Pardis Mahdavi is Executive Director of the Executive Leadership Academy at the University of California, Berkeley, USA. Previously she was University President at the University of La Verne, Provost and Executive Vice President at the University of Montana, and dean at Arizona State University and University of Denver. She is a non-fiction writer with 20 years of experience as an anthropologist, public health researcher, and expert in sexual politics across the globe. She is the author of five books, including the first book on the sexual politics of modern Iran, Passionate Uprisings: Iran’s Sexual Revolution (2008). A former journalist turned academic, she has written for Ms. Magazine, Foreign Affairs, The Conversation, The Huffington Post, Jaddaliyya, and The Los Angeles Times Magazine. Her work has been covered in documentaries, radio shows, podcasts, and media outlets, including CNN, PBS, NPR, and Publishers Weekly.