DR. MASOOD KHATAMEE

Fertility Research Foundation Executive Director Masood Khatamee was invited to a reception at the White House in honor of Nowruz, the Persian New Year. The reception held on Wednesday, March 19th, was hosted by First Lady of the United States Laura Bush. The reception represented the culmination of years of lobbying efforts by many prominent members of the Iranian-American community, with Dr. Khatamee a leading figure among them.

This is the fifth year that Dr. Khatamee has corresponded with the White House seeking acknowledgement of the contributions of the Iranian-American community with a reception honoring the Persian New Year. The White House has always responded with a proclamation honoring Nowruz, which Dr. Khatamee has read at various celebrations he has organized throughout the years in the tri-state area. This is the first year, however, that his suggestion of a White House reception has been accepted.

“I am honored by the recognition of the Iranian-American community that is embodied in this event,” says Khatamee. “To be invited into the home of the President, hosted by the First Lady, at a reception in the peoples’ house in the seat of our nations government – there is no greater honor.”

Masood Khatamee, MD, FACOG, is the Executive Director of the Fertility Research Foundation and a Professor at the NYU School of Medicine. He was born in Shiraz, Iran, and received his initial medical training at the Shiraz University School of Medicine. He moved to the United States in 1970 and took up a position as attending physician at Bellevue Hospital in New York. His role at the FRF involves innovation and advocacy around the treatment and prevention of infertility. His private practice is located on Park Avenue in New York.

Letter about Nowruz, by Dr. Masood Khatamee

January 27, 2006

Dear Community of Iranians,

It has been noted that the word Nowruz, has been written in various spellings. Due to the importance of this ethnic historical event we should all be uniformly writing it in the spelling "Nowruz" for the following reasons:

1. Encyclopedia Iranica writes it as "Nowruz"

2. The Library of US Congress writes it as "Nowruz"

3. Every proclamation from two Presidents, nine Governors and Mayors, for the past six years have referred to this celebration in their acknowledgement letters with the spelling "Nowruz"

We all may have our personal opinion and some people may think it should be Noerooz or Norooz, etc., but because of the importance of this issue, we should follow the lead of Encyclopedia Iranica and become uniform in the spelling of this important event. We should do this in hopes that this will give us and our future generations a symbol of unification.

Sincerely yours,

Masood A. Khatamee, M.D.
Professor, NYU School of Medicine
Executive Director, Fertility Research Foundation

http://frfbaby.com/

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE FOR CONFERENCE