Five Iranian Americans to Receive Ellis Island Medal of Honor Award

By PAAIA Staff

April 27, 2011, New York, NY – Five highly accomplished Iranian Americans will be awarded the 2011 Ellis Island Medal of Honor on May 7th, 2011 for outstanding achievement in their personal and professional lives coupled with preservation of their culture and heritage and noteworthy citizenship to the United States.

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.

This year’s honorees are:

Mr. Hamid Ansari – President & Co-Founder of Prodea Systems Inc.

Mr. F. Francis Najafi – Founder & CEO of Pivotal Group

Mr. Vali Nasr – Senior Advisor to US Special Representative for Afghanistan & Pakistan and Professor of International Political at the Fletcher School of Tufts University

Mr. Younes Nazarian – An Entrepreneur & Philanthropist

Mr. Ali C. Razi – CEO & President of the Stratham Group

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

Click here to read NECO Press Release.  

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