Alan Gross, recently freed from Cuba, to sit with Michelle Obama at State of the Union

Alan Gross, a subcontractor recently freed by the Cuban government after five years of imprisonment, will be one of first lady Michelle Obama’s guests at Tuesday’s State of the Union address along with Mr. Gross’ wife Judy.

Mr. Gross’s release, part of a spy swap, came on the same day President Obama announced a large-scale normalization in relations between the United States and the communist island country.

Others who will be seated in the box include astronaut Scott Kelly, Ana Zamora, a student in the country as part of the administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and Capt. Phillip C. Tingirides of the Los Angeles Police Department, who has spearheaded a program intended to foster cooperation between the LAPD and the Watts housing developments.

Prophet Walker, an ex-convict and co-founder of Watts United Weekend who has collaborated with Capt. Tingirides, is also a guest, as is Larry Merlo, president and CEO of CVS Health, who announced last year that the retail pharmacy was eliminating tobacco sales in its stores.

Others in the box include students, a doctor who was in Liberia fighting the Ebola crisis, and several people who have written letters to the president, including Retired Army Staff Sgt. Jason Gibson, who lost both legs in Afghanistan, a 13-year-old from the South Side of Chicago and a working mother from Minneapolis.