The 2019 Foreign-Born Nobel Prize Winners in the United States

The 2019 Foreign-Born Nobel Prize Winners in the United States
Nobel Prize Laureates

The 2019 Nobel Prize will be presented on Tuesday, December 10, 2019 in Oslo and Stockholm. Since 1901, the Nobel Prize has been awarded to extraordinary individuals who accomplish work "for the greatest benefit to humankind" within their lifetimes.

This year, four out of eight Nobel Prize winners from the United States are foreign-born. The winners are Abhijit Banerjee, born in India, Esther Duflo, born in France, James Peebles, born in Canada, and Stanley Whittingham, born in the United Kingdom. Eleven of the 14 total Nobel Laureates in 2019 have been associated with a U.S. institution of higher learning at some point in their careers.  

Since 1901, 143 immigrants to the United States have won Nobel Prizes, accounting for 34 percent of all U.S. winners. The top three countries of origin are Germany, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Nearly one-third of their Nobel prizes have been in the field of Physics.

The IIR's latest publication explores immigrant Nobel Laureates in the United States, as well as the role that U.S. colleges and universities have played in their formation. The report also looks at the importance of international collaboration in the sciences, and why U.S. immigration policies must be examined in light of their impact on scientific discovery. 

To learn more, read the full publication here.