The beauty and strength of America lie in its diversity. This week we will honor Hispanic Americans who have made significant contributions to the country and the world. So keep reading to honor, celebrate and learn about some of the famous Hispanic Americans of the past and present.
Jordan Chiles
Jordan Chiles is a gymnastics superstar and a famous Hispanic American athlete with proud Puerto Rican roots from her dad’s side. Born on April 15, 2001, in Tualatin, Ore., Jordan flipped her way into the spotlight as part of the U.S. women’s gymnastics team, snagging a silver medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics before joining the gold medal-winning team at the 2024 Summer Olympics. Known for her electric routines and unstoppable energy, Chiles is not just a medal-winning gymnast—she’s a fierce advocate for mental health and a role model for Hispanic Americans in sports
Jean-Michel Basquiat
You’re sure to have seen Jean-Michel Basquiat’s work in popular museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the MoMA and the Whitney. He was a legendary artist and famous Hispanic American with Puerto Rican and Haitian roots. Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Basquiat exploded onto the art scene in the late 1970s and early 1980s, where he started as a graffiti artist under the tag “SAMO.” He became known for his bold and expressive paintings that focused on themes of race, identity and class. He even collaborated with other icons, including Andy Warhol.
Gwen Ifill
Panamanian- and Barbadian-American journalist and author Gwen Ifill was a political correspondent and the co-anchor of PBS Newshour.. Early in her career, Ifill was a reporter for the Baltimore Evening Sun and the Boston Herald American, then went on to become chief political correspondent for NBC News. This famous Hispanic American moderated the vice presidential debates in 2004 and 2008 and wrote a best-selling book on race relations in America, The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama. Over the course of her life, Ifill received more than 20 honorary doctorates and the highest honor from the National Press Club, the Fourth State Award.
Ellen Ochoa
Born in Los Angeles and raised in La Mesa, California, Ellen Ochoa, PhD, became the first Hispanic woman in space. After earning her doctorate in engineering from Stanford University, Ochoa joined NASA in 1988 as a research engineer and was selected to be an astronaut in 1990. Her first mission in space was aboard the shuttle Discovery in 1993. She went on to serve three more missions, spending almost 1,000 hours in orbit. Ochoa was the 11th director of the Johnson Space Center and the center’s first Hispanic director.
José Andrés
Critically acclaimed chef José Andrés came to the United States from Spain in 1991 and began a long career of award-winning culinary innovation. After the tragic 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Andrés formed the World Central Kitchen (WCK), an organization that provides hot meals to those affected by natural disasters. After Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico in 2017, he gathered 19,000 volunteers to serve 3.5 million meals to distraught residents who had limited access to electricity, clean water and food. In 2019, Andrés fed furloughed workers during a month-long government shutdown. “We have shown that there is no place too far or disaster too great for our chefs to be there with a hot plate of food when it’s needed most,” Andrés wrote on the WCK website. Andrés has won the James Beard Award for both Outstanding Chef and Humanitarian of the Year and was nominated for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize.
Richard Cavazos
Texan and Mexican-American Richard E. Cavazos was the first Hispanic person to become a four-star general in the United States Army. He graduated from Texas Tech University and went on to serve in the Korean War as the commander of the 65th Infantry Regiment. He then served in Vietnam as commander of the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Division. He became the first Hispanic four-star general of the United States Army in 1982, and received a number of military honors, including the distinguished service cross, the silver star, the bronze star and the purple heart. Cavazos died in San Antonio in 2017.
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen was born in Cuba in 1952 and immigrated to the United States at the age of eight. Her family settled in Miami. She was elected to the Florida House of Representatives and then to the Florida Senate, becoming the first Hispanic woman to serve in both. In 1989, she ran for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives against Democrat Gerald F. Richman, who used the campaign slogan, “This is an American seat.” Many viewed this as anti-Cuban and anti-Hispanic rhetoric, and in a backlash, Ros-Lehtinen won the election, making her the first Hispanic woman to ever serve in the United States Congress.
Rita Moreno
Born Rosita Dolores Alverio, Rita Moreno is the first Hispanic woman to win an Academy Award and is one of few people to hold the honor of being a “PEGOT” winner. (She has won Peabody, Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Awards over the course of her career, which has spanned more than 70 years.) Although her long career has taken her from stage to screen, this Bronx girl is most famous for her portrayal of Anita in the 1962 film West Side Story, for which she won her Academy Award.