A. Kamron Jabbari

Ahmad Kamron Jabbari, publishing executive, was born in Tehran in 1945. He came to the United States in January 1964 and received BA in Aerospace Engineering in 1967 and subsequently, with financial assistance from NASA, he earned an MS from the Pennsylvania States University. He continued his higher education at Washington University in St. Louis where he received an MA in economics in 1974 and a Ph.D. in 1978. He was assistant professor of economics and management at Centre College of Kentucky from 1976-1980. He founded Mazda Publishers, Inc. in 1980 and in 1995 established the Iranica Institute, a nonprofit educational and cultural organization aimed at encouraging research and study about the region and countries collectively known as the Iranicas.

Robert Olson ( December 14,1940 - October 13, 2023 )

Robert Olson was Professor of Middle East history and politics at the University of Kentucky (Emeritus). He was the author of more that ten books of various aspects of Middle East history and politics. His major books are: The Siege of Mosul and Ottoman- Persian Relations: 1718-1743; The Emergence of Kurdish Nationalism and the Sheikh Said Rebellion: 1880-1925; Turkey's Relations with Iran, 1979-2004;The Kurdish Question and Turkish-Iranian Relations:From World I to 2000; Blood, Beliefs and Ballots: The Management of Kurdish Nationalism in Turkey, 2007-2000; The Kurdish Nationalist Movements in Turkey: 1980-2011; The Goat and the Butcher: Nationalism and State Formation in Kurdistan-Iraq since the Iraqi War War. He was also the author of 75 referred research articles and 60 edited research articles. He was distinguished Professor of the University of Kentucky in 2000.