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Sunita Williams se je rodila v Euclidu v Ohiu v družini indijsko-ameriškega nevroanatoma Deepaka Pandye in slovensko -ameriške Ursuline Bonnie (Zalokar) Pandya, ki prebivata v Falmouthu v Massachusettsu. Očetova družina Williamsove je iz Jhulasana v okrožju Mehsana v indijskem Gujaratu, medtem ko je njena prababica po mami Mary Bohinc (prvotno Marija Bohinjec), rojena v Sloveniji, kot enajstletnica emigrirala v Ameriko, 1891 slovenska emigrantka Ursula (Strajhar) Bohinac. Williamsova je leta 1983 diplomirala na srednji šoli Needham v Needhamu v Massachusettsu. Leta 1987 je na pomorski akademiji Združenih držav Amerike diplomirala iz fizike in magistrirala iz inženirskega menedžmenta na Tehnološkem inštitutu Florida leta 1995. Sunita L. Williams (Suni) je bila leta 1998 izbrala za astronavtko NASE in je veteranka dveh vesoljskih misij Expeditions 14/15 in 32/33. Trenutno se usposablja za prvo misijo po pridobitvi certifikata Boeingovega vesoljskega plovila Starliner-drugi let posadke za to vozilo-in svojo tretjo dolgotrajno misijo na mednarodni vesoljski postaji. Williamsova in njeni kolegi v posadki tesno sodelujejo z Boeingom pri razvoju njihovih novih sistemov vesoljskih plovil, ki bodo zagotavljali povratne storitve prevoza posadke do Mednarodne vesoljske postaje in skupaj s SpaceX-ovim CrewDragonom vrnili možnost izstrelitve ljudi v vesolje z tal Združenih držav.

Sunita Williams was born in Euclid, Ohio, to Indian American neuroanatomist Deepak Pandya and Slovene American Ursuline Bonnie (Zalokar) Pandya, who reside in Falmouth, Massachusetts. Williams’s paternal family is from Jhulasan in the Mehsana district in Gujarat, India, while her maternal great-grandmother Mary Bohinc (originally Marija Bohinjec), born in Slovenia, immigrated to America as an 11-year-old with her mother, 1891 Slovene emigrant Ursula (Strajhar) Bohinac. Williams graduated from Needham High School in Needham, Massachusetts, in 1983. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in physical science from the United States Naval Academy in 1987 and a Master of Science degree in engineering management from Florida Institute of Technology in 1995. Sunita L. Williams (Suni) was selected as an astronaut by NASA in 1998 and is a veteran of two space missions Expeditions 14/15 and 32/33. She is currently training for the first post-certification mission of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft – the second crewed flight for that vehicle – and her third long-duration mission aboard the International Space Station. Williams and her crewmates are working closely with Boeing to develop their new spacecraft systems, which will provide roundtrip crew transportation services to the International Space Station and, along with SpaceX’s CrewDragon, return the ability to launch humans into space from United States soil.

Prof. Mija Rode je vse svoje življenje posvetila promociji Slovenije, slovenskega jezika in kulture v ZDA. ASEF priznava njeno izjemno delo kot izjemno pomembno in tisto, ki je globoko povezano z poslanstvom ASEF-a pri gradnji mostov med Slovenijo in Slovenci po vsem svetu. Rode se je rodila in odraščala v Sloveniji, z družino se je pri 20. letih preselila v Chicago. Magistrirala je iz knjižničarstva na Univerzi Scranton v Pensilvaniji. Nato se je zaposlila v Univerzi v Stanfordu, kjer so jo hitro napredovali v vodjo oddelka in vodili uspešne projekte, kot so Early American Imprints in Goldsmiths-Kress Library of Economic Literature. Imenovana je bila tudi kot Stanfordova predstavnica v Kongresni knjižnici in kot višja knjižničarka na univerzi. Po upokojitvi je delala na nadgradnji učnega načrta slovenskega jezika in poučevala slovenščino v slovenski skupnosti v San Franciscu in severni Kaliforniji. Rode je imela pomembno vlogo tudi pri ustanovitvi slovenskega tečaja na Stanfordu lani v okviru Stanfordovega jezikovnega centra, ki je bil projekt ljubljanske filozofske fakultete. Program se je izkazal za priljubljenega in ga ne obiskujejo le Slovenci v tujini ali njihovi potomci, ampak tudi drugi mladi, ki jih Slovenija zanima.

