# Anousheh Ansari

_Iranian-American engineer and entrepreneur (born 1966)_

Canonical: https://diginpl.com/people/anousheh-ansari
Last updated: 2026-10-31

> Anousheh Ansari (Persian: انوشه انصاری; née Raissyan; born September 12, 1966) is an Iranian-American engineer, space tourist, and entrepreneur. Ansari is the CEO of XPRIZE Foundation. Ansari and her family sponsored XPRIZE’s first venture in 1994: the $10 million Ansari XPRIZE. Prior to XPRIZE, Ansari was the CEO and Chairwoman of Prodea Systems, an Internet of Things (IoT) technology firm she co-founded in 2006. While under her leadership, the company earned recognition as one of Inc. Magazine’s 500 fastest-growing companies and Deloitte & Touche’s Fast 500 technology companies.

## Quick facts

- **Born:** 12 September 1966 ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17519#P569))
- **Place of birth:** Mashhad ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17519#P19))
- **Citizenship:** United States; Iran ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17519#P27))
- **Occupation:** businessperson; astronaut; engineer; astronomer; entrepreneur; space tourist ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17519#P106))
- **Education:** George Mason University; George Washington University ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17519#P69))
- **Official website:** anoushehansari.com ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17519#P856))
- **Awards:** Horatio Alger Award; Great Immigrants Award; Ellis Island Medal of Honor ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17519#P166))
- **X (Twitter):** anoushehansari ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17519#P2002))
- **LinkedIn:** anousheh-ansari-4a40929 ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17519#P6634))

## About

Ansari was the fourth overall self-funded space tourist and the first self-funded woman to fly to the International Space Station. Her memoir My Dream of Stars, co-written with American engineer Homer Hickam, was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2010.

## Questions

**When was Anousheh Ansari born?**  
Anousheh Ansari was born on 12 September 1966 in Mashhad.

**Where did Anousheh Ansari study?**  
Anousheh Ansari was educated at George Mason University, George Washington University.

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## Sources

- [Wikipedia (English): Anousheh Ansari](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anousheh_Ansari) — [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
- [Wikipedia (Nepali): अनुशेह अन्सारी](https://ne.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A4%85%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%B6%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%B9_%E0%A4%85%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B8%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%80) — [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
- [Wikidata item Q17519](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17519) — [CC0 1.0](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- [Image: AnoushehAnsari.jpg by NASA (Public domain)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AnoushehAnsari.jpg)

## Licence and attribution

Text from the Wikipedia article Anousheh Ansari, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page's text is shared under the same licence. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: AnoushehAnsari.jpg — NASA, Public domain.

## Cite this page

"Anousheh Ansari". DigiNepal. Last updated 31 October 2026. https://diginpl.com/people/anousheh-ansari. Retrieved 7 November 2026.