Alinaghi Mashayekhi
Biography
Alinaghi Mashayekhy (born August 6, 1948, in Khomein) is a distinguished Iranian management professor, researcher, and founder of the Faculty of Management and Economics at Sharif University of Technology. A graduate of MIT, he serves as the president of the Iranian System Dynamics Association. Mashayekhi has played a pivotal role in advancing management education and systems planning in Iran, establishing innovative institutions and academic programs to train a new generation of managers and specialists.
Life
Alinaghi Mashayekhy was born on August 6, 1948, in Khomein, where he completed his education up to the ninth grade. Driven by his passion for mathematics, he moved to Tehran in 1963 to continue his high school studies at Adib High School. In 1966, he was admitted to Sharif University of Technology, earning his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering with top honors in June 1970. During his three years as a teaching assistant at Sharif, he helped establish the thermodynamics and heat transfer laboratory. In 1973, he enrolled in the doctoral program in management at MIT, completing his PhD in May 1978. He worked as a research associate at MIT but returned to Iran in November 1978 at his own insistence, joining the Isfahan University of Technology.
Academic and Professional Activities
In 1979, Mashayekhi established the Industrial Engineering Department at Isfahan University of Technology, and in 1982, he co-founded Iran’s first master’s program in Socio-Economic Systems Engineering at the same university. From 1981 to 1984, he served as a consultant to the Plan and Budget Organization, contributing to the development of Iran’s First Development Plan. In 1986, he transferred to Sharif University of Technology in Tehran and, in 1987, spent a year as a visiting professor at the State University of New York at Albany on a sabbatical. Upon his return, he designed a master’s equivalent program in systems management, which later became the official master’s in systems and Productivity Management within the Industrial Engineering Department.
In 1989, Mashayekhi founded the Institute for Research in Planning and Development (later renamed the Institute for Management and Planning Studies), serving as its president until 1995. At the institute, he established a master’s program in systems planning and launched the scientific journal *Planning and Development*. In 1995, he returned to MIT for sabbaticals as a visiting scholar. In 1997, he proposed the establishment of a Faculty of Management and Economics at Sharif University, which was realized in 1999 with support from the Ministry of Industries and a team of young, talented faculty. The faculty introduced Iran’s first MBA program, along with master’s programs in economics and socio-economic systems engineering, becoming one of the country’s most prestigious and sought-after centers for management and economics education.
Mashayekhi held various executive roles, including consultant to the Ministers of Energy, Heavy Industries, and Housing, and board member of organizations such as the Industrial Management Institute, Kayson Company, and Isfahan Provincial Bank. He served as managing director of Rahbaran Petrochemical Company and was the secretary-general of the Sharif University Alumni Association from 2002 to 2011. Additionally, he founded and chaired the International Management Conference in Iran (2003–2018) and is a member of the Iranian System Dynamics Association.
Works
Books
– *System Dynamics: A Systemic Perspective*, Ariana Ghalam, 2017
– *Developing Learning Capacity: Challenges for Managers and Leaders* (with Mostafa Hashemizadeh), Dastan, 2010
– *Industrial Development, Accounting Prices, and Current Inflation*, Industrial Management Institute, 1995
– *Prospects for Iran’s Economic Development Based on Oil*, University Publishing Center, 1984
Research Interests
– System Dynamics
– Organizational Learning
– Strategic Planning
– Strategic Management
– Management Control Systems
– Critique of Organizational Theories in Management
Selected Professional Roles
– President, Iranian System Dynamics Association, 2017
– Member, Supreme Administrative Council (appointed by President Hassan Rouhani), 2017
– Co-founder, Iranian Management School, 2008–present
– Founder and Chair, International Management Conference in Iran, 2003–2018
– Professor, Sharif University of Technology, 1997–2011
– Board Member, Kayson Company, 2006–2011
– Secretary-General, Sharif University Alumni Association, 2002–2011
– Founder and Dean, Faculty of Management and Economics, Sharif University of Technology, 1999–2003
– Board Member, Industrial Management Institute, 1997–1999
– Consultant, High Performance Systems McKinsey, USA, 1996–1998
– Founder and President, Institute for Research in Planning and Development, 1989–1995
– Consultant to the Minister of Energy for Planning, 1985
– Consultant to the Minister of Heavy Industries for Planning, 1984
– Consultant to the Minister of Housing for Planning, 1983
– Dean, Faculty of Industrial Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, 1983–1985
– Consultant, Plan and Budget Organization, 1981–1984
– Head, Center for Expansion of Industrial and Construction Services, Isfahan Province, 1980
– Vice President for Finance and Administration, Isfahan University of Technology, 1979
– Head, Industrial Engineering Group, Faculty of Technology and Social Systems, Isfahan University of Technology, 1979
Video Index
Chapters:
Personal Information
- Birthday: August 6, 1948
- Birthplace: Khomein, Markazi, Iran
- Interview date: 21.02.2022- 16.08.2025