Reza Ardakanian

Reza Ardakanian () is an Iranian professor, politician and former Minister of Energy of Iran, a position he had held from 29 October 2017 to 25 August 2021. He was previously deputy energy minister in the 1980s and 1990s and has been involved with UN-Water.

Reza Ardakanian is the Founding Director of the United Nations University Institute for Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and of Resources (UNU-FLORES) since 2012. He is the co-ordinator of the UN-Water Task Force on planning and organization of the new Water Decade (2018–2028). Prior to establishing the UNU-FLORES, he established another six international and national entities. He served as Director of the UN-Water Decade Programme on Capacity Development (UNW-DPC) from 2007 to 2015 and as ad interim Vice-Rector of the United Nations University (UNU) in Europe from 2009 to 2011. During his tenure as the senior official at the United Nations, his leadership contributed largely to the implementation of the MDGs and the SDGs, especially on global capacity development. He has been on the boards of various international programmes/organizations such as the UNESCO International Hydrological Programme, the UNESCO Institute for Water Education, the International Hydropower Association, and the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS). Prior to his international commitments, Ardakanian held a number of national offices in Iran, including Deputy Minister for Water Affairs (2001–2005), Senior Vice-Minister (1998–2001) and Deputy Minister for Planning & Economic Affairs (1989–1991) with the Ministry of Energy, and Deputy Minister for Urban Development and Municipalities with the Ministry of Interior (1987–1989).

Ardakanian was co-opted Professor at the Technische Universität Dresden in Dresden, Germany and is a faculty member of Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, Iran. He holds a PhD in Water Resources Management from McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada. Provided by Wikipedia