Outstanding Americans by Choice
The Outstanding Americans by Choice initiative recognizes the outstanding achievements of naturalized U.S. citizens. Through civic participation, professional achievement, and responsible citizenship, recipients of this honor have demonstrated their commitment to this country and to the common civic values that unite us as Americans.
USCIS will recognize naturalized citizens who have made significant contributions to both their community and their adopted country on a case-by-case basis.
For more information about the initiative, please see this fact sheet (PDF, 149.91 KB).
Note: The following biographies have been provided by the ABC recipients.
2008
Sergeant First Class (SFC) Robert Olton is a native of Barbados. He immigrated to the United States in October 1989 to be with his future wife. They married soon afterwards. In June 1992, SFC Olton enlisted in the United States Army as a cannon crewmember. After serving in Louisiana, Texas, and Germany, SFC Olton re-enlisted in the late 1990s to be stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In 1999, he became a United States citizen.
Donald Zacherl was born in Canada and became a citizen of the United States in 1970. He is the president and chief executive officer of T3 Technologies, a business process and custom software development firm in Virginia. A retired Army Lieutenant Colonel, Mr. Zacherl attended the Military Academy at West Point.
Charles Simic is the author of 18 books of poetry. He is also an essayist, translator, editor and professor emeritus at the University of New Hampshire, where he has taught for 34 years. Mr. Smic won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1990 for his book of prose poems The World Doesn't End.
Dr. Elsa A. Murano is the 23rd President of Texas A&M University. She is the first woman and first Hispanic-American to lead the oldest public institution of higher learning in Texas. Dr. Murano worked her way up the academic ranks and into administration from an unconventional beginning.
Rosario Marin was born in Mexico and has been a naturalized citizen since 1984. Currently, she serves in Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s cabinet as Secretary of the State and Consumer Services Agency where she oversees the state’s civil rights enforcement, consumer protection, and the licensing of 2.4 million Californians in more than 255 different professions.
When Elie Wiesel was 15 years old he and his family were deported by the Nazis to Auschwitz from Romania. His mother and younger sister perished, his two older sisters survived. His father died shortly before the camp was liberated in April 1945. After the war, Professor Wiesel studied in Paris and later became a journalist. During an interview with Francois Mauriac, he was persuaded to write about his experiences. The result was La Nuit or Night, his internationally acclaimed memoir, which has since been translated into more than thirty languages.
Elaine L. Chao is the nation's 24th Secretary of Labor and the first Asian Pacific American woman appointed to a President’s cabinet in U.S. history. She arrived in the U.S. at the age of eight from Asia speaking no English. Secretary Chao's experience transitioning to a new country inspired her to dedicate most of her professional life to ensuring that people have the chance to build better lives and the opportunity to achieve financial independence.
Born in Shanghai, China, Dr. James S.C. Chao has dedicated his life to shipping, trading, and financing. He began his career in shipping as a cadet on ocean-going vessels after completing his college coursework in China. By the mid-1950’s he had advanced through the ranks to become one of the youngest ocean-going marine masters. In 1958, he shattered all previous records in the Republic of China by achieving the highest score ever on the national Master Mariner Examination.
Andy Garcia was born in Havana, Cuba, where his mother, Amelie, was an English teacher, and his father, René was a farmer and attorney. His family fled to Miami, Florida, when he was five years old. In high school, Mr. Garcia became interested in acting and continued pursuing it while at Florida International University. He moved to California a short time later, where he began his journey of becoming one of Hollywood’s leading actors.
Congressman Albio Sires serves the 13th Congressional District of New Jersey in the United States House of Representatives. Previously, he served two terms as New Jersey Speaker of the General Assembly from 2002 to 2006. Before being elected to Congress, Sires was serving his fourth term as an Assemblyman for the 33rd District in New Jersey and had been the Mayor of the Town of West New York in Hudson County since 1995.