List of Iranian Americans

This is a list of notable Iranian-Americans of all Iranian ethnic backgrounds, including both original immigrants who obtained American citizenship and their American descendants.

To be included in this list, the person must have a Wikipedia article showing they are Iranian American or must have references showing they are Iranian American and are notable.

Academia/science

 * Alexander Abian, mathematician
 * Ervand Abrahamian, historian of Middle Eastern and particularly Iranian history of City University of New York
 * Sarkis Acopian, inventor, industrialist, environmentalist, and humanitarian
 * Shahriar Afshar, physicist, namesake of Afshar experiment
 * Siavash Alamouti, CTO Broad Band and INTEL fellow, inventor of Alamouti Code, code-communication engineer
 * Abass Alavi, Professor of Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Neurology at the University of Pennsylvania
 * Kaveh Alizadeh, plastic surgeon, chief of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Westchester Medical Center, and Associate Professor of Surgery at New York Medical College
 * Abbas Amanat, Professor of History & International Studies at Yale University
 * Nima Arkani-Hamed, physicist from Harvard
 * Abbas Ardehali, surgical director of UCLA's Heart and Lung Transplant program
 * Shaul Bakhash, historian, expert in Iranian studies, George Mason University, Clarence J. Robinson Professor of History
 * Mina Bissell, scientist and biologist, LBL
 * George Bournoutian, professor, historian, and author
 * Houchang Chehabi, historian, expert in Iranian studies, Boston University
 * Hamid Dabashi, Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University in New York City
 * Richard Danielpour, Professor of Composition, Manhattan School of Music
 * Touraj Daryaee, Iranologist
 * Sibel Edmonds, former translator who worked as a contractor for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); founder of the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition (NSWBC)
 * Nader Engheta, Professor of Electrical and Systems Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania
 * Haleh Esfandiari, Middle East Scholar
 * Nariman Farvardin, Provost of University of Maryland
 * Bobak Ferdowsi, systems engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory; served on the Cassini–Huygens and Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity mission
 * Roozbeh Ghaffari, inventor, bioelectronics entrepreneur, biomedical engineering research faculty at Northwestern University
 * Zoubin Ghahramani, Professor of Information Engineering at the University of Cambridge
 * John Ghazvinian, author, historian and former journalist at University of Pennsylvania
 * Doreen Granpeesheh, clinical psychologist and producer of the independent award-winning documentary Recovered: Journeys Through the Autism Spectrum and Back
 * Vartan Gregorian, President of the Carnegie Corporation of New York
 * Ali Hajimiri, inventor, technologist, and Thomas G. Myers Professor of Electrical Engineering, Caltech
 * Babak Hassibi, Gordon M. Binder/AMGEN Professor of Electrical Engineering, Caltech
 * Payam Heydari, Professor of Electrical Engineering, University of California, Irvine
 * Ali Jadbabaie, systems theorist, network scientist, and the JR East Professor of Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 * Hamid Jafarkhani, leading communication theorist University of California, Irvine
 * Ramin Jahanbegloo, philosopher at University of Toronto
 * Farnam Jahanian, computer scientist and the 10th president of Carnegie Mellon University
 * Ali Javan, physicist, inventor of gas laser; Professor Emeritus of Physics at MIT
 * Sepandar Kamvar, computer scientist, Stanford University
 * Mehran Kardar, physicist, MIT
 * Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak, Founding Director of Center for Persian Studies, University of Maryland
 * Homayoon Kazerooni, professor of mechanical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley; co-founder and Chief Scientist of Berkeley Bionics; inventor of the HULC
 * Ali Khademhosseini, Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology and Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering
 * G. A. Mansoori, professor of chemical engineering at University of Illinois at Chicago
