Anousheh Ansari
Anousheh Ansari is co-founder and Chairman of Prodea systems, Inc. Her previous business accomplishments include serving as co-founder and CEO of Telecom Technologies, Inc. On September 18th, 2006, she became the first female Muslim in space, first Iranian-born person in space, and the first female space tourist. Along with her brother-in-law Amir Ansari, she made a multi-million dollar contribution to the X-Prize foundation on May 5, 2004, the 43rd anniversary of Alan Shepard's sub-orbital spaceflight. The X-Prize was officially renamed the Ansari X Prize in honour of their donation. She is also a co-founder of PARSA Community Foundation.Born in 1966 in Mashhad, Iran, Ansari witnessed the Iranian revolution in 1979. She immigrated to the United States in 1984 as a teenager who did not speak English. She has a B.S. degree in Electronics and Computer Engineering from George Mason University and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from George Washington University.