrant from Scotland—in 1911, the foundation has long supported immigrant integration into the fabric of American society through a portfolio of grantees focused on immigration policy reform and efforts to encourage eligible immigrants to become citizens. According to the Carnegie Corporation, there are 9.2 million lawful permanent residents eligible to apply for citizenship in the United States.

“[This] is a reminder of the proven economic and societal benefits of encouraging immigrants to seek citizenship and become actively involved in our democracy,” said Geri Mannion, managing director of Carnegie’s Strengthening U.S. Democracy program and a naturalized citizen of Irish descent. “Through philanthropic collaborations and the work of nonprofit service providers, we aim to make the [naturalization] process easier and more accessible to millions of eligible immigrants.”

(Photo credit: Library of Congress/Johnston Collection)