 * Bahram Mashhoon, general relativity physicist
 * Robert Mehrabian, President of Carnegie Mellon
 * Abbas Milani, Director of Iranian Studies Program, Stanford University
 * Mohsen Milani, political scientist, foreign policy analyst, public commentator and professor of politics
 * Maryam Mirzakhani, Stanford University Professor; first female winner of the Fields Medal
 * Jasmin Moghbeli, NASA astronaut candidate of the class of 2017
 * Firouz Partovi, physicist
 * Parviz Moin, fluid dynamicist, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University
 * Mohsen Mostafavi, Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Design
 * Hamid Mowlana, Director of the Division of International Communication at American University
 * Firouz Naderi, NASA director of Mars project
 * Majid M. Naini (مجید نایینی), computer scientist, former professor at University of Pennsylvania, Rumi scholar, writer, poet, translator, speaker
 * Kayvan Najarian, Associate Professor of Computer Science, Virginia Commonwealth University
 * Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Professor of Islamic Studies at George Washington University; prominent Islamic philosopher; author of many scholarly books and articles
 * Vali Nasr, leading expert on the Middle East and Islamic world; best-selling author; influential commentator; Professor of International Politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy of Tufts University; Senior Fellow in Foreign Policy at Brookings Institution; columnist for Bloomberg View
 * Camran Nezhat, Director, Stanford Endoscopy Center for Training & Technology
 * Kaveh Pahlavan, Professor of Computer and Electrical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
 * Gholam A. Peyman, inventor of LASIK eye surgery
 * Nader Pourmand, professor of biomolecular engineering at the Baskin School of Engineering
 * Behzad Razavi, Professor of Electrical Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles
 * Nouriel Roubini, one of the leading economists of our age; professor of economics at the Stern School of Business, New York University; chairman of RGE Monitor
 * Pardis Sabeti, world-renowned computational geneticist, Associate Professor at Harvard University
 * Omid Safi, Professor of Islamic studies at the University of North Carolina and advocate of reform within Islam
 * Mehran Sahami, professor and the Associate Chair for Education in the Computer Science department at Stanford University
 * Ahmad Salehi, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, in Palo Alto, California
 * David B. Samadi, vice Chairman of the Department of Urology and Chief of Robotics and Minimally Invasive Surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
 * Kamal Sarabandi, Professor of Engineering at the University of Michigan
 * Homayoun Seraji, Senior Research Scientist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
 * Ghavam Shahidi, IBM Fellow, Director of Silicon Technology
 * Cambize Shahrdar MD, Orthopaedic Surgeon.
 * Manuchehr Shahrokhi, professor, California State University; Founding Editor of Global Finance Journal; Executive Director of Global Finance Association
 * Fatemeh Shams, contemporary Persian poet, and Assistant Professor of Persian literature at the University of Pennsylvania
 * Ray Takeyh, Middle East scholar and Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations
 * Kamran Talattof, Persian literature and Iranian culture; Director of Persian Program University of Arizona
 * Vahid Tarokh, leading communication theorist at Harvard University
 * Cumrun Vafa, string theorist at Harvard
 * Saba Valadkhan, biomedical scientist, recipient of the Young Scientist Award
 * Ehsan Yarshater, Hagop Kevorkian Professor Emeritus of Iranian Studies; Director of the Center for Iranian Studies, Columbia University; founder and Editor in Chief of Encyclopaedia Iranica
 * Lotfi A. Zadeh, mathematician and computer scientist, and a professor of computer science at the University of California, Berkeley; father of fuzzy logic
 * Norm Zada, founder of Perfect 10; son of Lotfi A. Zadeh
 * Reza Zadeh, computer scientist at Stanford University
 * Mark Zandi, economist and co-founder of Economy.com, now part of Moody's Analytics

