List of Iranian Americans
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of famous Iranian-Americans.
| Lists of famous Americans |
| by U.S. state |
| by ethnicity: |
| African American |
| Albanian | Arab |
| Armenian | Australian |
| Austrian | Bahamian |
| Bangladeshi | Belgian |
| Brazilian | Bulgarian |
| Cajun |
| Cambodian | Chinese |
| Croatian | Cuban |
| Danish | Dutch |
| English | Estonian |
| Filipino | Finnish |
| French |
| German | Greek |
| Hapas | Hmong |
| Hungarian |
| Indian | Iranian |
| Irish | Italian |
| Jamaican | Japanese |
| Jewish | Korean |
| Laotian |
| Louisiana Creole |
| Mexican |
| Muslim |
| Native American |
| Native Hawaiian |
| Norwegian | Polish |
| Portuguese | Romanian |
| Russian | Salvadoran |
| Scots-Irish | Scottish |
| Swedish | Swiss |
| Taiwanese | Ukrainian |
| Vietnamese | Welsh |
Contents |
[edit] Academia/Science
- Nima Arkani-Hamed, physicist from Harvard
- Mina Bissell, scientist and biologist, LBL. [14]
- Hamid Dabashi, Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies, Columbia University in New York.
- Nader Engheta, Professor of Electrical and Systems Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania.
- Ali Javan, physicist, inventor of gas laser, Professor Emeritus of Physics at MIT.
- Mehran Kardar, physicist, MIT. [15]
- Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak, Founding Director of Center for Persian Studies, University of Maryland. [16]
- Abbas Milani, Director of Iranian Studies Program, Stanford University.
- Parviz Moin, Director and Senior Scientist, Stanford University. [17]
- Roxana Moslehi, DCEG post-doctoral fellow at National Cancer Institute [18], adjunct assistant professor at George Washington University.
- Hamid Mowlana, Director of the Division of International Communication at American University in Washington D.C., and former President of the International Association for Media and Communication Research. [19]
- Hamid Omidvar, Montgomery County Government Chief of Planning & Design, Architect, AIA
- Firouz Naderi, NASA director of Mars project.
- Majid M. Naini, computer scientist, former Professor at University of Pennsylvania, Rumi expert. [20]
- Seyyed Hossein Nasr, philosopher, George Washington University.
- Sepandar Kamvar, computer scientist, Stanford University.
- Camran Nezhat, Director, Stanford Endoscopy Center for Training & Technology.
- Cumrun Vafa, String theorist in Harvard
- Ehsan Yarshater, Hagop Kevorkian Professor Emeritus of Iranian Studies, Director of Center for Iranian Studies, Columbia University [21], Founder and Editor of grand project Encyclopaedia Iranica. [22]
[edit] Arts/Entertainment
- Omid Abtahi, actor
- Shohreh Aghdashloo (1952 - ) Academy Award-nominated film/television actress[1]
- Dan Ahdoot, stand-up comedian[2]
- Jonathan Ahdout, actor[3][4]
- Cameron Alborzian, model (Iranian father, English mother)
- Reza Badiyi, tv director
- Catherine Bell, actress[5]
- Nadia Bjorlin, TV/soap opera actress[6]
- Cyrus Kar, film director[7]
- Andre Khabbazi - actor, semi-professional tennis player[8]
- Darius Khondji, Academy Award nominated cinematographer[9]
- Hamid Moslehi, Michael Jackson's former main videographer/photographer [23].
- Cyrus Nowrasteh, screenwriter and director
- Bijan Pakzad, noted fashion and fragrance designer
- Adrian Pasdar, actor
- Sarah Shahi, model and actress[10]
- Bahar Soomekh, actress[11]
- Tami Stronach, dancer, choreographer, actress
[edit] Business/Technology
- Anousheh Ansari, first female space tourist, leading telecommunication entrepreneur, and namesake of the X Prize
- Hossein Eslambolchi, AT&T's Chief Technology Officer and the President of Bell Labs. [24]
- Vartan Gregorian, President of The Carnegie Corporation of New York.[25]
- Omid Kordestani, Senior Vice President of Google
- Manny Mashouf, Founder and Chairman of bebe stores
- Behzad Moslehi, Founder/CEO, Chairman of the Board of Directors, IFOS® (Intelligent Fiber Optic System) * * [26].
- Mehrdad Nikoonahad, Founder & CEO, Nikoo Technology, Inc.
- Pierre Omidyar, Founder of e-Bay. [27]
- Sina Tamaddon, Senior Vice President of Applications for Apple Computer. [28]
- Arash Dowlatshahi, Founder and Chairman of Pasargad Project Management Consulting Group
[edit] Literature
- Reza Aslan, writer
- Mahnaz Badihian, poet
- Firoozeh Dumas, writer of the national bestseller memoir, "Funny in Farsi: Growing Up Iranian in America"
- Roya Hakakian, writer
- Azar Nafisi, writer
- Majid M. Naini, writer, speaker
- Vali Nasr, writer, speaker
[edit] Media/Journalism
- Christiane Amanpour, CNN Chief international correspondent
- Davar Ardalan, NPR producer of Morning Edition
- Rudi Bakhtiar, FOX news anchor, former CNN lead anchor
- Arash Markazi, journalist, Sports Illustrated
- Azadeh Moaveni, journalist, Time Magazine
- Asieh Namdar, CNN news anchor
[edit] Music
- Lily Afshar, female classical guitarist
- Axiom of Choice, world music group
- Richard Danielpour, musician
- Deep Dish, dance music group
- Anousheh Khalili, vocalist
- Vanik Vartanian, rock musician
[edit] Politics
- Goli Ameri, Republican candidate of U.S. House from the 1st district of Oregon, United States delegate to United Nations Commission on Human Rights
- Hushang Ansary, former Iranian Minister of Finance and Chairman of National Finance Committee of Bush-Cheney 2004 Campaign
- George Deukmejian, former governor of California
- Ross Mirkarimi, Member of San Francisco City Council from the Green Party.
- David Safavian, disgraced former Chief of Staff of the United States General Services Administration
[edit] Sports
- Andre Agassi, tennis player
- Farzad Bonyadi, world champion of poker
- Shawn Daivari, professional wrestler and manager, better known by his stage names of Khosrow Daivari or simply Daivari[12]
- Hamid Dastmalchi, world champion of poker
- Alecko Eskandarian, soccer player, United States national team[13]
- Andranik Eskandarian, former soccer player
- Afshin Ghotbi, soccer coach, currect assistant coach of Korea Republic national football team
- T. J. Houshmandzadeh, NFL player (father is Iranian)
- Michael Shabaz, tennis player, 2005 Wimbledon boys' doubles championship
- Sanaz Shabazi, martial arts champion [14]
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Stanley, John. "'Nativity' Revisited", San Francisco Chronicle, 2006-11-26. Retrieved on 2006-11-25.
- ^ [1] "As an Iranian Jew, Ahdoot admits he struggled making friends growing up..."
- ^ [2] "Jonathan Ahdout: Young Iranian Jewish Film & Television Actor"
- ^ [3] "His family is Iranian-American, having left Tehran in 1982..."
- ^ [4] "Most people don't know that you're half Iranian. Is it a weird time to have a Middle Eastern background? My grandparents were Muslim, and it's a completely different religion than what we're hearing about right now. It was pretty ugly for a while, but as far as hate crimes go, it seems like that kind of reaction has died down. Thank god."
- ^ [5] "Nadia Bjorlin, the 24 year old Swedish-Persian, American-born actress..."
- ^ [6] "where Ted Koppel interviewed Iranian American Zoroastrian, Cyrus Kar..."
- ^ [7]
- ^ [8] "Half-Iranian, half-French cinematographer Darius Khondji relocated at an early age with his family to his mother's native France."
- ^ [9]
- ^ [10] "Persian Jewish actress Bahar Soomekh earned some serious attention last year when she played a young Iranian in "Crash," the Academy Award winner for best picture."
- ^ [11] "Shawn Daivari is Iranian and the foreign language he speaks during his promos is Farsi not Arabic."
- ^ [12]
- ^ [13] "US Welterweight Champion Sanaz Shahbazi, an Iranian-American who has won countles gold medals . . ."
