Honoree Sheena Easton Sheena Easton Singer-songwriter Pop singer Sheena Easton began her singing career when she worked for a band in the evenings while studying to be a speech and drama teacher at the Royal Scott...
Honoree Osvaldo Golijov Osvaldo Golijov Composer Composer Osvaldo Golijov left his homeland of Argentina in 1983 to escape its then ruling repressive right-wing military government. He moved first to Jerusalem, wher...
Honoree Mila Kunis Mila Kunis Actress Actress Mila Kunis immigrated to the United States at the age of seven as the Soviet Union fell. In order to accelerate her learning of English, her father enrolled her in ...
Honoree George Walter Landau George Walter Landau Diplomat George Walter Landau is a diplomat with a distinguished history of serving the United States. Born in Vienna, Austria in 1920, he attended New York University an...
Honoree Mee Moua Mee Moua Politician Mee Moua became the first Hmong-American to be elected to a state legislature when in 2002 she won a seat in the Minnesota Senate. As Minnesota has the largest Hmong popul...
Honoree Nouriel Roubini Nouriel Roubini Economist Nouriel Roubini gained the nickname Dr. Doom when he predicted the worldwide economic collapse of 2008 with great accuracy two years in advance. Born in Istanbul, Ro...
Honoree Shibley Telhami Shibley Telhami Professor Born to an Arab family in Israel, Shibley Telhami is one of the leading experts on U.S. policy in the Middle East. Earning his doctorate in political science from th...
Honoree Bert Blyleven Bert Blyleven Professional baseball player Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher, Bert Blyleven, born in 1951 in Zeist, Netherlands, was raised in California and drafted by the Minnesota Twins after ...
Honoree Fred Kavli Fred Kavli Physicist, businessperson Physicist Fred Kavli led a hugely successful career with his company Kavlico Corporation, developing sophisticated sensors that were useful for a wide var...
Honoree Victor Ukpolo Victor Ukpolo Chancellor Southern University at New Orleans As chancellor of Southern University at New Orleans since 2006, Victor Ukpolo has guided the university through a rebuilding process...
Honoree Richard Wolffe Richard Wolffe Born to a British father and Moroccan mother, Richard Wolffe is the executive editor of MSNBC.com, as well as a political analyst and author. For Newsweek, he traveled with Ba...
Honoree Ramani Ayer Ramani Ayer Ramani Ayer served as President, Chairman, and CEO of Hartford Financial Services, one of the largest and oldest investment and insurance companies in the United States. Ayer imm...
Honoree Denny Chin Denny Chin Judge President Obama appointed Denny Chin to be a judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 2009. Prior to that Chin was appointed by President Clinto...
Honoree Michael J. Fox Michael J. Fox Actor The actor Michael J. Fox became a household name in the 1980s by playing likeable characters in lighthearted programs: a conservative teenager on the television show Fami...
Honoree Mari Kimura Mari Kimura Violinist, composer As a violinist and composer, Mari Kimura is active in both modern classical and improvisational music. Her most distinctive innovation, which she calls “subhar...
Honoree Dinaw Mengestu Dinaw Mengestu Journalist, author None Dinaw Mengestu is a journalist and award-winning author of three novels. His 2007 debut, The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears, won rave reviews for its...
Honoree Kojo Nnamdi Kojo Nnamdi Journalist Radio journalist Kojo Nnamdi, host of WAMU’s The Kojo Nnamdi Show in Washington, D.C., interviews guests who offer fresh and provocative perspectives on art, culture, p...
Honoree Raj Patel Raj Patel Journalist In his acclaimed 2008 book, Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System, sociologist and activist Raj Patel traces the ironically concurrent problems...
Honoree Huda Zoghbi Huda Zoghbi Geneticist After seeing her first Rett Syndrome patient while working as a resident neurological pediatrician at the Baylor College of Medicine, Huda Zoghbi put aside her clinical...
Honoree Djimon Hounsou Djimon Hounsou Actor After spending a year homeless in Paris, actor Djimon Hounsou was noticed by a stranger and fell into the world of fashion as a model. Starting in 1990, he played a few r...
Honoree Joan Massagué Joan Massagué Researcher Joan Massague directs the Sloan-Kettering Institute. Over his three-decade career as a researcher, he has done pioneering work on cancer genetics, and cell division, ...
Honoree Paul Merage Paul Merage Businessperson After serving as CEO and co-founder of Chef America, which became one of the largest and most profitable food companies in the U.S., Paul Merage launched The Merage...
Honoree Nitin Nohria Nitin Nohria Dean Harvard Business School Nitin Nohria is the tenth dean of the Harvard Business School. As a scholar his interests lie in human motivation, leadership, corporate transformatio...
Honoree Yoko Ono Yoko Ono Artist, musician As a member of the avant-garde artist collective Fluxus, Yoko Ono gained notice in New York’s underground art scene in the 1960s for her conceptual art that synthesi...
Honoree Fayez Sarofim Fayez Sarofim Businessperson Known as "The Sphinx," Fayez Sarofim is an investor who made his fortune investing in companies such as Philip Morris, Coca-Cola, and Procter and Gamble. He is an...