Leigh Family
Foundation

The Foundation for Minority Females in STEM seeks to overcome the socioeconomic barriers that minority women encounter in STEM fields. This foundation grants scholarships to minority women in undergraduate and graduate-level education. Julia and Young Leigh embody the values and journey that make first-generation immigrants so vital in American communities and culture. Julia Leigh, one of the first South Korean women to become an ophthalmologist from Seoul National University serves as an inspiration and the impetus for raising awareness and addressing the tribulations that minority women encounter across the world. Young Leigh, a first-generation immigrant also from South Korea immigrated to the United States after serving in the South Korean military during the Korean Reconstruction period. Young Leigh has always placed an emphasis on education as even in his own life he worked numerous jobs to support himself through night school in the United States. Thus, the Leigh family aspires to help other immigrant families adapt and persevere in American communities and the educational system.