Narges Mohammadi, a physicist and a prominent human rights defender who had been incarcerated in Iranian prisons since May 2015, was released on October 7 when her 16-year sentence was commuted due to health concerns. Her conviction and sentence in May 2016 were based exclusively on her peaceful advocacy for women’s rights and the abolition of the death penalty. She initially had been denied release in March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic began to spread and over 100,000 other detainees were granted temporary release. In July, she and several cellmates began to exhibit signs of the virus. Word was received from her attorney that she had tested positive for the disease but was not receiving medical care. https://washingtonpost.com/world/2020/10/08/narges-mohammadi-released-from-prison-iran-coronavirus-human-rights-death-penalty/
Who We Are
Co-chairs
Joel L. Lebowitz, Rutgers University
Paul H. Plotz, M.D., Washington, DC
Walter Reich, George Washington University
Eugene Chudnovsky, Lehman College
Alexander Greer, Brooklyn College
Vice-chairs
Astronomy – Arno Penzias, New Enterprises Associates*
Biology – Max E. Gottesman, Columbia University
Chemistry – Zafra Lerman, MIMSAD Inc.
Computer Science – Rachelle Heller, The George Washington University
Computer Science – Jack Minker, University of Maryland, College Park
Engineering – Philip Sarachik, NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering
Mathematics – Simon Levin, Princeton University
Medical Sciences – J. Joseph Blum, Duke University
Honorary Board Members
Nancy Andrews, Duke University
David Baltimore, California Institute of Technology*
Alan J. Bard, University of Texas
Jacob Bigeleisen (deceased), SUNY, Stony Brook
Raoul Bott (deceased), Harvard University
Owen Chamberlain (deceased), University of California, Berkeley
Stanley Deser, Brandeis University
Edward Gerjuoy, University of Pittsburg
David Gross, (2004 Nobel Prize in Physics), Kavil Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara*
Pierre Hohenberg (deceased), New York University
Walter Kohn (deceased), University of California, Santa Barbara*
James Langer, University of California, Santa Barbara
Peter Lax, New York University
Louis Nirenberg, New York University
Marshall Nirenberg (deceased), National Institutes of Health*
Honorary Board Members
John C. Polanyi, University of Toronto*
Stuart Rice, University of Chicago
Sir Richard J. Roberts, (1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology & Medicine), New England Biolabs*
Myriam Sarachick, City College of New York
Harold Scheraga, Cornell University
Sylvan Schweber (deceased), Brandeis University
Maxine Singer, Carnegie Institution of Washington
Alfred I. Tauber, Boston University
Steven Weinberg, University of Texas, Austin*
Myrna Weissman, Columbia University
Rosalyn S. Yalow (deceased), Mount Sinai School of Medicine*
* Nobel laureate