2024 Honorees - Ali & Hadi Partovi

Born in Iran, Hadi and Ali Partovi grew up during the Iran-Iraq war. Their neighborhood in Tehran was bombed by Iraqi fighter jets. When they were 9 years old, their father, a physics professor, brought home a Commodore 64 computer from a trip abroad. This computer was their escape from their surroundings - they learned how to code and create apps, games, and music. They immigrated to the US at age 11. Soon after they turned 15, they spent their summers working as software engineers to help pay their way through high school and college. Upon graduating from Harvard University with Master's degrees in computer science, Hadi and Ali pursued careers in technology.

They attained success in the technology industry and founded numerous tech businesses, accomplishing the American dream. Additionally, they became prolific angel investors, backing companies such as Facebook, Uber, Airbnb, and Dropbox, among others.

In 2013, Hadi and Ali launched the education nonprofit Code.org, which Hadi continues to lead as CEO. Since its inception, Code.org has started a massive movement to teach computer science and coding to K-12 students globally. It is the largest provider of computer science curricula, with over 80 million student users in over 180 countries. Aside from Code.org, Hadi also serves on the boards of Axon and Mountain. Ali founded and runs Neo, a VC fund and mentorship community that brings together a diverse group of tech veterans to accelerate tomorrow’s leaders.

Both brothers are passionate about giving back to their community. With Code.org in Farsi, they aim to provide Farsi-speaking students with computer science education. Talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not. Code.org in Farsi would open a door to an opportunity that would otherwise be closed. With the proper support, the possibilities are endless.

2022 Honoree - Dr. Nader Engheta

Dr. Nader Engheta is an Iranian-American scientist who has made pioneering contributions to the fields of metamaterials, transformation optics, plasmonic optics, nanophotonics, graphene photonics, nano-materials, nanoscale optics, nano-antennas and miniaturized antennas, physics and reverse-engineering of polarization vision in nature, bio-inspired optical imaging, fractional paradigm in electrodynamics, and electromagnetics and microwaves. After earning a B.S. degree from the University of Tehran school, he left for the United States where he earned his Masters and PhD degrees from Caltech. Throughout his career he has received many awards and honors such as the Guggenheim Fellowship, IEEE Electromagnetics Award, IEEE Pioneer Award in Nanotechnology, Isaac Newton Medal, and Franklin Medal. Dr. Engheta is currently the H. Nedwill Ramsey Professor at the University of Pennslyvania, affiliated with the departments of Electrical and Systems Engineering, Bioengineering, materials science and engineering, and Physics and Astronomy.

2019 Honoree - Dr. Reza Hedayati (left) (August 9, 1944 - May 4, 2018)

Dr. Reza Hedayati was born in Kashan, Iran and attended Tehran University School of Medicine.  After immigrating to the United States, Dr. Hedayati completed his residency in Diagnostic Radiology and attained his fellowship in Neuroradiology at Cornell-New York Presbyterian Hospital. With dual Board Certifications in both Radiology and Neuroradiology, Dr. Hedayati held many positions including Chief of Neuro and Interventional Radiology at Coney Island Hospital, Assistant Professor of Radiology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and Medical Director at Universal Open MRI.  Dr. Hedayati began to volunteer with the Iranian American Society of New York, Inc. (IAS) in 1989, became President of IAS in 2007, and with the exception of 2015, continued as President until his passing in 2018. He was a great listener, trustworthy, extraordinarily humble, extremely dependable and always giving a helping hand. Dr. Hedayati’s mission was always to promote the Persian culture, through the arts -especially music and poetry, and his lifelong mission was to open a community and cultural center for the Iranian American community here in New York.

2018 Honoree - Dr. Firouz Naderi (right) (March 25, 1946 - June 9, 2023)

Dr. Firouz Naderi was an Iranian-American scientist who contributed to America’s robotic space missions. After leaving Iran, Dr. Naderi received his undergraduate degree in electrical engineering at Iowa State University and his M.S. and Ph.D in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California. Dr. Naderi started at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a communications system engineer, and in a course of a three-decade career rose through the ranks to senior executive positions. His career at JPL has spanned system engineering, technology development, program and project management for satellite communications systems, Earth remote sensing observatories, astrophysical observatories, and planetary system. After 36 years, Dr. Naderi retired from NASA and the International Astronomical Union had renamed Asteroid 1989 EL1 as Asteroid “5515 Naderi” for his contribution to space exploration. He additionally was an advocate for the Iranian-American diaspora having served on the board of directors of Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans.