BA in Philosophy

Ali Manouchehri, 1999

Ali Manouchehri

Ali Manouchehri is the CEO of MetroStar Systems. He co-founded MetroStar in 1999, and has taken the small start-up to a mid-sized company that has been nationally recognized as one of the Washington, DC, area’s fastest growing private companies and among the top one hundred best places to work in information technology. MetroStar’s clients include government agencies and a variety of private institutions.

Mr. Manouchehri was born in Iran. His family moved to the United States in the 1970s, and then back to Iran in 1992. After high school, Mr. Manouchehri joined his father's textile business and marketed and sold his family’s products in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, one of the largest and busiest in the world.

In 1995, Mr. Manouchehri returned to northern Virginia and earned his bachelor’s degree in philosophy at Mason. While at Mason, Mr. Manouchehri forged many personal friendships and successful business relationships with other students and alumni. Those relationships gave him the confidence to go into business and to create the company that has become MetroStar Systems.

Mr. Manouchehri believes in powering change through philanthropy. He contributes his time and his talents to the broader community, applying technology to help improve the lives of others. He serves on the board for Washington Adventist Hospital, which in 2010 awarded him the spirit of innovation award.

He has funded and built computer labs in rural areas of Nepal, and provides scholarships for ten underprivileged children in that country to ensure they can afford to complete high school. In 2012, the Department of Philosophy recognized him as their distinguished alumnus.