Prof. Mija Rode has dedicated her whole life to promote Slovenia, Slovenian language and culture in the US. Her extraordinary work is recognized by ASEF as extremely important and the one which is deeply connected with ASEF’s mission of building bridges between Slovenia and Slovenes all around the world. Prof. Rode was born and raised in Slovenia, moving with her family to Chicago at the age of 20. She obtained her master’s degree in library studies at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania. She then got a job at the Stanford University Library, where she was quickly promoted to head the department, managing successful projects such as Early American Imprints and Goldsmiths’-Kress Library of Economic Literature. She was also appointed Stanford’s representative in the Library of Congress and Senior Librarian Emerita at the university. After her retirement, she worked on upgrading the Slovenian language syllabus and taught Slovenian in the Slovenian community in San Francisco and northern California. Prof. Rode also played an important role in founding the Slovenian course at Stanford last year as part of Stanford’s Language Center, which was a project of the Ljubljana Faculty of Arts. The program has proved popular and is already attended not only by Slovenians living abroad or their descendants but also by other young people interested in Slovenia.

Duncan M. Haldane je leta 2016 postal prvi Slovenec, ki je prejel Nobelovo nagrado za fiziko. Je profesor fizike Eugene Higgins na Univerzi Princeton, kjer se njegove raziskave osredotočajo na topološka stanja kvantne kondenzirane snovi, kot so topološki izolatorji. Haldane se je rodil v Londonu leta 1951 v medicinski družini, ki je zelo cenila znanost in izobraževanje. Njegova mama Ljudmila Renko je prišla iz slovenske vasi Borovlje, ki se danes nahaja na avstrijski strani Koroške (Koroška). Njegov oče je bil psihiater in je prihajal iz Škotske. Ljudmila je bila študentka medicine, ki je delala v bolnišnici, ko je spoznala očeta profesorja Haldana, takrat vojaškega zdravnika v britanskih okupacijskih silah na avstrijsko-slovenski meji. Haldanejevi starši so mu dali večkulturno dediščino s sorodniki tako na Škotskem kot v Sloveniji/Avstriji. Njegova družina je pogosto obiskovala Borovlje na poletnih počitnicah, zato je razmeroma tekoče govoril nemščino. Profesor Haldane pravi, da je njegovo znanje slovenščine žal zelo osnovno. Njegova mama je bila zelo ponosna na svojo dediščino. Čeprav je prof. Haldane odraščal v Londonu, brez sledu škotskega ali slovenskega naglasa, se je sam opredelil kot pol-škotski, pol-slovenski. Haldane je pridobil naziv B.A. leta 1973 in dr. leta 1978, oba z univerze v Cambridgeu. Od leta 1977 do 1981 je bil fizik na Inštitutu Laue-Langevin v Grenoblu v Franciji. Pridružil se je fakulteti na Univerzi v Južni Kaliforniji leta 1981. Kot član tehničnega osebja je bil v AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill od leta 1985 do 1988, od leta 1986 do 1992 pa je bil profesor na Univerzi v Kaliforniji-San Diego. Leta 1986 je bil izvoljen za sodelavca Ameriškega fizikalnega društva, od 1984 do 1988 pa je dobil štipendijo Sloan Foundation. Znan je po številnih temeljnih prispevkih k fiziki kondenzirane snovi, vključno s teorijo Luttingerjevih tekočin, teorijo enodimenzionalnih spinskih verig, teorijo frakcijskega kvantnega efekta dvorane, statistiko izključenosti, spektrom prepletenosti in še veliko več.

In 2016 Prof. Dr. Duncan M. Haldane became the first Slovenian to receive the Nobel Prize in Physics. He is the Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics at Princeton University, where his research focuses on topological states of quantum condensed matter, such as topological insulators. Prof. Haldane was born in London in 1951, in a medical family who greatly valued science and education. His mother, Ljudmila Renko, came from the Slovenian village Borovlje, located today in the Austrian side of Koroška (Carinthia). His father was a psychiatrist and came from Scotland. Ljudmila was a medical student working in a hospital when she met Prof. Haldane’s father, at the time an army doctor in the British Occupation Forces at the Austria-Slovenia border. Prof. Haldane’s parents’ backgrounds gave him a multicultural heritage, with relatives in both Scotland and in Slovenia/Austria. His family often visited Borovlje for summer holidays, so he became reasonably fluent in German. Prof. Haldane says his command of Slovenian sadly remained very basic. His mother was very proud of her heritage. Although Prof. Haldane grew up in London, without a trace of a Scottish or Slovenian accent, he self-identified as half-Scottish, half-Slovenian. Haldane earned his B.A. in 1973 and Ph.D. in 1978, both from the University of Cambridge. From 1977 to 1981 he was a physicist at Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble, France. He joined the faculty at the University of Southern California in 1981. He served as a member of the technical staff at AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill from 1985 to 1988, and was a professor at the University of California-San Diego from 1986 to 1992. He was elected a fellow of the American Physical Society in 1986 and awarded a Sloan Foundation fellowship from 1984 to 1988. He is known for a wide variety of fundamental contributions to condensed matter physics including the theory of Luttinger liquids, the theory of one-dimensional spin chains, the theory of fractional quantum hall effect, exclusion statistics, entanglement spectra and much more.

