The Iranian Gala @Harvard is a black-tie evening that honors leading community members in various fields. Founded by a group of Harvard students of Persian heritage, the Gala strives to bring together leading professionals, artists, and academics who have dedicated themselves to furthering the study, understanding, and appreciation of Iranian culture, history, and society. The vision of the Gala is to mobilize and empower the next generation of leaders in the Iranian community. 

The Iranian Gala @Harvard is presented by Harvard College Iranian Association (HCIA) in partnership with Harvard alumni, faculty, and affiliates.

2016 Keynote

Pejman Nozad
Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Pear VC

Mr. Pejman Nozad is a co-founder and Managing Partner of Pejman Mar Ventures, an early stage technology venture firm located in Palo Alto, California. Mr. Nozad was named by Forbes "one of the most successful angel investors", with over 15 years of experience investing in early stage high tech start-ups. Mr. Nozad has invested in over 100 startups and has seeded several multi-billion dollar companies such as Dropbox, Lending Club, SoundHound, Gusto (formally Zenpayroll). He is also an investor in industry-defying emerging startups, such as Doordash, Guardant Health, and Branchmetrics. Mr. Nozad was also a Founding General Partner of Amidzad Partners, which was launched in 2000.

Mr. Nozad received a 2014 Ellis Island Medal of Honor Award, given by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations (NECO), an award that pays homage to the immigrant experience and the contribution made to America by immigrants. Mr. Nozad has also been recognized as one of the top 20 most influential people in Bay Area finance, by Worth (others include Marc Andreessen, Marissa Myers, Doug Leone, John Doore, and Mary Meeker). He has also been listed as one of the “Most Influential Persian Entrepreneurs & Innovators” by Persian Tech Entrepreneurs (PTE). These awards and recognitions are a reflection of the dedication and work Mr. Nozad has committed in helping entrepreneurs, by sharing his insights and network to accelerate their learning and growth.

Mr. Nozad has an extreme passion for playing and writing about soccer. He is a Member of the International Sports Press Association, as well as Editor-in-Chief of Toop Magazine, and Editor-in-Chief and Publisher for Footballmedia. Mr. Nozad also covered two FIFA World Cups (1998 and 2006) as an accredited reporter. He is also the Founding Advisor for isoccer.org.
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2016 Honorees

Ali Khademhosseini
Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Faculty, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST) and Brigham & Women's Hospital
Associate Faculty, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering

​Professor Ali Khademhosseini is an Iranian American-Canadian academic, a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology and Associate Faculty at Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. He has carried out biomedical research in the area of micro-devices and biomaterials. He has developed a number of methods for controlling the stem cell micro-environment using micro-scale devices to engineer biomaterials for tissue engineering. He has published extensively in the area of biomedicine and stem cell bioengineering. He has over 350 peer-reviewed publications, more than 250 invited presentations and 20 issued or pending patents. As of October 2015, he has been cited more than 20,000 times and has an H-index of 74. He received his PhD in Bioengineering (with Robert Langer) at MIT, in which he received the BMW Scientific Award. He received his undergraduate and master's degrees, both in chemical engineering, at University of Toronto.

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Afsaneh Najmabadi
Francis Lee Higginson Professor of History and of Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, Harvard University

​Professor Afsaneh Najmabadi is the Francis Lee Higginson Professor of History and of Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality at Harvard University. Her book, Women with Mustaches and Men without Beards: Gender and Sexual Anxieties of Iranian Modernity (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005), received the 2005 Joan Kelly Memorial Prize from the American Historical Association. With Kathryn Babayan, she co-edited Islamicate Sexualities: Translations across Temporal Geographies of Desire (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, Middle Eastern Monographs, 2008).

Her latest book, Professing Selves: Transsexuality and Same-Sex Desire in Contemporary Iran (Duke University Press, 2013) was a finalist for Lambda Literary Award in 2014, and received the 2014 Joan Kelly Memorial Prize from American Historical Association. Professor Najmabadi leads a digital archive and website, Women’s Worlds in Qajar Iran. The project was recently awarded its third two-year grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and it was recognized by the White House Office of Public Engagement in May of 2012.

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Roxane Zand, DL 
Deputy Chairman, Middle East and Gulf Region, Sotheby's
Deputy Lord Lieutenant for Greater London (appointed by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth)

Harvard and Oxford educated, Roxane Zand began a career in museum and arts administration after three years in UNESCO. She left Iran after the Revolution to resume professional activities in London in the field of education and the arts, and as one of the founding members of the Harvard Club of London. Ms. Zand was an officer of the Iran Heritage Foundation before moving to Asia House, as well as a freelance consultant for numerous projects for the British Museum and elsewhere in the art world before joining Sotheby’s in 2006 where she is now Deputy Chairman for the Middle East.

Currently she sits on the Advisory Council of the Pictet Art Prize, the Development Board of the University of the Arts London, and has been appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant for Greater London for her services to Middle Eastern art and culture. She is also arts editor for the Encyclopedia Islamica. At Sotheby’s she has played an instrumental role in developing and contributing to sales of Arab and Iranian art, and has conducted a number of charity auctions to benefit causes in the MENA region.

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2016 Musical Performer

Parham Haghighi
Pianist
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Born and raised in Mashhad, Iran, a major oasis of culture along the ancient Silk Road, Parham Haghighi was among the last musicians to perform on stage in his native city. Today, all musical acts are strictly banned within 20 kilometers of Mashhad.

Growing up into a family rich with Persian musical tradition, from an early age Parham was raised with Iranian folk melodies sung by his father. Listening to Western Rock and Blues and his big enthusiasm for complex harmony and rhythms, made Parham find his musical path to Jazz, which helped him later understand and appreciate the structure of his musical roots. Holding a bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering, Parham’s musical journey brought him to the prestigous Berklee College of Music in Boston where he recently finished his studies in Contemporary Writing and Production with a focus on Jazz vocal performance.

A recipient of Berklee’s 2013 “Outstanding Achievement Award", Parham has been actively performing as a vocalist and pianist across Iran and the US, including at the Museum of Fine Art in Boston. By researching, composing, arranging, performing, and teaching, he is aiming to share a taste of his lesser-known musical roots with the world, hoping to play a valuable role in the future of Iranian art and culture.

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