Mohammad-Ali Najafi

Mohammad-Ali Najafi
Leader of Executives of Construction Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 April 2011
Deputy	Hossein Marashi
Preceded by	Gholamhossein Karbaschi
Minister of Education
In office 13 August 1989 – 10 August 1997
President	Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
Preceded by	Kazem Akrami
Succeeded by	Hossein Mozaffar
Minister of Science and Technology
In office 17 August 1981 – 5 November 1985
President	Ali Khamenei
Prime Minister	Mir-Hossein Mousavi
Preceded by	Position estabilished
Succeeded by	Mohammad Farhadi
Member of City Council of Tehran
Incumbent
Assumed office 21 January 2007
Preceded by	Abbas Sheibani
Personal details
Born	13 January 1952 (1952-01-13) (age 59) Tehran, Iran
Political party	Executives of Construction Party
Spouse(s)	Fatemeh Najafi
Alma mater	Tehran University
Religion	Twelver Shi'a Islam

Mohammad Ali Najafi (Persian: محمدعلی نجفی) (born January 13, 1952) is an Iranian politician and university professor in mathematics. He was Minister of Science and Technology in the Cabinet of Mir-Hossein Mousavi and after that Minister of Education in the Cabinet of Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. After that he became Head of Center for planning and budget in the Cabinet of Mohammad Khatami. He has run for a seat in Tehran City Council in the local election of 2006. He was elected leader of Executives of Construction Party on 1 April 2011.

Education

Najafi earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from the Aryamehr University of Technology (Isfahan University of technology). He went on to enroll in the PhD program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but dropped out in 1978^[1][2] during the Iranian revolution and returned to Iran. As of December 2006, he has been an instructor^[2] at the Department of Mathematic Science at Sharif University of Technology since 1979,^[3] working on representation theory.^[2]

Political career

After the Iranian revolution of 1979, Najafi returned to Iran, immediately beginning his political career. Starting as a consultant to Mostafa Chamran and later the president of Isfahan University of Technology (1980–1981),^[3] Najafi served as the Minister of Culture and Higher Education from 1981 to 1984^[2][3] in the cabinet of then Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi. In 1988 he became the Minister of Education under President Hashemi Rafsanjani and served until 1997.^[2][3] In 1997, he was appointed Vice President and Head of the Planning and Budget Organization by President Mohammad Khatami, but after a merge of his organization with another and a renaming to Organization for Management and Planning, he was succeeded by Mohammad Reza Aref. Najafi was an advisor to President Khatami and the senior advisor to the Minister of Industries from 2001 to 2005.^[3]

Candidacy for Tehran City Council

In the Iranian City and Village Councils elections, 2006, Najafi ran for a seat in Tehran City Council. He headed a list named "The Union of reformists" (ائتلاف اصلاح‌طلبان). This was the first time Najafi ran in a general election in Iran.

Presidential ambition

During the autumn of 2004, Najafi was a common favorite to be the reformist candidate for the 2005 presidential election, but he denied his interest in favor of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's candidacy and was then favored to become vice president under Rafsanjani. After Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's victory in the election, Najafi has been suggested as a presidential candidate in future elections.

References

1. ^ Mohammad Ghouchani (محمد قوچانی) (2006-11-26). "Why Najavi? (چرا نجفی؟)" (in Persian). http://www.drnajafi.ir/showT.aspx?TIndex=1&TID=0E0E0311060B0B&Lang=F&ID=735F5D4056. Retrieved 2006-12-17. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Faculty". Website of the Department of Mathematical Science of Sharif University of Technology. http://mathsci.sharif.edu/Profs/Najafi/Najafi.htm. Retrieved 2006-12-17. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e} Paper publicity leaflet distributed by Setād-e Entexābāti-e Mohammad Ali Najafi (ستاد انتخاباتی محمدعلی نجفی), December 2006.

External links

• Najafi's Homepage at Sharif University
• Official Campaign website for City Council of Tehran
• Najafi's Biography by Mohammad Ghouchani

Political offices
Preceded by Position estabilished	Minister of Science and Technology 1981-1985	Succeeded by Mohammad Farhadi
Preceded by Kazem Akrami	Minister of Education 1989-1997	Succeeded by Hossein Mozaffar
Party political offices
Preceded by Gholamhossein Karbaschi	Leader of Executives of Construction Party 2011-present	Succeeded by Incumbent

Persondata
Name	Najafi, Mohammad Ali
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	13 January 1952
Place of birth	Tehran, Iran
Date of death
Place of death