Colin MacKinnon was chief editor of Middle East Executive Reports. While living in Iran, he taught at Tehran University and the University of Jondi Shapur in Ahwaz. In the mid-1970's, he was director of the American Institute of Iranian Studies in Tehran. He has a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages from UCLA and a master of science in Journalism from Columbia University. He has taught Persian at Columbia University and at Georgetown. From 1995-1997, he was Iran Country Coordinator for Amnesty International USA. He lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland with his wife Diane.