#ImmigrantStoryOfTheWeek
Vilcek Foundation on Instagram #ImmigrantStoryoftheWeek
highlighting writer Yaa Gyasi, 2020 Vilcek Prizewinner for Creative Promise in Literature www.instagram.com/reel/DQpgyLr...
November 5, 2025 at 7:54 PM
#ImmigrantStoryoftheWeek 🎶
Meet composer & conductor Juan Pablo Contreras — our 2023 Vilcek Prizewinner for Creative Promise in Music! ✨
Born in Guadalajara, he explores unexpected orchestral arrangements. 🎻💃🏽
🎵 “I wanted to answer that question — what does it mean to be Mexican — with music.”
October 7, 2025 at 12:55 PM
#ImmigrantStoryoftheWeek ✨Meet Maryam Turkey, Iraqi-American artist & 2024 Vilcek Prizewinner in Design 🎨
Born in Iraq, Turkey moved to the U.S. in 2009 & now teaches at @pratt.edu. See her sculptural art @iparkct in Memory Reconsidered—A Modest Proposition 🌱
September 19, 2025 at 3:30 PM
#ImmigrantStoryOfTheWeek 🧪🧠 Meet @Sergiu_P_Pasca, our 2018 Prizewinner! Born in Romania, & now a professor at @Stanford, his research provides new insights into the brain & conditions like Timothy syndrome, through stem cell-based models. Read more: vilcek.co/4mYXecg
August 26, 2025 at 1:32 PM
#ImmigrantStoryOfTheWeek 🌱☀️
Meet Martin Jonikas (@mjonikas.bsky.social‬)—aka the pyrenoid pioneer! 🧪💡
Born in Paris 🇫🇷, now Princeton, Jonikas is using single-celled algae to reveal secrets of photosynthesis 💚—work that could help grow food sustainably and fight climate change 🌍✨
🔗 bit.ly/3JucvTL
August 12, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Our #ImmigrantStoryOfTheWeek — Meet Wael Morcos!
Born in Lebanon Morcos is dedicated to developing modern and accessible Arabic typography As cofounder of Morcos Key, he has developed successful global campaigns for major corporations including @bloomberglp.bsky.social, Nike, and IBM. bit.ly/4lcxoQw
August 5, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Our #immigrantstoryoftheweek: Haitian-born Swiss artist Tatiana Desardouin was recently named a 2025-2026 resident artist for the New Dance Alliance program Black Artists Space to Create.

Tatiana was the winner of our Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Dance in 2022: bit.ly/3ILm1BE
Tatiana Desardouin: “The goal is to be a culture bearer” - Vilcek Foundation
Tatiana Desardouin receives the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Dance for her leadership in hip-hop and house dance.
bit.ly
July 24, 2025 at 3:31 PM