PLACE OF BIRTH: FEROZEPUR, PUNJAB, INDIA
TITLE: U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
IMPACT: PREET BHARARA CAME TO THE U.S. WITH HIS PARENTS IN 1970, WHEN HE WAS JUST 2. Before becoming U.S. attorney in 2009, he attended Harvard College and Columbia Law School, then served as chief counsel to U.S. senator Chuck Schumer and as assistant U.S. attorney. Currently, Bharara has led investigations into corruption on Wall Street and in New York State government and the New York penal system. But Bharara aspires to be not just a prosecutor, but also a leader, speaking at colleges and law schools around the country about the relationship between culture and ethics. His best speaking opportunity, he told this magazine in 2014, was presiding over a naturalization ceremony in Manhattan. “There were 75 new Americans from 31 different countries,” Bharara remembered. “And I said to those 75 people, ‘I bet you cannot identify any other country where this is happening right now, where 75 people from 31 different countries are becoming citizens. You know why? Because there is no such country.’”
TITLE: U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
IMPACT: PREET BHARARA CAME TO THE U.S. WITH HIS PARENTS IN 1970, WHEN HE WAS JUST 2. Before becoming U.S. attorney in 2009, he attended Harvard College and Columbia Law School, then served as chief counsel to U.S. senator Chuck Schumer and as assistant U.S. attorney. Currently, Bharara has led investigations into corruption on Wall Street and in New York State government and the New York penal system. But Bharara aspires to be not just a prosecutor, but also a leader, speaking at colleges and law schools around the country about the relationship between culture and ethics. His best speaking opportunity, he told this magazine in 2014, was presiding over a naturalization ceremony in Manhattan. “There were 75 new Americans from 31 different countries,” Bharara remembered. “And I said to those 75 people, ‘I bet you cannot identify any other country where this is happening right now, where 75 people from 31 different countries are becoming citizens. You know why? Because there is no such country.’”
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