Indian Americans dominate the 2026 class of 30 winners of the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans selected from a record-breaking pool of 3,070 applicants. Eleven Indian Americans represent more than a third of the cohort. Each will receive up to $90,000 to support their graduate studies.
The selections reflect a broad spectrum of academic excellence and a deep connection to Indian heritage. The fellows include children of immigrants from regions such as Chennai and Gujarat, as well as those who have spent formative years in India.
In the medical and biological sciences, the cohort is particularly strong. Akshaya Vijaya Annapragada, the daughter of Indian immigrants who moved to the U.S. in the 1980s, is pursuing an MD/PhD at Johns Hopkins, focusing on machine learning for cancer detection.
Ananthan Sadagopan, who was raised in a household immersed in Tamil culture and the Vedas, is working toward a PhD at Harvard in biological and biomedical sciences.
Arya Rao, the daughter of Konkani physicians, is enrolled in the joint Harvard-MIT MD/PhD program, using AI to study therapeutic design.
Read: Four Indian Americans among 2026 class of Guggenheim Fellows
Other STEM leaders include Avinash (Avi) Vadali, who grew up attending the Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago and is now pursuing a PhD in physics at MIT.
Ria Das and Ronak Desai are also affiliated with MIT, Das is researching conceptual change in computer science, while Desai is using AI to design new antibiotics as part of the Harvard-MIT MD/PhD program.
Yasa Baig, an immigrant from India, is completing a PhD in bioengineering at Stanford. Vivasvan Vykunta rounds out the scientific group, pursuing an MD/PhD at UCSF.
The fellowship also highlights scholars in law and policy. Akhil Rajan, a JD/PhD candidate at Yale, previously served in the Biden-Harris White House and spent part of his childhood in India.
Ilina Logani, a Rhodes Scholar and JD candidate at Stanford, was raised by parents from New Delhi and focuses on addressing spatial inequities through law and economics.
Serene Singh, a Rhodes and Truman Scholar, is also pursuing a JD with a focus on human rights and representation.
Founded in 1997 by Hungarian immigrants Paul and Daisy Soros, the program has provided over $80 million to support the “New American” experience.
For these 11 Indian origin scholars, the fellowship acknowledges both their families’ legacies in India and their potential to shape the future of American innovation and justice.