PAAIA Congratulates Iranian American Ellis Island Medal of Honor Recipients
May 14, 2015, Washington, D.C. – Seven highly accomplished Iranian Americans were awarded the 2015 Ellis Island Medal of Honor on May 9th, 2015 for distinguishing “themselves within their own ethnic [group] while exemplifying the values of the American way of life.” PAAIA board member, Mariam Khosravani, and IA-100 member, Dr. Kamiar Alaei, were among the honorees.
The other honorees include:
Shohreh Aghdashloo – Iranian American Actress
Shireen Atabaki, MD, MPH – Emergency Medicine Specialist at Children’s National Health System
Mirghavamaddin Bozorgmir – CEO of Mutual of America Capital Management
Anoosheh Oskouian – President and co-founder of Ship & Shore Environmental Inc.
Ehsan Yarshater, PhD – Founder and Director of the Center for Iranian Studies, and Hagop Kevorkian Professor Emeritus of Iranian Studies at Columbia University
The honorees join 69 other Iranian Americans who have been awarded the Medal of Honor since the National Ethnic Coalition of Organization’s (NECO) founding 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 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 the 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 2015 Ellis Island Medal of Honor recipients.
Click here to view the full list of Iranian American honorees from inception.
