Anousheh Ansari is an Iranian-American engineer and co-founder and chairwoman of

Prodea Systems. Anousheh Ansari was born September 12, 1966, in Mashhad, Iran. When
she and her parents moved to Tehran, she had been witnessed the Iranian Revolution in
1979. It was 1984 she immigrated to the United States as a teenager.
She is fluent in English and French, By 1986 she has already acquired a working
knowledge of Russian for her spaceflight experience.
She received her Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering and computer
science at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, and her master's degree at
George Washington University in Washington D.C.
After she had graduated, Anousheh began work at MCI, where she met her future
husband, Hamid Ansari. By the end of 1991 they had already married.
By 2001 Anousheh Ansari had became succefull. She become a vice president of Sonus
and general manager of Sonus new INtelligentIP division.
On May 5, 2004, The Ansari family investment firm, also named Prodea, has announced a
partnership with Space Adventures to create a fleet of suborbital spaceflight vehicles for
global commercial use.
On August 21, 2006, Ansari was elevated to the prime crew. When she was interviewed
on Iran national television, she said What I hope to achieve on my spaceflight is inspire
everyone especially young people all over the world to not give up their dreams and to
pursue them because of countries that do not provide women with the same
opportunities as men.
On Monday September 18, 2006, Ansari had became the fourth (and first female) space
tourist. Ansari landed safely aboard on September 29, 2006, at 01:13 with U.S. astronaut
Jeffrey Williams and Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov. She was given red roses, and a
surprise kiss from her husband, Hamid. Ansari has expressed that she does not consider
herself a "space tourist", and prefers the title of "spaceflight participant".
Ansari has received multiple honors, including the George Mason University
Entrepreneurial Excellence Award & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the
Southwest Region.
In 2009 she was received the first Symons Innovator Award given annually by NCWIT to
honor successful women entrepreneurs in technology.
She received an Honorary Doctorate of Science from George Mason University on
December 20, 2012.
Anousheh Ansari participated as a speaker at the 2010 at Space Camp in Huntsville
Alabama with Homer Hickam. In 2010, she was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in
recognition of her humanitarian efforts. She served as the commencement speaker at
and received an Honorary Doctorate of Science from Utah Valley University on April 25,
2013.