More than 100 of these have been immigrants and individuals born outside of the United States.” If immigrants to the United States were considered their own country, Najam wrote, their tally of Nobels would exceed that of every country but the United States. Her findings speak to the oft-charted success of American immigrants in STEM (science, technology, economics and math) fields. But it’s worth noting that if the foundation took into account children of immigrants as well as immigrants themselves, the percentage of its geniuses that reflects the benefits of immigration would be higher than 21.7. The immigrants who’ve won MacArthur grants include refugees, and I spoke with one, An-My Lê, 57, who fled Saigon as a teenager at the end of the Vietnam War. PhotoI asked her what she made of immigrants’ prevalence among MacArthur geniuses.

Source: New York Times September 23, 2017 19:18 UTC