Azar Nafisi (Persian: آذر نفیسی; born 1948)is an Iranian-American writer and professor of English literature. Born in Tehran, Iran, she has resided in the United States since 1997 and became a U.S. citizen in 2008.

Nafisi has held several academic leadership roles, including director of the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) Dialogue Project and Cultural Conversations, a Georgetown Walsh School of Foreign Service, Centennial Fellow, and a fellow at Oxford University