Pierce Lowary (2022)

Pierce is studying cybersecurity, cyber policy, and computer science at Stanford. His mother’s side of the family hails from Iran, while his father’s side is American. As such, Pierce has always greatly appreciated Iran’s rich language and culture and the role they continue to play in his heritage.

Additionally, Pierce deeply cherishes the fortuity of the freedoms his relatives now enjoy in the United States; freedoms, he explains, that are "embodied by Stanford and the Western tradition, yet relentlessly imperiled in Iran." As a result, his "foremost ambition is to facilitate and secure those very same liberties, for Americans and for the millions like [his] relatives who suffer at the regime’s hands."

As part of the Iranian Studies program, Pierce has had the opportunity to study Iran’s language, culture, geopolitics and more, including his upcoming research on U.S.-Iran relations and the Supreme Leader this summer at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is grateful to be a part of the program, most especially for the ability to communicate with his grandmother and Persian-speaking family members.

Pierce plans on continuing to unite his passions for cyber and international security with his knowledge of Iran through Iranian Studies. He hopes to facilitate peace, security and liberty to benefit Americans and Iranians alike in an era of technological progress and threats.