Pouria Abbassi, a 2022 Ellis Island Medal of Honor recipient, has been the CEO of large companies in three distinct industries – hospitality, health care, and now, higher education. In each capacity, he has led organizations through business and cultural transformations to unprecedented results while giving back to the communities they serve.

As the CEO of the Associated Students UCLA (ASUCLA), the largest organization of its kind in the world, he leads ASUCLA through a large and multifaceted set of business lines, on campus services and extending the UCLA brand globally through operations in over 100 countries. Pouria has previously led four mental and behavioral health companies in the midst of the health care reforms (ACA) through 17 facilities in California as the President of the Phoenix Houses of California, Inc. (PHC). Prior to PHC, he was the CEO of the Los Angeles Convention Center, leading the Center through the unprecedented development of the Sports and Entertainment District and successful revitalization of the South Park area of downtown Los Angeles leading to significant increases in trade and tourism for the region. In prior capacities Pouria has led teams in project engineering, debt financing, financial modeling, environmental analysis and information technology implementation. He also has done research and published in the areas of cryogenics and high temperature superconductivity.

A registered mechanical engineer in the State of California and a graduate of UCLA School of Engineering and UCLA Anderson School of Management/Executive Management program. Pouria sits on various boards including the Los Angeles Business Council, Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation, Providence Hospital Foundation Board of Governors, Beyond Vision Music Foundation, Wescom, PAAIA, Norooz Celebration Foundation, and works with various other community organizations.