PAAIA Board Member among Recipients of the 2013 Ellis Island Medal of Honor

Eight highly accomplished Iranian Americans will be awarded the 2013 Ellis Island Medal of Honor on May 11th, 2013 for “exemplifying outstanding qualities in both their personal and professional lives, while continuing to preserve the richness of their particular heritage.”  

The honorees include:

• Mr. Jamshid Ehsani, Scientist, global financial expert and philanthropist

• Dr. Jamshid Ghajar, Neurosurgeon and founder of the Brain Trauma Foundation

• Dr. Hossein Gharib, international authority on Thyroid disorders

• Mr. Yousef Javadi, entrepreneur, innovator, and PAAIA Board Member

• Mr. Vahid Kooros, founder of Oxus Energy LLC, businessman and philanthropist

• Mr. Farshad Mahjoor, Architect, businessman, industrialist, and philanthropist

• Mr. David Merage, Principal, Consolidated Investment Group and philanthropist

• Dr. Pardis Sabeti, Associate Professor, Center for Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Senior Associate Member of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT

• Homa Sarshar, author, journalist, media personality

The honorees join 52 other Iranian Americans who have been awarded Medal of Honor since NECO’s finding in 1986. Approximately 100 individuals are awarded this prestigious medal on an annual basis at a ceremony on Ellis Island.

Established in 1986 by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations (NECO), the Ellis Island Medals of Honor annually pays tribute to the ancestry groups that comprise America’s unique cultural mosaic. The Ellis Island Medal of Honor ranks among the nation’s most prestigious awards. The Medals are presented on Ellis Island, in a dramatic ceremony, to American citizens of diverse origins for their outstanding contributions to their communities, their nation, and the world.

The Ellis Island Medals of Honor are sanctioned by the U.S. Congress and recipients’ names are listed in the Congressional Record. Six Presidents of the United States, Nobel Prize winners, athletes, leaders of industry, artists, and others are among the remarkable group of individuals to have previously received the award.

PAAIA congratulates this year’s medal recipients and thanks them for their contributions to the richness and diversity of American life.

Click here to view the full list of the 2013 Ellis Island Medal recipients.  

Click here to view the full list of Iranian American honorees from inception to 2010.