Antonia Coello Novello was sickly as a child but always knew she wanted to be a doctor. In 1990, she became the United States Surgeon General. The U.S. Surgeon General makes decisions that help keep the public healthy. She was the first woman and the first Hispanic to hold this position. Antonia focused much of her efforts on health issues facing children and minorities.

Sonia Sotomayor is from Puerto Rican descent. As a little girl, she always dreamed of becoming a judge. She was the first in her family to graduate college. In 2009, she became the first Hispanic judge on the Supreme Court, the highest court in the country.

Growing up in the Dominican Republic, Oscar de la Renta thought he would become a painter. He arrived in Spain in 1950 to study painting, he quickly became interested in fashion design. He began his training and eventually rose to the top of the fashion design world, moving from Paris to New York City. Oscar became a US Citizen in 1972.

Ellen Ochoa became the first female Hispanic astronaut in 1990 and in March of 1993, she made the first of four trips into space. She has spent 978 hours in space. After retiring from spacecraft operations, she became the director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center. “Being an astronaut is a wonderful career,” Ochoa says. “I feel very privileged. But what I really hope for young people is that they find a career they’re passionate about, something that’s challenging and worthwhile.”

Roberto Garza was born in Rio Hondo, Texas a few months after his parents immigrated from Mexico. He was encouraged to join the Marines after high school. A Marine recruiter once told Garza that he could never play professional football. Roberto was not discouraged and worked toward his goal. He joined the Chicago Bears in 2005 and appeared in 101 consecutive games. His achievements on the field and charitable work have resulted in a street being named for him in his hometown of Rio Hondo. In fact, in Rio Hondo, December 2nd is Roberto Garza Jr. Day!

Andy Garcia and his family moved from Cuba to Miami, Florida, when Garcia was five years old. He became interested in acting when he was in high school and then studied acting in college. Garcia has now appeared in more than forty films. He has also produced and directed films and appeared in many TV shows.

Rita Moreno came to New York City when she was five years old. She was born in Humacao, Puerto Rico. She is the only Hispanic American to have won a Grammy, an Oscar, a Tony, and an Emmy. These are the highest awards for singing and performing in a film, in a play or musical on Broadway in New York City, and on television. In 2004, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her lifetime contribution as an entertainer. It is the highest honor a United States citizen can receive.

Roberto Enrique Clemente Walker was a Puerto Rican professional baseball right fielder who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973, becoming both the first Latin American and Caribbean player to be enshrined.

Luis Walter Alvarez was an American experimental physicist, inventor, and professor who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1968 for development of the hydrogen bubble chamber enabling discovery of resonance states in particle physics. #HispanicHeritageMonth2020