Future Hispanic History Month: Lin-Manuel Miranda's 'Hamilton' Home Run

We're celebrating this year's National Hispanic Heritage Month with Future Hispanic History Month, highlighting rising stars who are creating history before our very eyes. Today we honor Lin-Manuel Miranda, the mind and voice behind Hamilton and In the Heights, the Broadway musicals that have earned him a MacArthur Genius Grant, a Pulitzer Prize, two Grammys, an Emmy and three Tonys. (His shows together have been nominated for 29 Tonys and collected 15.)

Miranda, 36, was born in Manhattan's Washington Heights to Puerto Rican parents, a psychologist mother and political adviser father who spent time on New York City mayor Ed Koch's staff. Studying at Wesleyan University, he created In the Heights, which became an innovative, salsa- and hip-hop–infused Broadway smash in 2008. It ran for three years, with Miranda pioneering the lead role.