Abbas Milani photo by Babak Payami

Abbas Milani, PhD

  • Research Fellow, Hoover Institution
  • Hamid and Christina Moghadam Director of Iranian Studies
  • Co-director of the Iran Democracy Project
  • CDDRL Affiliated Faculty

615 Crothers Way,
Encina Commons, Room 128A
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305

(650) 721-4052 (voice)

Biography

Abbas Milani is the Hamid and Christina Moghadam Director of Iranian Studies at Stanford University and a visiting professor in the department of political science. In addition, Dr. Milani is a research fellow and co-director of the Iran Democracy Project at the Hoover Institution.

Prior to coming to Stanford, Milani was a professor of history and political science and chair of the department at Notre Dame de Namur University and a research fellow at the Institute of International Studies at the University of California at Berkeley. Milani was an assistant professor in the faculty of law and political science at Tehran University and a member of the board of directors of Tehran University's Center for International Studies from 1979 to 1987. He was a research fellow at the Iranian Center for Social Research from 1977 to 1978 and an assistant professor at the National University of Iran from 1975 to 1977.

Dr. Milani is the author of Eminent Persians: Men and Women Who Made Modern Iran, 1941-1979, (Syracuse University Press, Syracuse, NY, 2 volumes, November, 2008); King of Shadows: Essays on Iran's Encounter with Modernity, Persian text published in the U.S. (Ketab Corp., Spring 2005); Lost Wisdom: Rethinking Persian Modernity in Iran, (Mage 2004); The Persian Sphinx: Amir Abbas Hoveyda and the Riddle of the Iranian Revolution (Mage, 2000); Modernity and Its Foes in Iran (Gardon Press, 1998); Tales of Two Cities: A Persian Memoir (Mage 1996); On Democracy and Socialism, a collection of articles coauthored with Faramarz Tabrizi (Pars Press, 1987); and Malraux and the Tragic Vision (Agah Press, 1982). Milani has also translated numerous books and articles into Persian and English.

Milani received his BA in political science and economics from the University of California at Berkeley in 1970 and his PhD in political science from the University of Hawaii in 1974.

In The News

A woman in Iran casts a ballot in the 2024 parlimentary elections.
Commentary

Elections in Iran Highlight Unrest at Home and Tensions Abroad

The results of Iran's most recent election are a serious sign of defeat for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Dr. Abbas Milani tells Michael McFaul on the World Class podcast.
cover link Elections in Iran Highlight Unrest at Home and Tensions Abroad
Women protest over the death of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish women who died in the custody of Iranian police.
Commentary

The Future of Women, Life, and Freedom in Iran

The death of Mahsa Amini in Iran has ignited protests unlike anything seen in the country since the 1970s and might be the spark that finally lights the way for democratic reforms, Dr. Abbas Milani tells Michael McFaul on the World Class Podcast.
cover link The Future of Women, Life, and Freedom in Iran
Iran Solidarity from Freedom House
News

CDDRL Joins Call for Global Solidarity in Supporting the Iranian Struggle for Freedom

The Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law at Stanford University is proud to join a coalition of nearly 500 experts, organizations, dignitaries, and heads of state calling on the international community to strengthen its support for Iranian pro-democracy protesters.
cover link CDDRL Joins Call for Global Solidarity in Supporting the Iranian Struggle for Freedom