Haleh Esfandiari To Speak At Una Commencement

Nov. 22, 2010

Michelle Eubanks, UNA, at media@una.edu, 256.765.4392 or 256.606.2033

FLORENCE, Ala. - American-Iranian author and director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Dr. Haleh Esfandiari will speak to the University of North Alabama fall 2010 graduating class Dec. 17 at 7 p.m. in Flowers Hall. One of the top authorities on Iran in the United States, Esfandiari served as deputy secretary general of the Women's Organization of Iran prior to teaching at Princeton University from 1980-1994, where she taught courses on the Persian language, contemporary Persian literature and the women's movement in Iran. Esfandiari, who at one time worked as a journalist in Iran and taught at the College of Mass Communication in Tehran, was arrested by Iranian security authorities in 2007 and detained for 105 days after being accused of violating Iran's national security. After her release in August 2007, Esfandiari wrote a memoir, "My Prison, My Home," which was published Oct. 1. "When President Cale and I looked at possible commencement speakers, we tried to look for someone who would inspire provocative thoughts in our graduates," said David Shields, UNA vice president for student affairs. "She provides a profile of courage and leadership and inspires graduates to be champions with a great responsibility to help the world." A writer and editor of dozens of books since the 1970s, Esfandiari is the author of "Reconstructed Lives: Women and Iran's Islamic Revolution," editor of "Iranian Woman: Past, Present and Future" and co-editor of "The Economic Dimensions of Middle Eastern History." Esfandiari is also the first recipient of an annual award in her name, which was presented to her by a group of businesswomen and activists in the Middle East and North Africa regions. In addition, she has been awarded a Women's Equality Award from the National Council of Women's Organizations in 2008, an honorary degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 2008, a Miss Hall's School Woman of Distinction Award in 2009 and is one of the three first annual recipients of the Project on Middle East Democracy's Leader for Democracy award.

About The University of North Alabama

The University of North Alabama is an accredited, comprehensive regional state university offering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree programs through the colleges of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering; the Sanders College of Business and Technology; Education and Human Sciences; and the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions. Occupying a 130-acre campus in a residential section of Florence, Alabama, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia. UNA Athletics, a renowned collegiate athletics program with seven (7) Division II National Championships, is now a proud member of NCAA Division I as part of the Atlantic Sun and United Athletic conferences. The University of North Alabama is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate in the admission policy on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, age, or national origin. For more: una.edu and una.edu/unaworks/.