Iranian-Americans - Notable Individuals

Notable Individuals

Business/technology: Iranian-Americans are among the most educated and successful communities in the U.S., according to a report by Iranian Studies group at MIT, Iranian-Americans have founded and/or participated in senior leadership positions of many major US companies, including many Fortune 500 companies such as GE, Intel, Verizon, Motorola, Google, and AT&T. Pierre Omidyar, founder/CEO of eBay is of Iranian origin, as well as the founder of Bratz Isaac Larian. Filmmaker and entrepreneur Shaahin Cheyene is of Iranian origin. In 2006, Anousheh Ansari, co-founder of the Ansari X Prize, became the first female tourist in space. Ansari is also the co-founder and former CEO of Prodea Systems Inc. and Telecom Technologies, Inc. Other well-known Iranian-American entrepreneurs include designer Bijan Pakzad, entrepreneur Sam Nazarian, entrepreneur Shabnam Rezaei, Omid Kordestani of Google (named as a titan in the Time 100), CEO of YouTube Salar Kamangar and Sina Tamaddon of Apple Inc.

Philanthropy: Many Iranian Americans are active philanthropists and leaders in improving their community. In 2006, the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center was the recipient of a 10 million dollar donation from an Iranian American couple based in Houston, Texas. The University of Southern California was also the recipient of a 17 million dollar gift from an Iranian-American, as was San Francisco State University which also received a 10 million dollar gift from an Iranian-American couple., and Chicago's Swedish Covenant Hospital ($4 million), Portland State University ($8 million), and UC Irvine ($30 million), among others.

Science/academia: Well-known Iranian Americans in science include Shahriar Afshar originator of the Afshar experiment, Firouz Naderi director at NASA, Ali Javan inventor of the first gas laser, Lotfi Asker Zadeh, Cumrun Vafa, and Rashid Massumi, M.D., a pioneer in the fields of electrophysiology and cardiology, among many others. It is also notable that according to space magazine, %43 of NASA scientists are Iranian.

Media/entertainment: Well-known media personalities of America, of Iranian descent, include Christiane Amanpour, Asieh Namdar, Roya Hakakian, Yara Shahidi and Rudi Bakhtiar. There are several Iranian American actors, comedians and film crew, including the Academy-Award nominee and Emmy Award winner Shohreh Aghdashloo, actresses Catherine Bell, Sarah Shahi, and Bahar Soomekh, comedian Maz Jobrani, filmmaker Kamshad Kooshan, actor Adrian Pasdar, producer Bob Yari, Farhad Safinia, author and performer Shahram Shiva, and Daryush Shokof.

Sports: Professional tennis player Andre Agassi, TNA wrestler Shawn Daivari, professional Mixed Martial Artist Amir Sadollah, and professional soccer players Sobhan Tadjalli, Alecko Eskandarian and Steven Beitashour.

Politics: The son of the late Shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, lives in the United States, as well as several high-ranking officials in the Shah's administration such as Hushang Ansary and Jamshid Amouzegar. Goli Ameri is the Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, as well as the former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs from 2008 to 2009, during which she was the highest-ranking Iranian-American public official in the United States. Beverly Hills elected its first Iranian-born Mayor, Jamshid Delshad, in 2007. In November 2011, Anna M. Kaplan was elected Councilwoman in the Town of North Hempstead, New York, becoming the first Iranian-American to be elected to a major municipal office in New York State. Cyrus Amir-Mokri is the highest ranking Iranian-American official in government as of 2012, who was appointed as the Treasury Department Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions by President Obama. Also, in November 2012, Cyrus Habib, from the 48th district in Washington State, became the first Iranian American elected as a state legislator.