Mohammed Nadir Atash (born 1947) is an Afghan-American educator, philanthropist, entrepreneur, and author.

Early life and education

M. Nadir Atash was born in

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, the son of Afghan Army Issa Khan Noorestani. He attended The American University of Beirut, receiving a B.S. in Chemistry and came to the United States after the

Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

in 1979. He went on to pursue a PhD in Educational Research at

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

Afghanistan Reconstruction and Career at Ariana Airlines

Following the attacks of

9/11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

and the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, Atash returned to his country of birth to contribute to reconstruction efforts. After serving for three months as the Senior Adviser to the Ministry of Transport, Atash took a position as head of the country's primary airline carrier, Ariana. During the rule of the

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

, Ariana was used for narcotics trafficking and other terrorism-related activities, so Dr. Atash made efforts to implement modern systems of accountin

and to make the airline safe for the annual

hajj The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried ...

pilgrimage. He managed to secure a large deal with Boeing for Arian

then eventually returned to the United States where he resides with his family today.

References

1. The Embassy Of Afghanistan. 2. Walker, Brian.
A Covenant with Kabul
, ''Boeing Frontiers'', 3-2006. Retrieved on May 18, 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Atash, Mohammed Nadir 1947 births Afghan emigrants to the United States Florida State University alumni American University of Beirut alumni Living people