Arts and entertainment

 * Omid Abtahi, actor
 * Desiree Akhavan, director and actor
 * Ray Aghayan, Emmy Award-winning costume designer
 * Shohreh Aghdashloo, Academy Award-nominated film/television actress
 * Dan Ahdoot, stand-up comedian
 * Jonathan Ahdout, actor
 * Morehshin Allahyari, artist
 * Mark Amin, film producer
 * Max Amini, comedian
 * Ali Ardekani, businessman, game developer, film developer, and Islamic comedian
 * Aram Avakian, director, editor
 * Ashurbanipal Babilla, actor, theatre director, playwright and visual artist
 * Reza Badiyi, TV director
 * Catherine Bell, actress; Iranian mother
 * Nadia Bjorlin, TV/soap opera actress; Iranian mother
 * Nazanin Boniadi, television and film actress
 * Dar Dash, actor, voice actor; Iranian father
 * Ala Ebtekar, visual artist whose work explores the cultural intersection of contemporary hip hop and traditional Iran
 * Robert Ekhart, film actor and editor-in-chief
 * Tanaz Eshaghian, documentary filmmaker
 * Siamak Ghahremani, founder of Noor Iranian Film Festival, radio host
 * Tehran Ghasri, comedian and actor
 * Nahid Hagigat, illustrator and painter
 * Taraneh Hemami, visual artist
 * Mahlagha Jaberi, model
 * Pouran Jinchi, contemporary artist
 * Maz Jobrani, comedian and actor
 * JonTron (Jonathan "Jon" Jafari), comedian, Internet personality, video game critic
 * Tara Kamangar, classical pianist and composer
 * Cyrus Kar, film director
 * Bavand Karim, multi-media artist and filmmaker
 * Andre Khabbazi, actor, semi-professional tennis player
 * Marco Khanlian, actor
 * Nahnatchka Khan, screenwriter and producer
 * Kathreen Khavari, actress, writer, and producer
 * Cyrus King, actor
 * Kamshad Kooshan, screenwriter and director
 * Arefeh Mansouri, inventor, designer
 * Marshall Manesh, actor
 * Mozhan Marno, actress
 * Shiva Rose McDermott, actress; Iranian father
 * Peyman Moaadi, actor, best known for his acting in the Oscar-winning A Separation
 * Arian Moayed, Tony-nominated actor/director
 * Hamid Moghadam, business executive and philanthropist
 * Emud Mokhberi, Academy Award-nominated director/animator
 * Amir Mokri, director of photography
 * Amir Naderi, film director
 * Arsi Nami award-winning actor, music Therapist, singer and songwriter
 * Amin Nazemzadeh, actor
 * Navid Negahban, actor, appeared on Homeland and Mistresses
 * Shirin Neshat, visual artist and director
 * Ali Nejad, television personality/host
 * Nicky Nodjoumi, painter
 * Cyrus Nowrasteh, screenwriter and director
 * Bijan Pakzad noted fashion and perfume designer
 * Ali Partovi, entrepreneur and angel investor
 * Adrian Pasdar, actor; Iranian father
 * Artemis Pebdani, actress
 * Nasim Pedrad, actress, comedian
 * Babak Rafei, art director, character animator and concept artist
 * Behnaz Sarafpour, fashion designer
 * Sarah Shahi, actress; Iranian father
 * Sayeed Shahidi, child actor and model
 * Yara Shahidi, actress
 * Arash Sobhani, musician and television host
 * Bahar Soomekh, actress
 * Aramazd Stepanian, actor, producer, playwright
 * Massy Tadjedin, screenwriter
 * Elie Tahari, fashion designer
 * Shaun Toub, actor
 * Bob Yari, Academy Award-winning film producer
 * Sara Zandieh, film-maker

Business/technology

 * Vahe Aghabegians, entrepreneur
 * Hamid Akhavan, CEO of Siemens Enterprise Communications
 * Vahid Alaghband, founder and Chairman Balli Group PLC
 * Anousheh Ansari, co-founder of Prodea systems, Inc.
 * Sardar Biglari, CEO and founder of Biglari Holdings
 * J. Darius Bikoff, CEO and founder of Energy Brands
 * Shahram Dabiri, video game producer, lead producer of World of Warcraft
 * Bita Daryabari, philanthropist, entrepreneur and computer scientist
 * Avid Larizadeh Duggan, entrepreneur and venture capitalist
 * Kamran Elahian, founder and Chairman Global Catalyst Partners
 * Hossein Eslambolchi, former global CTO, CIO, President & CEO ATT Labs and ATT Global Network Operations
 * Fardad Fateri, CEO of International Education Corporation
 * Arash Ferdowsi, co-founder and CTO of Dropbox
 * Nasir Gebelli, video game developer, founder of Sirius Software, programmer of Nintendo titles including Final Fantasy I, Final Fantasy II, Secret of Mana, and Rad Racer
 * Vartan Gregorian, President of The Carnegie Corporation of New York
 * Babak Hodjat, technologist and computer scientist.


 * Salar Kamangar, CEO of YouTube, VP of Google's web applications
 * Shaygan Kheradpir, businessman and technology executive
 * Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber
 * Omid Kordestani, Executive Chairman of Twitter
 * Isaac Larian, CEO of MGA Entertainment, manufacturer of Bratz dolls
 * Mahbod Moghadam, co-founder and Chief Community Officer of Everipedia
 * Moj Mahdara, CEO of Beautycon Media, is an entrepreneur in the entertainment, digital, and emerging technology spaces
 * Fariborz Maseeh, pioneer of MEMS; philanthropist
 * Manny Mashouf, founder and Chairman of bebe stores
 * David Merage, co-founder of Chef America Inc., manufacturer of Hot Pockets
 * Paul Merage, co-founder of Chef America Inc., manufacturer of Hot Pockets
 * Bob Miner, co-founder of Oracle Corporation and the producer of its relational database management system
 * Ron Najafi, CEO of NovaBay Pharmaceuticals
 * Izak Parviz Nazarian, business mogul and philanthropist
 * Sam Nazarian, CEO of the SBE Entertaintment Group
 * Younes Nazarian, businessman, investor and philanthropist
 * Farzad Nazem, former CTO of Yahoo!
 * Mehrdad Nikoonahad, founder & CEO, Nikoo Technology, Inc.
 * Pierre Omidyar, founder of e-Bay (born to Iranian parents)


 * Roozbeh Pournader, co-founder and co-developer of Persian Wikipedia
 * Kamran Pourzanjani, entrepreneur and an early angel investor based in Los Angeles, California
 * Sean Rad, founder and CEO of Tinder
 * Hooman Radfar, founder of AddThis
 * Ali Rowghani, COO of Twitter
 * Darian Shirazi, founder of Radius
 * Henry D. Sahakian, founder and owner of Uni-Mart
 * Sina Tamaddon, Senior Vice President of Applications for Apple Computer
 * Roxanne Varza, company executive.
 * Bobby Yazdani, founder and former CEO of Saba Software
 * Shayan Zadeh, founder of Zoosk

Literature

 * Reza Aslan, writer
 * Laleh Bakhtiar, writer and scholar
 * Najmieh Batmanglij, chef, writer
 * Firoozeh Dumas, author of Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America
 * Roya Hakakian, writer
 * Azar Nafisi, writer
 * Ghazal Omid, nonfiction political writer, nonfiction children's book writer, speaker, NGO executive
 * Shahrnoosh Parsipour, writer
 * Dalia Sofer, writer
 * Mahbod Seraji, writer
 * Solmaz Sharif, poet
 * Andrew David Urshan, evangelist and author
 * Sholeh Wolpe, poet, editor and literary translator

Media/journalism

 * Sohrab Ahmari, journalist at The Wall Street Journal
 * Christiane Amanpour, anchor of ABC Sunday morning political affairs program, former CNN chief international correspondent
 * Davar Ardalan, NPR producer of Tell Me More
 * Rudi Bakhtiar, Voice of America employee, former Director of Public Relations for the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA), former FOX news anchor, former CNN anchor
 * Shmuley Boteach, rabbi, radio and television host, author
 * Lisa Daftari, journalist, TV commentator; founder of The Foreign Desk
 * Holly Dagres, analyst and commentator
 * Farnaz Fassihi, journalist, Wall Street Journal
 * Susie Gharib, anchor of Nightly Business Report distributed by American Public Television
 * Alireza Jafarzadeh, FOX News Channel Foreign Affairs Analyst
 * Pedram Javaheri, meteorologist for CNN International
 * Arash Markazi, journalist, Sports Illustrated
 * Azadeh Moaveni, journalist, Time magazine
 * Asieh Namdar, former CNN anchor
 * Jason Rezaian, Washington Post Tehran correspondent
 * Atoosa Rubenstein, former Seventeen and CosmoGIRL! editor-in-chief
 * Roxana Saberi, photojournalist whose 2009 arrest in Iran became a cause celebre (Iranian Father)
 * Jahan Salehi, President of Agence Global, Inc. syndicate
 * Cyma Zarghami, president of Nickelodeon and MTV Networks Kids & Family Group

Music

 * Pouyan Afkary, synthesizer musician, member of Scary Kids Scaring Kids
 * Lily Afshar, classical guitarist
 * Axiom of Choice, world music group
 * Rostam Batmanglij, keyboard player of Vampire Weekend, music producer
 * Leila Bela, avant-garde musician, actress, writer and former member of Pigface
 * Cyrus Bolooki, drummer of New Found Glory
 * Richard Danielpour, composer, Professor of Composition, Manhattan School of Music
 * Vigen Derderian, singer
 * Amir Derakh, guitarist of the band Dead by Sunrise
 * Deep Dish, electronic music group
 * Ramin Djawadi, composer
 * Kayhan Kalhor, kamancheh player, composer and master of classical Kurdish and Persian music; two of his works were nominated for Grammy Awards in 2004
 * Tara Kamangar, pianist and composer
 * Anousheh Khalili, vocalist
 * Bahador Kharazmi, singer/songwriter and producer
 * Arsi Nami, music therapist, singer, songwriter, actor
 * Lotfi Mansouri, opera director
 * Tony Petrossian, music video director
 * Ilya Salmanzadeh, music producer
 * Ali Tabatabaee, one of the lead singers of Orange County, California-based pop-punk band Zebrahead
 * Kourosh Zolani, composer, soloist and inventor; designed and plays the world's only playable Chromatic Santour

