CENTER FOR IRANIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER Vol. 18, No. 1 SIPA-Columbia University-New York Spring 2006 ENCYCLOPÆDIA IRANICA GALA BENEFIT FASCICLE 3 OF VOLUME XIII PUBLISHED, DINNER FASCICLE 4 IN PRESS SAN FRANCISCO AY In 2005, the Encyclopædia ing this goal are by no means M 13, 2006 Iranica arrived at an important minimized. Such complexities juncture, one might say a milestone, become the main focus of the final when it reached the entry IRAN. sub-article. It had long been felt that although The Series consists of the fol- the entire Encyclopædia is about lowing entries: i. LANDS OF IRAN Iran, yet we needed a series of articles (a geographical essay), ii. FACTUAL under that general rubric to provide an HISTORY OF IRAN, iii. TRADITIONAL HIS- overview of the main facets of Iranian TORY OF IRAN, iv. IRANIAN MYTHS AND geography, history, and culture. This LEGENDS, v. PEOPLES OF IRAN, vi. IRANIAN series of entries began in Fascicle 2 of LANGUAGES AND SCRIPTS, vii. NON-IRA- Volume XIII, continues through Fas- NIAN LANGUAGES IN IRAN, viii. PERSIAN cicles 3 and 4, and will take most of LITERATURE, ix. RELIGION IN IRAN, x. Fascicle 5 to complete. PERSIAN ART AND ARCHITECTURE, xi. Maryam Rahimian The details of the topics discussed PERSIAN MUSIC, xii. HISTORY OF SCIENCE in these articles will be covered by other IN IRAN, xiii. PERSIA AND THE WEST, xiv. entries throughout the Encyclopædia. IRANIAN IDENTITY. The elegant Ritz Carlton Hotel in Here the purpose has been to present Within many of the above, the San Francisco will be the venue of a a concise general account of what a discussion is further subdivided by Gala Benefit Dinner for the Encyclopæ- student of the Iranian world and its time period—at least into those of pre- dia Iranica on May 13, 2006. The Gala civilizations needs to know. They will Islamic and Islamic. has been organized by a group of dedi- serve as a guide to other subjects and The introductory section LANDS OF cated and hardworking friends of the other entries, which either have already IRAN by X. de Planhol is an exploration Encyclopædia Iranica in the Bay Area. been published or will be published in on the role of the geographical factor One of the features of such fundraisers is to honor Iranian talent and success the future. Continued on page 4 It is true that the entire Encyclopæ- in various fields of scientific, literary, dia Iranica concerns the history and economic, and humanitarian endeavors. culture of Iran. But the entry IRAN is MARY BOYCE The theme of the San Francisco Gala an opportunity to present a convenient is “Science and Technology,” a fitting (1920-2006) overview of the nation: it consolidates tribute to the Silicon Valley and the Bay into one Series of sub-articles the dis- Area, which is home to outstanding cussion of selected key subject matter. scientists and entrepreneurs in infor- These subjects, or portions of them, are mation technology. Accordingly, five also discussed in detail under diverse prominent scientists and entrepreneurs specific entry names throughout the have been selected by the Executive Encyclopædia Iranica. Thus the entry Committee of the Gala to be honored IRAN can be a starting point for readers; at the event. They are (in alphabetical one sub-article here will point them to order) Mr. Hossein Eslambolchi, Prof. numerous related entries. Ali Javan, Mr. Omid Kordestani, However, the purpose of the Series Dr. Fariborz Maseeh and Prof. Lotfi IRAN is not to burden the reader with a Zadeh. mass of cross-references to other en- Dr. Mary Boyce, Professor Emer- The Gala Executive Committee, tries. A major factor in the selection of ita of Iranian Studies at the School of chaired by Mrs. Maryam Rahimian, the entries for inclusion here—out of Oriental and African Studies, passed consists of Mr. Reza Abbaszadeh, so many that could be selected—was away in London on April 4, 2006. She Prof. Elaheh Enssani, Mr. Kamron their relevance to achieving an overall was one of the foremost authorities on Ghiassi, Mrs. Azadeh Hariri, Mrs. “definition” of the notion of “Iran.” Zoroastrianism and a frequent contribu- Fazeelat Jalili (Vice-Chair), Mr. Salar The complexities involved in achiev- tor to the Encyclopædia Iranica. Prof. Kamangar, Mrs. Ziba Marashi, Mr. Continued on page 11 Continued on page 2 CIS Newsletter 2 been involved in supporting many GALA BENEFIT DINNER Iranian causes and cultural and reli- SAN FRANCISCO - MAY 13, 2006 gious programs, including the Ency- Continued from page 1 clopædia Iranica, and is working with Topaz Sponsors: programs worldwide to benefit several Arash Rad, Mr. Majid Rahimian, women and childrenʼs organizations. Mrs. Neda Rahimian, Mr. Mehdi Ms. Fereshteh Bekhrad Mr. Khosrow Semnani has been a 30- Safipour, Mrs. Shahrzad Salour and Mr. Akbar Ghahary year resident of Utah. He and his wife Mr. Saeed Shakeri. Ghazaleh and their three sons, Tay- An Advisory Committee, consist- Garnet Sponsors: mour, Rodmehr, and Jahangere take ing of Mrs. Nastaran Akhavan, Mr. Mr. Reza Abbaszadeh special pride in their