Considered one of the most successful and highly-educated groups in the United States since they first began living here, Iranian-Americans such as Christiane Amanpour, Andre Agassi and Mehrdad Hakimian among many others have made names for themselves in different fields.
Be it in media, sports or business, their pedigree of education and history of excellence has made Iran’s citizens in America an elite group of successful people.
It was in the 1930’s that Iranians first began to settle in the States – a handful of people who moved from a land whose history goes as far back as ancient times when it used to be known as Persia, one of the earliest recorded civilizations on earth.
But it wasn’t until the 1980’s that the real influx of Iranians began to make their way across continents to make their marks in the Western hemisphere. Whole families, who eventually produced successful businessmen like Mehrdad Hakimian, award-winning journalists like Amanpour and grand-slam titlists like Andre Agassi, had uprooted themselves from the motherland and gave this new generation of American-born Iranians a shot at American success.
Currently, their 2-million strong presence in the U.S. has infused the country with talent in other fields, which include science, medicine, engineering and most notably, in business. Plenty of Iranian-Americans occupy prestigious positions in notable companies, some of whom are CEO’s like Salar Kamangar of YouTube or Hamid Akhavan of Siemens.
Others have founded their own companies. Names like Pierre Omidyar of E-Bay who was born of Iranian parents or Mill Valley, California resident Mehrdad Hakimian, owner of Glass Pro.
No matter the field of expertise, Iranian-Americans have proven themselves worthy of the public’s attention and respect and an even bigger second generation of Iranian-Americans are looking to aim for higher spots and even loftier goals and dreams – none of which are out of reach in a land of such great promise.
Of all countries in the world today, the U.S. is where the most number of foreign-dwelling Iranians call home. Most of them are products of elite American education. Such men and women initially left Iran for the U.S. to pursue their studies and eventually return home with the knowledge to serve their government. But after a political revolution, plenty of those who left for the U.S. stayed, while some of those who did go back to Iran eventually returned stateside, creating a pool of highly educated professionals who now call America their home.