Življenjsko delo dr. Edija Gobca je bilo preučevanje, dokumentiranje in ohranjanje vpliva slovenske kulture po vsem svetu. Gobec je izdal knjigo z naslovom “Slovensko-ameriški izumitelji in inovatorji”, v kateri so zapisani izjemni dosežki Američanov slovenskega rodu. Ta knjiga je polna biografskih podatkov o ljudeh, odgovornih za razvoj nekaterih najbolj zanimivih inovacij v zadnjih 50 letih. Gobec je tudi ustanovni direktor Slovenskega raziskovalnega centra v Clevelandu. Leta 2020 je predsednik Republike Slovenije Borut Pahor odlikoval dr. Gobca z redom za zasluge za življenjsko delo in prispevek k priznanju Slovenije ter bogatenje znanja o dosežkih Slovencev v zamejstvu in po svetu.

Dr. Edi Gobec’s life work has been to study, document, and preserve the influence of Slovenian culture all over the world. Dr. Gobec published a book named “Slovenian American Inventors and Innovators” which catalogs the tremendous achievements of Americans of Slovenian lineage. This book is replete with biographical information on the people responsible for the development of some of the most interesting innovations of the last 50 years. Dr. Gobec is also the founding director of the Slovenian Research Center in Cleveland. In 2020 The President of the Republic of Slovenia Borut Pahor awarded the Order of Merit to Dr. Gobec, for his life’s work and contribution to the recognition of Slovenia and the enrichment of knowledge about the achievements of Slovenes abroad.

Ronald Sega je ameriški astronavt s slovenskimi koreninami (njegovi stari starši so bili rojeni v Loškem potoku). Trenutno je profesor sistemskega inženiringa in podpredsednik za energijo in okolje na raziskovalni fundaciji Colorado State University, vendar je znan po vseh izjemnih dosežkih med svojim delom kot astronavt v NASA od leta 1991. Od novembra 1994 do marca 1995 je Sega je bil direktor NASA za operacije, Star City, Rusija (Center za usposabljanje kozmonavtov Gagarin), odgovoren za upravljanje dejavnosti NASA v Star Cityju. Te dejavnosti so vključevale izgradnjo organizacije in infrastrukture za podporo misij astronavtov in kozmonavtov ter znanstvenega usposabljanja za letenje na ruski vesoljski postaji Mir. Sodeloval je tudi pri usposabljanju o ruskih vesoljskih sistemih in je bil prvi Američan, ki je treniral v ruski obleki EVA (Orlan) v njihovem podvodnem objektu (Hydrolaboratory). Sega, veteran dveh vesoljskih poletov (STS-60 leta 1994 in STS-76 leta 1996), je v vesolju preletel več kot 420 ur. (Vir: Veleposlaništvo ZDA)

Dr. Ronald Sega is an American astronaut with Slovenian roots (his grand-parents were born in Loški potok). He is currently a professor of systems engineering and Vice President for Energy and the Environment at the Colorado State University Research Foundation but is known by all the outstanding achievements during his work as the astronaut at NASA since 1991. From November 1994 to March 1995, Sega was the NASA Director of Operations, Star City, Russia (The Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center) responsible for managing NASA activities at Star City. These activities involved building an organization and infrastructure to support astronaut and cosmonaut mission and science training for flight on the Russian Space Station Mir. He also participated in training on Russian Space Systems and was the first American to train in the Russian EVA suit (Orlan) in their underwater facility (Hydrolaboratory). A veteran of two space flights (STS-60 in 1994 and STS-76 in 1996), Sega logged over 420 hours in space. (Source: US Embassy)

Zvonko Fazarinc se je med šolanjem v Celju zanimal za elektroniko. Pot ga je pripeljala v Ameriko, kamor se je preselil z vso družino. Njegovo doslej uspešno delo mu je omogočilo vpis na Univerzo Stanford v Kaliforniji. Leta 1965 je začel delati v laboratoriju Hewlett-Packard. Zaradi velikih razvojnih priložnosti in dobrega dohodka je bilo takrat majhnemu podjetju zvesto. Je pa začel predavati nekatera področja fizike in elektrotehnike na oddelku za elektrotehniko na Univerzi Stanford. V podjetju Hewlett – Packard je od leta 1972 vodil številne raziskovalne projekte z medicinskega, analitičnega, komunikacijskega in sistemskega področja. Sodeloval je pri številnih izumih, med drugim pri pomembnem razvoju miniračunalnika in GPS -a.

