This year鈥檚 class of includes Citi CEO Jane Fraser, Pulitzer Prize-winning authors Hernan Diaz and Cristina Rivera Garza, and fashion designer Gabriela Hearst. The newly renamed Andrew Carnegie Foundation announced the honorees Tuesday as immigration advocates expressed concern about the future of U.S. immigration policy following last week鈥檚 .
Foundation President Dame Louise Richardson said , launched in 2006, have never been meant to be political. Earlier this month, the foundation changed its name from the Carnegie Corporation of New York to emphasize its nonprofit status and connection to famed industrialist Andrew Carnegie, a Scottish immigrant.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not articulating it in response to this moment,鈥� Richardson told The Associated Press. 鈥淏ut it seems especially important at this moment that we celebrate immigrants and their contributions and also that we present a view of immigrants different from the ones so often portrayed in the media.鈥�
The immigration debate continues at the highest levels of power, as President Donald Trump鈥檚 administration to increase immigration enforcement and reduce the numbers of legal immigrants and asylum seekers in the country. On the other side, Pope Leo XIV said, 鈥淗uman dignity has no passport and does not lose its value when crossing a border,鈥� as he in Spain earlier this month.
Richardson 鈥� a naturalized American citizen, born in Ireland 鈥� said the entire issue has 鈥渂ecome so fraught, especially with the movement against legal immigration and, in particular, the visas for highly skilled people.鈥�
鈥淭hat just strikes me as an act of self-harm on a national level,鈥� she added, 鈥渂ecause so many of these people are the engines of the economy.鈥�
CEO Iman Abuzeid wants to inspire other immigrants
Honoree Dr. Iman Abuzeid, co-founder and CEO of the artificial intelligence-driven healthcare career platform Incredible Health, sees the award as recognition not just for her accomplishments, but for everyone who helped her along the way.
鈥淎nd if my story makes it feel like it鈥檚 more possible for someone else, then that鈥檚 probably the part that I care about the most,鈥� added the native of Sudan, who now lives in San Francisco.
Abuzeid said she specifically chose to emigrate to the United States after living in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and completing medical school in England.
鈥淚t is the best country for what I鈥檓 trying to do,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 think if you鈥檙e ambitious and you鈥檙e willing to work hard and you鈥檝e got some skills, it is probably the best country in the world for you.鈥�
Being an immigrant, Abuzeid said, has given her the drive to take on risk and bet on her own abilities. It has also influenced her to build Incredible Health in a way that balances the needs of employers looking to hire health care workers with the career needs of the workers, about 20% of whom are immigrants.
鈥淚 think being from Sudan does make me a little bit more attuned to topics like bias and diversity,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ecause we鈥檙e operating a marketplace at scale, we can see these patterns in our data where workers of certain last names were seeing bias against them. 鈥� So when we removed that, we were able to improve that part of the marketplace.鈥�
Conductor Cristian M膬celaru sees immigration as 鈥榦pportunity鈥�
Honoree Cristian M膬celaru, conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, said immigration offers both the immigrant and their new home country a chance to improve their lives.
鈥淭his is an opportunity we should hold dear,鈥� the native of Romania said. 鈥淚t really makes for a unique kind of country.鈥�
It also creates a unique artistic point of view, said M膬celaru, who moved to Michigan to study music at Interlochen Arts Academy when he was 16.
鈥淚鈥檝e met so many incredible people that were supportive of my arrival to the United States and embracing of who I was,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut, at the same time, there is that nostalgia for what you鈥檝e left behind that accompanies you on a daily basis. 鈥� The immigrant experience never leaves you.鈥�
M膬celaru, who conducted the Orchestre National de France during the viewed by more than a billion people in 2024, said culture becomes stronger when it appreciates the strengths of others.
鈥淚 think all of us actually love the cultures of different places,鈥� said M膬celaru, who makes a point of diversifying the music presented by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter where we are on the planet, you end up loving music that is from a different place. You end up loving food that is from a different country.鈥�
Harvard’s Gregory Nagy 鈥榓westruck鈥� by influx of new cultures
Honoree Gregory Nagy, Harvard University鈥檚 Francis Jones Professor of Classical Greek Literature and a professor of Comparative Literature, takes it a step further.
鈥淭o have an influx of new cultures and new ways of looking at things 鈥� that variety is the human fabric,鈥� said the native of Hungary who emigrated with his family as a boy following World War II. They first went to Canada, and then to the United States when his father was invited to become a professor of classical piano at Indiana University. 鈥淚鈥檓 just awestruck by how important the melting pot is.鈥�
Nagy, who prides himself on being 鈥渁 friendly Midwesterner鈥� after spending his formative years in Bloomington, Indiana, uses the Danish philosopher S酶ren Kierkegaard鈥檚 thoughts on repetition 鈥� how a person changes an idea even if they only repeat it 鈥� to back up that belief.
But he also supports it with his ongoing teaching. Nagy鈥檚 class on 鈥淭he Ancient Greek Hero,鈥� which he has taught for more than 50 years and is currently the longest-running class at Harvard, continues to change with the times, while remaining true to its subject matter.
He has studied how 鈥淭he Oath of the Ephebes,鈥� from more than 2,400 years ago, connects the importance of environmentalism to being a good citizen. He says the ancient Greek idea of heroism is closer to modern comic book heroes than to the idealized, perfect versions many Americans hold dear.
That evolution is driven by young people, as reflected in the as prime minister of Nagy鈥檚 beloved Hungary in April, the , and the new perspectives brought by immigration, Nagy said.
鈥淚 was very fortunate to become an immigrant,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd I was lucky enough to achieve puberty in Indiana, so that Americanizes you very well.鈥�
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