Dr. Noorbaksh specializes in several areas, such as international politics, global energy and health, and democratic movements and processes in Middle East politics. Dr. Noorbaksh has published extensively on the Middle East politics, including the Foreign Policy Association, Middle East Policy Journal, and the International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. Dr. Noorbaksh’s most recent academic achievements include receiving his master of business administration (MBA) and master of health administration (MHA) in 2006 from the University of Houston. Previous to these degrees, Dr. Noorbaksh earned his B.S. in electrical engineering at the University of Texas in 1979 and M.A. in political science from the University of Houston in 1986. In 1996, Dr. Noorbaksh earned both his Ph.D. in government studies from the University of Texas at Austin and a position at Harvard University’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies as a Post-Doctoral Fellow. He taught at the Center for International Studies at the University of ST. Thomas in Houston before joining Harrisburg University in 2006. He is currently working on a number of articles on the Middle East and Iran, and two books on the interaction of Islam, nationalism and democratic change, and Islam and Authoritarianism in Iran.