Dr. Zvonko Fazarinc became interested in electronics during his schooling in Celje. The path took him to America, where he moved with his entire family. His hitherto successful work enabled him to enroll at Stanford University in California. In 1965, he began to work at Hewlett-Packard Laboratory. Because of the great development opportunities and a good income remained loyal to the small firm at the time. However, he began lecturing certain fields of physics and electrical engineering in the electrical engineering department at Stanford University. At Hewlett – Packard Company, he has led a number of research projects since 1972 with medical, analytical, communication and systems fields. He participated in many inventions, including the important development of the minicomputer and GPS.

France Rode je študiral elektrotehniko na Univerzi v Ljubljani in po končanem študiju nabiral izkušnje v Nemčiji. Leta 1960 se je preselil v ZDA, kjer je San Francisco postal njegov dom. Leta 1962 je uspešno zaključil magisterij iz biomedicine na Univerzi Northwestern v Illinoisu in istega leta začel delati v Hewlett-Packardu v Kaliforniji, kjer se je začela njegova izjemna znanstvena pot. Več kot dvajset let je bil eden vodilnih inženirjev. Bill Hewlett in Dave Packard sta dr. Rode vključila v ekipo inženirjev, ki se osredotočata na razvoj računalniških naprav najmanjših dimenzij. Nekega dne je Hewlett pokazal na neroden namizni kalkulator, težak skoraj 20 kilogramov, in skupini razvojnih inženirjev, med drugim tudi dr. Rode, dejal, da si to želi ogledati v velikosti, ki bi se prilegala žepu njegove majice. Inženirji so začeli razvijati novo napravo tako, da so najprej izmerili velikost žefa svojega šefa. Nato je bil ustvarjen inovativni žepni kalkulator HP-35. Največ zaslug za izdelavo prvega integriranega vezja in zasnovo miniaturnega procesorja je pripisal dr. Rode. Rode je nenehno razvijal nove izzivalne izdelke. Po odhodu iz podjetja Hewlett-Packard je začel svoje podjetje in sodeloval pri razvoju brezstičnih radijskih frekvenčnih identifikacijskih čipov (RFID) in sprejemnikov satelitskih signalov (GPS), ki se danes uporabljajo v večini mobilnih telefonov in navigacijskih naprav za vozila. Eden njegovih genialnih izumov je bila tudi vstopnica za delo. Rode je sodeloval tudi pri razvoju prvega prenosnika. Delal je na sistemu elektronske ključavnice in ključa ter nekaterih drugih varnostnih napravah.

Dr. France Rode studied electrical engineering at the University of Ljubljana and after completing his studies gained experience in Germany. In 1960, he moved to the USA and made San Francisco his home. He successfully completed his Master’s Degree in Biomedicine at NorthwesternUniversity in Illinois in 1962 and, in the same year, started working at Hewlett-Packard in California, where his exceptional scientific path began. He was one of the leading engineers for more than twenty years. Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard included Dr. Rode in the team of engineers focusing on the development of computing devices of the smallest dimensions. One day, Hewlett pointed to a clumsy desk calculator weighing almost 20 kilograms and said to the group of development engineers, including Dr. Rode, that he wanted to see that in a size which would fit into his shirt pocket. The engineers began developing a new device by first measuring the size of their boss’s pocket. The innovative HP-35 pocket calculator was then created. The greatest credits for producing the first integrated circuit and the design of a miniature processor were ascribed to Dr. Rode. Dr. Rode constantly developed new challenging products. After leaving the Hewlett-Packard company, he started his own business and was involved in the development of contactless radio frequency identification chips (RFID) and satellite signal receivers (GPS), which are used today in the majority of mobile phones and navigational devices for vehicles. One of his ingenious inventions was also the workplace entry card. Dr. Rode also participated in the development of the first laptop. He worked on the electronic lock and key system and some other security devices.