Iranian of the Day

Princeton: A $10 million gift from two Princeton alumni will establish the Sharmin and Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies at the University.

Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani, a member of the Class of 1980, and Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani, a member of the Class of 1974, have created the center to provide a comprehensive interdisciplinary approach to understanding Iran and the Persian Gulf, with special attention to the region's significance for the contemporary world.

The couple, of New York City, grew up and completed their high school education in Iran before coming to, and eventually settling in, the United States. Each majored in economics at Princeton and earned a certificate in the Program in Near Eastern Studies.

"Princeton and Iran go back more than a century," said Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani, an oil and gas executive who serves concurrently as chairman and chief executive officer of RAK Petroleum in the United Arab Emirates and executive chairman of Norway's DNO International. "Howard C. Baskerville, Class of 1907, went to Iran as an English teacher and died fighting alongside his students in a short-lived quest for constitutional democracy. He is still revered by Iranians who remember also the Princeton connection — a connection that drew me to this University more than 40 years ago.">>>