Politics

 * Adrin Nazarian, Member of the California State Assembly from the 46th district
 * Roozbeh Aliabadi, Senior Advisor to Director of Strategic Studies, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Iran & current affairs commentator New York City
 * Goli Ameri, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, former U.S. delegate to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, former U.S. public delegate to the United Nations General Assembly, and former Republican candidate for the United States House of Representatives from the 1st district of Oregon
 * Cyrus Amir-Mokri, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Institutions
 * Hushang Ansary, former Iranian Minister of Finance and Chairman of National Finance Committee of Bush-Cheney 2004 Campaign
 * Anna Kaplan, politician from Great Neck, New York
 * Sam Noshadha, Judge at the American International Commercial Arbitration Court
 * Michael Benjamin, 1996 Republican candidate for the U.S. House from the 8th district of New York, and 2004 United States Senate Republican Primary candidate from New York
 * Jimmy Delshad, Mayor of Beverly Hills, California
 * Cyrus Habib, 16th Lieutenant Governor of Washington, first and so far only Iranian-American elected to state office
 * Mariam Memarsadeghi, democracy and human rights advocate
 * Ross Mirkarimi, former member of San Francisco City Council and current San Francisco Sheriff
 * Shayan Modarres, 2014 Democratic primary candidate for the U.S. House from the 10th district of Florida
 * Alex Nowrasteh, immigration policy analyst at the Cato Institute, a national expert on immigration policy.
 * Sahar Nowrouzzadeh, Director for Iran on the White House National Security Council Staff under President Barack H. Obama
 * Vali Nasr, Shia scholar and poetical scientist
 * Trita Parsi, founder and current president of the National Iranian American Council
 * Azita Raji, United States Ambassador to Sweden
 * David Safavian, disgraced former Chief of Staff of the United States General Services Administration
 * Azadeh N. Shahshahani, human rights attorney
 * Faryar Shirzad, former Deputy National Security Advisor and White House Deputy Assistant for International Economic Affairs to President George W. Bush
 * Bob Yousefian, former mayor of Glendale, California

Sports

 * Salman Agah, professional skateboarder
 * Andre Agassi, professional tennis player
 * Emmanuel Agassi, former boxer and the father and former coach of Andre Agassi
 * Esfandiar Baharmast, World Cup referee, FIFA Instructor, known as Esse Baharmast
 * David Bakhtiari, football offensive tackle for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL), father is Iranian
 * Eric Bakhtiari, linebacker in the NFL, father is Iranian
 * Steven Beitashour, Iranian-American soccer player
 * Farzad Bonyadi, world poker champion
 * Shawn Daivari, professional wrestler and manager, better known by his stage names of Sheik Abdul Bashir or simply Daivari
 * Beneil Dariush, professional mixed martial artist
 * Yu Darvish, Japanese-Iranian-American MLB player
 * Hamid Dastmalchi, world champion of poker
 * Antonio Esfandiari, champion poker player
 * Alecko Eskandarian, American soccer player
 * Andranik Eskandarian, former soccer player
 * Siamak Matt Ghaffari, Olympic silver medal-winning wrestler
 * Afshin Ghotbi, soccer coach, former assistant coach of Korea Republic national football team, Los Angeles Galaxy and Iran national team
 * Hamed Haddadi, NBA player, center for Phoenix Suns
 * Andre Heidari, American soccer player
 * T. J. Houshmandzadeh, NFL wide receiver for the Baltimore Ravens, father is Iranian
 * The Iron Sheik (Khosrow Vaziri), retired professional wrestler
 * King Kamali, IFBB pro bodybuilder
 * Arsalan Kazemi, NBA player
 * Ameen Khosravian, professional basketball player
 * George Malek-Yonan, Iran's "Champion of Champions" in track & field and pentathlon
 * Garnik Mehrabian, soccer player and coach
 * Omid Namazi, soccer coach
 * Amin Abraham Paul Nikfar, shot put for the Iranian National Team and 1st Iranian Asian Indoor Champion 2004
 * Amir Sadollah, professional mixed martial artist and winner of The Ultimate Fighter 7
 * Behdad Sami, first professional Iranian basketball player in American history
 * Michael Shabaz, tennis player, 2005 Wimbledon boys' doubles championship
 * Amir Vahedi, professional poker player
 * Leila Vaziri, current world record holder of the 50m women's backstroke
 * Hooman Tavakolian, sport diplomat and lobbyist, Hall of Fame, wrestler