Outstanding Americans by Choice
The Outstanding Americans by Choice initiative recognizes the outstanding achievements of naturalized U.S. citizens. Through civic participation, professional achievement, and responsible citizenship, recipients of this honor have demonstrated their commitment to this country and to the common civic values that unite us as Americans.
USCIS will recognize naturalized citizens who have made significant contributions to both their community and their adopted country on a case-by-case basis.
For more information about the initiative, please see this fact sheet (PDF, 149.91 KB).
Note: The following biographies have been provided by the ABC recipients.
2015
Alberto Vasallo, Jr., a native of Havana, fled Cuba in 1965 at the age of 24 years old. After traveling for 12 hours, he arrived in Key West, FL, a day he has described as of one of the most beautiful days in his life.
2014
José Andrés is an internationally recognized culinary innovator, advocate for food and hunger issues, author, television personality, chef, and owner of more than 16 restaurants in Washington, DC; Beverly Hills, CA; Las Vegas, NV; Miami, FL; and Dorado, Puerto Rico.
John Adalbert Lukacs is a Hungarian-born American historian who has written more than 30 books including, The End of the Twentieth Century: And the End of the Modern Age which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Mr. Lukacs was a professor of history at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, PA from 1947 to 1994, and held the chair of the history department for 27 years. He has also served as a visiting professor at several universities.
Alejandro N. Mayorkas was sworn in as Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security on December 23, 2013. Since 2009, following his nomination by President Obama and subsequent confirmation, Deputy Secretary Mayorkas served as the Director of the Department of Homeland Security’s United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the agency charged with operating the largest immigration system in the world.
2013
In the late 1990s, Dr. Jindal performed the world's first operation to link a tube with blood vessels in the damaged liver of a critically ill six-year-old boy. Dr. Jindal also set up the first comprehensive kidney dialysis and kidney transplant program in Guyana, South America, and successfully performed the first living kidney transplant in that country.
At Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD, Dr. Quiñones is a Professor of Neurological Surgery and Oncology, Neuroscience, and Cellular and Molecular Medicine. In addition to directing the Brain Tumor Surgery Program at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, and the Pituitary Surgery Program at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Dr. Quiñones leads the Brain Tumor Stem Cell Laboratory.
Dr. Olga B. Koper works in the Business and Open Innovation Group for Energy and Environment at Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, OH, the largest nonprofit research organization in the world. Previously, she was Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at NanoScale Corporation.
Anna Mongayt co-founded Upstart, a crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money in exchange for a portion of their future income. Upstart is enabling young people to alleviate financial burdens such as student loans or living expenses by monetizing their future potential.
John A. Herrera is Senior Vice President for Latino Hispanic Affairs at Self-Help Services Corporation, a community development financial institution (CDFI). He also co-founded the Latino Community Credit Union, the first fully bilingual financial institution in the state of North Carolina and a national model for providing banking services to immigrants and the underserved.
Dr. Amarpreet S. Sawhney is the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ocular Therapeutix, Inc., a company focused on unmet needs in ophthalmic surgical wound management and drug delivery. Previously, he was founder and CEO of Confluent Surgical; Chairman of MarketRx; technology founder of Focal, Inc. and Access Closure, Inc. He holds more than 120 patents, which form the basis for several first-of-a-kind medical devices that have helped millions of patients worldwide.