Nine Harvard affiliates named Soros Fellows

This year’s Harvard-affiliated Soros Fellows are as follows

Nine Harvard-affiliated students are among the 31 recipients recently named Paul and Daisy Soros New American Fellows. Soros Fellows receive half-tuition for as many as two years of graduate study at any institution of higher learning in the United States, as well as a maintenance grant of $20,000 per year.

Now in its 10th year of operation, the fellowship helps prepare new Americans, including naturalized citizens, resident aliens, or the children of naturalized citizens, for opportunities for leadership in various fields in the United States. This year’s group of fellows was chosen from more than 800 applicants from 257 undergraduate and 150 graduate institutions.

“If you need evidence that immigrants contribute positively to the quality of American life, you need only look at the achievements of our Soros Fellows,” noted Warren F. Ilchman, director of the fellowship program.

Wei Lien Dang was born in Los Angeles and earned his undergraduate degree at the California Institute of Technology. A Marshall Scholar at Cambridge University and Imperial College London, Dang will pursue a Ph.D. in physical biology and engineering at Harvard.

Mary Farag was born in New York City and is a senior at Harvard. She will pursue a master’s degree in religion. Farag’s family resides in Hackensack, N.J.

Dov Fox was born in Rehovot, Israel, and attended Harvard as an undergraduate. A Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, Fox will study law at Yale University. His family resides in West Hartford, Conn.

Michelle Kuo was born in Kalamazoo, Mich., and earned her undergraduate degree at Harvard. She is studying at Harvard Law School. Her family resides in Fishers, Ind.

Scott Lee was born in Seoul, Korea, and earned his undergraduate degree from Harvard. A Gates Scholar at Cambridge University, Lee is studying at Harvard Medical School. His family resides in Korea.

Jie Li was born in Shanghai, China, and attended Harvard as an undergraduate. She is pursuing a Ph.D. in East Asian languages and civilizations and visual and film studies at Harvard. Her family resides in Shanghai.

Mariangela Lisanti was born in New York City and is a 2005 graduate of Harvard. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in physics at Stanford University. Her family lives in Westport, Conn.

Sue Meng was born in Beijing and completed her B.A. in history and literature at Harvard in 2003. A Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, she is studying at Yale Law School. Her family resides in New York City.

Gaurav Singal was born in Pittsburgh and attended Columbia University as an undergraduate student. He is studying health sciences and technology at Harvard Medical School and MIT.

Established in 1997, the Soros Fellowships are funded by income from a charitable trust of $65 million created by philanthropists Paul and Daisy Soros of New York City and New Canaan, Conn. Since the program’s inception, more than $23 million have been spent in support of graduate education of New American Fellows.