Hassan Nemazee

Hassan Nemazee (1950-) was born in Washington, D.C., the son of a wealthy Iranian shipping executive; he became a U.S. citizen in 1996. He is an investor and participant in foreign policy, including being on the Board of Advisers of the Center for a New American Security. On August 27, 2009, he was arrested for attempting to obtain a fraudulent loan from Citibank; a September 21 indictment extended allegations of fraud to include Bank of America and HSBC.

He has been a major contributor to the Democratic Party (United States), serving, in 2008, co-chairman of Hillary Clinton's presidential fundraising efforts, then raising over $500,000 for Barack Obama.

In 1999, he was nominated, by Bill Clinton to be U.S. Ambassador to Argentina, but was never confirmed. Republicans questioned the nomination after Forbes magazine published an article critical of his business dealings.

From 1987 to the present, he has been Chairman and CEO of Nemazee Capital Corporation, a holding company which invests in both public and private companies. Between 1979 and 1987, he was a real estate investor in Houston, Texas. Between 1972 and 1979, he was Chairman and CEO of Nemazee Holdings, a joint venture partner of the American International Group (AIG), Morgan Bank, and Linbeck Construction in Iran. During this time, he was chairman of the Iran Foundation, Nemazee Hospital, Nemazee School of Nursing, Shiraz Waterworks, and a Member of the Board of Trustees of Shiraz University (formerly Pahlavi University).

His affiliations include

• RAND Center for Middle East Public Policy Advisory Board
• Council on Foreign Relations
• Member, Asia Society Policy Advisory Board

In the past, he was:

• Member Advisory Board Foreign Policy Leadership Council - 2004
• Member Board of Trustees Asia Society - March 2003
• Member of the Visiting Committee of the Center for International Affairs, Harvard University 1998 - 2005
• Member of Visiting Committee on University Resources, Harvard University 1986-2002
• Member of the Middle East Center Advisory Council at Harvard University 1990 - 1994
• Member of the International Affairs Planning Committee, Harvard University 1990-1995
• In 1996 was named a John Harvard Fellow
• Vice Chairman of the Encyclopedia Iranica affiliated with Columbia University 1990-1998
• Taught seminars at Harvard and also in Japan and Korea in conjunction with Harvard University.
• Member of the Board of Trustees of The Spence School 1993 - 1997
• Member of the Board of Trustees of The Brain Trauma Foundation 1996 - present

Education

• AB degree with Honors from Harvard University in 1972.