Elnaz Moshfeghian
Computer Science Undergraduate
After serving as vice president of communications for IIT's Student Government Association her junior year, Elnaz Moshfeghian was looking to advance to a position where she could make a bigger impact and have a wider reach. She accomplished both when she was elected 2011–12 SGA president.
"My main concern is in improving my little corner of the world in whatever way I'm best suited," says Moshfeghian, whose leadership approach is based on coalition building and teamwork.
Recipient of a Richard A. Babcock Leadership Award and Clinton E. Stryker Distinguished Service Award from IIT, Moshfeghian was also given a 2011 Undergraduate Summer Research Stipend to assist on a project on the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party headed by Margaret Power, professor of history and pre-law adviser.
One of Moshfeghian's most memorable experiences at IIT was her week in Foley, Ala., as a participant in a Habitat for Humanity project during Alternative Spring Break 2009.
Moshfeghian's passion for problem solving drew her to computer science, where she learned the importance of breaking up a big, unwieldy problem into small, manageable segments. Mosheghian hopes to one day bridge the gap between the drivers of technology and its users in the context of addressing a social problem, such as the way open-government initiatives provide citizens easy and intuitive access to city services.