April 29, 2012 | Read Time: 1 minute
The award: The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans
What the award is worth: Up to $90,000 in tuition assistance and stipends for two years of graduate study in the United States
The winners: Thirty immigrants and children of immigrants who now live in the United States, including Karina Gonzalez-Herrera, whose family fled Guatemala after a death threat. Ms. Gonzalez-Herrera attended California State University at San Marcos as an undocumented student and is now pursuing a doctorate in biological and biomedical sciences at Harvard University.
About the donors: Paul Soros is the founder of Soros Associates, a port-construction company in Chicago, and is the brother of the financier George Soros. He and his wife, originally from Hungary, have given $75-million to establish the program, now in its 15th year.
What the fellowships have accomplished: Stanley J. Heginbotham, director of the fellowships, says Mr. Soros created the program based on his own experience applying to top graduate programs in engineering and not being able to afford them. The couple established the program to enable young people to avoid heavy student debt. The fellows are now achieving many professional successes, including Julissa Reynoso, who was confirmed in March as the United States Ambassador to Uruguay.
