Great Immigrants, Great Americans

Every Fourth of July since 2006, Carnegie has sponsored the Great Immigrants, Great Americans public awareness initiative, honoring more than 790 naturalized American citizens from 120 countries.

The initiative aims to increase public awareness of the economic and societal benefits of immigration. It is a tribute to the legacy of Andrew Carnegie, a Scottish immigrant who, like the Great Immigrant honorees, found success as an American and contributed enormously to his adopted country. During the past 20 years, the Carnegie database of Great Immigrants has grown into one of the largest online resources of its kind.

According to the American Immigration Council, there are 48 million immigrants in America, about half of whom are naturalized American citizens. Immigrants make up 14 percent of the U.S. population and account for 23.6 percent of entrepreneurs, 28.4 percent of health aides, and 23.6 percent of STEM workers. Fifty-nine percent of startups valued at $1 billion or more were founded or cofounded by immigrants, and 66 percent of billion-dollar companies in the U.S. were founded or cofounded by immigrants or the children of immigrants, according to a 2026 report by the National Foundation for American Policy.

In 2026, on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Carnegie also recognizes the eight foreign-born signers of the country’s founding document. In an essay commissioned by the foundation, the philosopher Professor Kwame Anthony Appiah, a past Great Immigrant honoree, reflects on the role of immigrants in establishing the nation and the unending project of defining and refining what it means to be American.