Sharif University of Technology is a public research university in Tehran, Iran. It is widely considered as the nation's most prestigious and leading institution for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields and is considered Iran's MIT among academics, scholars, and industry.
Paula Jon Dobriansky is an American diplomat, public official, and foreign policy expert who served as Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs (2001-2009) and the President's Envoy to Northern Ireland (2007-2009). A specialist in Central/East European affairs and the former Soviet Union, trans-Atlantic relations, and political-military affairs, Dobriansky held key senior roles in the administrations of five U.S. Presidents.
Ashton Baldwin Carter was an American government official and academic who served as the 25th United States Secretary of Defense from February 2015 to January 2017. He later served as director of the Belfer Center for Science & International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School.
Saeed Sohrabpour, , full professor Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Sharif University of Technology, has been the vice president and chief adviser of Islamic Republic of Iran’s National Elites Foundation since 2011. He has also been elected as Iranian Science and Culture Hall of Fame and was the chancellor of Sharif University of Technology from 1997 to 2010. He is a member of the board of trustees of Iran’s National Library and Archives of I.R.. Furthermore, during his professional life, Sohrabpour has published prolific number of scientific papers on variety of high ranked journals. Prof Sohrabpour is the president of Research Institute for Science, Technology and Industry Policy Making at Sharif University of Technology, the chairman of the board for Iran Most Admired Knowledge Enterprise Award (MAKE), Center for Knowledge-based Management, and the chairman of the board for Iran EFQM Representative as well. Beside a variety of honors and awards, he has been the fellow of Academy of Sciences of Islamic Republic of Iran.
Brenda Shaffer is an American scholar who holds positions as Fellow with the Atlantic Council and professor at University of Haifa. Shaffer was the former research director of the Caspian Studies Program at Harvard Kennedy School and past president of the Foreign Policy Section of the American Political Science Association. She specializes on energy in international relations and energy policy in the Caspian region and has written or edited several books of these topics, including "Energy Politics" and "Beyond the Resource Curse." Shaffer has also written a number of books on the topic of identity and culture in the Caucasus including explorations of Azeri literature and culture. She has been accused of lobbying for Azerbaijan and failing to disclose conflicts of interest.
Kurt Michael Campbell,, is an American diplomat and businessman, who formerly served as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs in the Obama administration. He is the chairman and CEO of The Asia Group, LLC, which he founded in February 2013.
The Robert and Renée Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, also known as the Belfer Center, is a research center located within the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University, in the United States. From 2017 until his death in October, 2022, the center was led by Director Ash Carter, former U.S. Secretary of Defense and Co-Director Eric Rosenbach, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense.
The Stanton Foundation is a private foundation established by Frank Stanton, a long-time president of Columbia Broadcasting System ("CBS"). The Foundation focuses primarily on three areas in which Stanton was unable to complete his philanthropic plans within his lifetime: (1) supporting the First Amendment and creating a more informed citizenry, particularly in regard to civic issues, (2) supporting policy research in international security, with special emphasis on nuclear security and (3) advancing canine welfare. The Stanton Foundation is primarily a "no unsolicited proposals" foundation, although it operates several open application programs as detailed on its website.
Sayed Khatiboleslam Sadrnezhaad is an Iranian distinguished professor of materials science and engineering, at the Sharif University of Technology. He received his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1979 and his B.Sc. from the Sharif University of Technology in 1974. He was entitled as 1% world's top scientists by the ESI citation database from Thomson Reuters 2015 and 2016. He is the holder of a research chair from the Iran National Science Foundation (INSF). His current interest is in the emerging bio-nano and SMA fields of the materials science and engineering discipline.
John Paul Holdren is an American scientist who served as the senior advisor to President Barack Obama on science and technology issues through his roles as Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Co-Chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).
Malek Ashtar University of Technology (MUT) is a public research university of engineering, science in Iran. Founded in 1984, MUT's main campus is located at Tehran, the capital of Iran. Its other campuses are located in Isfahan and Urmia. The university is named after Malik al-Ashtar, one of the most loyal companions of Ali Ibn Abi Talib.
The MIT Center for International Studies (CIS) is an academic research center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It sponsors work focusing on international relations, security studies, international migration, human rights and justice, political economy and technology policy. The center was founded in 1951.
Middle Eastern Americans are Americans of Middle Eastern background. According to the United States Census Bureau, the term "Middle Eastern American" applies to anyone of West Asian or North African origin. This includes people whose background is from the various Middle Eastern and West Asian ethnic groups, such as the Kurds and Assyrians, as well as immigrants from modern-day countries of the Arab world, Iran, Israel, Turkey, and sometimes Armenia.
Hassan Abbas is a Pakistani-American scholar and academic in the field of South Asian and Middle Eastern studies. His research focuses have been on security issues pertaining to governance, law enforcement and counterterrorism. Abbas worked in the governments of Benazir Bhutto (1994–1996) and Musharraf (1999–2001). He currently resides in the US.
Matthew Bunn is an American nuclear and energy policy analyst, currently a professor of practice at the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University. He is the Co-principal Investigator for the Belfer Center's Project on Managing the Atom.
Elizabeth D. Sherwood-Randall is an American national security and energy leader, public servant, educator, and author currently serving as the 11th United States Homeland Security Advisor to President Joe Biden since 2021. She previously served in the Clinton and Obama Administrations and held appointments at academic institutions and think tanks.
Nawaf Essam Ahmad Obaid is a Saudi Arabian political scientist, and a former foreign policy & media advisor. He currently serves as the CEO of the Essam & Dalal OBAID Foundation (EDOF) in Geneva, a Commissioner at the Commission for International Justice and Accountability (CIJA) in The Hague, and a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Department of War Studies at King’s College London.
Kayhan Barzegar is an Iranian professor of International Relations, political strategist and senior researcher of International affairs. He is the chair of the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran. Barzegar is known for his works on Iranian foreign policy.
