Rudi Bakhtiar

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rudi Bakhtiar
Born: June 21, 1966
Flag of United States Fresno, California, United States
Occupation: General correspondent (Fox News Channel)
Website: Biography on FOXNews.com

Rudi Bakhtiar (born Rudabeh Bakhtiar, Persian: رودابه بختیار ‎ , on June 21, 1966 in Fresno, California) is an American journalist, working for the Fox News Channel since January 2006.

Contents

[edit] Career

Rudi Bakhtiar joined FOX News Channel (FNC) as a general correspondent in January 2006. Prior to joining FNC, Bakhtiar worked for CNN for 9 years at CNN, joining the network in 1996. During her time at the network, she held multiple different positions, including anchoring on the CNN's spin-off network, Headline News, and as a co-anchor of CNN Student News, a 30-minute commercial free news program designed for use in the classroom. Throughout the programming, she reported on assignments from numerous countries, in addition to hosting the start of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

[edit] Personal life

By age two, her family moved from Fresno, California to Los Angeles, California. When she was five years old, her family moved back to Iran. Bakhtiar was raised in Iran until the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Her family moved back to the United States when she was seventeen years old [1]. She loved to ride horses as a child. She attended the University of California, Los Angeles, where she received a Bachelor of Science in biology, planning to be a dentist; she was accepted to New York University Dental School, but had reservations about going to dental school.

[edit] Recognition

In 2002, Bakhtiar received the Iranian American Republic Council Achievement Award in recognition of outstanding achievements, excellence and accomplishments within the Iranian American community.

In Washington DC, December 4, 2003, Bakhtiar was the Mistress of Ceremonies for the Iranian American Technology Council Gala [2].

On February 15, 2004, Bakhtiar was the Mistress of Ceremonies (MC) for a BAM earthquake fundraiser that also honored US disaster assistance response teams. The event was organized by the House of Iran (a cultural organization support Iranian culture and traditions), with NIAC, IACA, Science and Arts Foundation, and IAPAC as the supporting organizations.[3]

[edit] Family

She was born to Iranian immigrants of Bakhtiari heritage; her father died of oropharyngeal cancer in 2005 [4][5]. Bakhtiar has a younger brother and even younger sister. Shapour Bakhtiar is Rudi Bakhtiar's father's uncle, the last Prime Minister of Iran under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and a great aunt of Bakhtiar's was the Shah of Iran's first wife, Fawzia Shirin (formerly known as Princess Fawzia bint Fuad of Egypt). Bakhtiar's great-grandfather is named Sardar Jang[1].

[edit] Trivia

  • Bakhtiar does whitewater rafting, waterskiing, scuba diving, snow skiing, horseback riding, tennis, yoga, rock climbing, tae kwon do, and oil painting in her downtime. [6], [7]
  • Bakhtiar was accepted to New York University (NYU) Dental School.[8]
  • According to Lycos, Rudi Bakhtiar was ninth ranked in the top twenty TV news personalities with the most searches from January through August 2002.[9]
  • Bakhtiar loves MLB's New York Yankees and NBA's Los Angeles Lakers.[10]
  • Bakhtiar was the Master of Ceremonies for the University of California, Irvine lecture given by Shirin Ebadi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, on May 21, 2005.[11][5]
  • Rudi Bakhtiar has been photographed by fashion photographer Michael David Adams.
  • Rudi Bakhtiar had studied biology, psychology, and architecture at the Career Discovery Program at the Harvard School of Design.[12]
  • Bakhtiar once worked at a pharmaceutical company doing pharmaceutical sales.[13][12]

[edit] Criticism

After the high-profile 2006 arrest of John Mark Karr, Bakhtiar appeared on Fox News and insinuated that any man who travels to Bangkok is a pedophile. These comments met criticism with the large population of men travelling to Bangkok and the rest of Thailand for completely legitimate reasons.[14]


[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Johnson, Marilyn (2002-08-17). CNN Anchor Rudi Bakhtiar. Iran-va-Jahan. Retrieved on February 27, 2007.
  2. ^ NIAC. Retrieved on February 27, 2007.
  3. ^ NORTHERN VIRGINIA FUNDRAISER AND AWARD CEREMONY HONORING HUMANITARIAN EFFORTS AT BAM. Retrieved on February 27, 2007.
  4. ^ Goodman, Tim (2005-10-26). All the dirt on sci-fi shows and D.C. dramas Rudi Bakhtiar's absence on CNN strongly felt. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved on February 27, 2007.
  5. ^ a b Center for Citizen Peacebuilding (Real Audio). Retrieved on February 27, 2007.
  6. ^ CNNfyi. Retrieved on February 27, 2007.]
  7. ^ Lorrie, Lynch (2003-11-30). Celebs. USA Weekend Magazine. Retrieved on February 27, 2007.
  8. ^ Introducing Rudi Bakhtiar. Fox Fan Central. Retrieved on February 27, 2007.
  9. ^ Schatz, Aaron (2002-09-16). Top TV News Personalities. Retrieved on February 27, 2007.
  10. ^ Wright, Todd (2005-06/15). Women of AllNight: Rudi Bakhtiar. Retrieved on February 27, 2007.
  11. ^ Shirin Ebadi Lecture (2005-05-21). Retrieved on February 27, 2007.
  12. ^ a b Tartakoff, Joseph (2004-05-10). CNN Anchor Speaks to Persian Society. The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved on February 27, 2007.
  13. ^ TV Anchor. Retrieved on February 27, 2007.
  14. ^ David (2006-08-21). Fox News: Bangkok is "Pedophile Paradise". Mango Sauce. Retrieved on March 21, 2007.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../r/u/d/Rudi_Bakhtiar_1dc0.html"