Iranian heritage, Shan Fazeli, Mrs. Akhtar Motamedi, Anonymous and have tried to be spokesmen and Mrs. Homa Sarshar, and Mrs. Houra Faranak & Mahyar Amirsaleh advocates of the loving, intelligent and Yavari, has been formed to advise the Azadeh & Farzam Hariri kind people of Iran. Mr. Semnani has Chair. Mrs. Mishana Hosseinioun been a generous trustee of the Ency- Also actively involved in organiz- Dr. & Mrs. Soheil Saadat clopædia Iranica Foundation for the ing the event are a number of dedicated Mr. Saeed Shakeri past eight years and its Vice-Chairman community collaborators: including since 1998. He currently holds the po- Ziba Marashi, Hatef Moghimi, and RUBY SPONSORS sition of the Chairman of the Board of Parinaz Zamani. Trustees of Encyclopædia Iranica. Mrs. Asieh Namdar of CNN will Khosrow Bayegan Semnani was serve as the Master of Ceremonies, born in Mashad, in 1947. He com- MERALD PONSORS while media pesonalities Mrs. Shohreh pleted his elementary and high school E S Aghdashloo and Mr. Houshang Tozie Born in 1953 in Tehran, Majid will attend as the Guests of Honor. Rahimian came to the United State The evening will also feature su- in 1969, where he finished his high perb entertainment, making the Gala an school and attended the University of unforgettable event. The Gala benefits California at Davis. He received his from the participation of Mr. Ardeshir Bachelor of Science in Electrical En- Rohani, the acclaimed pianist and com- gineering in 1975 and returned to Iran. poser, Mr. Siamak Pouyan, prominent After the 1979 Revolution he emigrated zarb player, as well as Rushdi and His to Sacramento, California, where he Band. received his Masterʼs Degree in Electri- The noted artists Mr. Hossein cal Engineering and Computer Science Charles Zenderudi and Mr. Nasser from Sacramento State University. In Ovissi have donated of their works for 1983 Mr. Rahimian and his brother the Gala and several other supporters education in Iran and later studied and partner, Javad, founded “Motion have also contributed items for live English in England. In 1972, Mr. Sem- Control Engineering, Inc.” Motion auction. nani received a B.S. in chemistry and Control Engineering has designed and A group of socially active Iranian- physics from Westminster College in manufactured many state-of-the-art el- Americans have volunteered to help Salt Lake City, Utah. He then contin- evator control systems and today is the with the organizational and adminis- ued his education at the University of largest Elevator Control Manufacturing trative tasks of the evening, including Utah where he received a Masters of company in North America, enjoying Bahador Hariri, Sara Jalali, Haleh Engineering Administration Degree over 65% of the market share in its Motie, Ariane Nader, John Nadjafi, in 1977. Mr. Semnani was later em- industry. Majid and his brother were Ramin Nadjafi, Mona Rahimian, ployed in the copper mining and the featured in the February 1997 issue Sheila Rahimian, Navid Tehrani, electrical/chemical industry for sev- of Fortune Magazine as the award re- Neema Tehrani, Shaghayegh Tehrani, eral years. He formed S.K. Hart Engi- cipients in “Implementing Technology.” and Shady Vaezzadeh. neering in 1980, providing consulting Presently, Majid is a managing member Several sponsors have lent their services in the environmental protec- of Parlin Development involved in land financial support to the Gala. They are tion industry. During the period of acquisition and development. as follows: 1984 through 1987 he was involved in residential and commercial land devel- Ruby Sponsors: opment and other real estate activities. In 1987 he founded and operated En- Mr. Khosrow Bayegan Semnani virocare of Utah, currently the largest Bita & Omid Kordestani nuclear waste processing and disposal (see biography on p. 3) company in the country. Mr. Semnani has been involved in Emerald Sponsors: various charitable activities for many Anonymous years and has founded the Semnani Majid & Maryam Rahimian Foundation to facilitate his philan- thropic work. This foundation has 3 CIS Newsletter His father, Dr. Ali Rahimian, with York Times credited him as “the tech- Omid Kordestani is Googleʼs Senior the support of his two sons, has built nological strategist behind AT&Tʼs Vice-President of Global Sales and a charity hospital in the province of ambitious turnaround plan to become Business Development. He is di- Qazvin; the hospital has been in opera- a data transmission company selling an rectly responsible for tion since 2004 and has served a great array of software products like network Googleʼs worldwide number of underprivileged families in security systems.” revenue generation the region. Mr. Eslambolchi has also served as efforts as well as the Born in 1957 in Tehran, Maryam President of AT&Tʼs Global Network- day-to-day opera- Akhavan Rahimian came to the Unit- ing Technology Services (GNTS), Pres- tions of the compa- ed States in 1974, where she finished ident of AT&T Labs and Chief Infor- nyʼs sales organiza- her high school in Seattle, Washington.