National merit-based fellowship for New Americans supports graduate study in a wide range of disciplines.

Four Harvard College alumni have been named 2026 fellows of the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans, a highly competitive program that supports immigrants and children of immigrants pursuing graduate education in the United States.

Selected annually from thousands of applicants, just 30 fellows nationwide receive the award, which provides up to $90,000 in funding over two years for graduate study.

The Harvard College–affiliated recipients are:

• Akshaya Annapragada ’20, who concentrated in applied mathematics and is pursuing an MD/PhD in biomedical engineering and medicine at Johns Hopkins University.
• Denisse Córdova Carrizales ’23, a physics concentrator now pursuing a PhD in nuclear science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
• Juna Gjata ’17, who studied psychology (cognitive neuroscience and evolutionary psychology) and is pursuing an MBA in arts, media, and entertainment at Stanford University.
• Oswaldo Vazquez ’23, a mathematics concentrator now pursuing a PhD in physics at Northeastern University.

Since its founding in the 1990s, the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship program has supported hundreds of immigrants and children of immigrants whose work spans science, medicine, the arts, and public service, reflecting the breadth of contributions shaping American society.