An Afternoon with Author Illah Nourbakhsh in Conversation with Monica Ruiz

Riverstone Books is pleased to welcome Illah Nourbakhsh to our Squirrell Hill store to talk about their new title, Turn Left: Spinning an Intercultural Identity. He will be joined in conversation by Monica Ruiz.

Following the discussion, we will have a time for Q&A with the audience and book signing.

Refreshments will be provided.

Want to reserve your copy of the book? You can do so .

About the book:

Illah Nourbakhsh has spent fifty years navigating the space between cultures in conflict, enduring adversity, becoming resilient and successful, and yet, still failing to satisfy the question: “Where do I belong?” As it turns out, the answer lies in the space between categories. Drawing from his experience as an Iranian-born immigrant, Nourbakhsh shares his journey from the Iranian Revolution to the AI revolution, electric car races to the dot-com boom, and National Geographic to NASA. Turn Left opens up the essential conversation of identity, community engagement, and the power of robotics.

About the author:

Illah R. Nourbakhsh is Kavcic-Moura Professor of Robotics at Carnegie Mellon University, inaugural Executive Director of the Center for Shared Prosperity, and co-director of the Community Robotics, Education and Technology Empowerment Lab. He was the Inaugural K&L Gates Professor of Ethics and Computational Technologies. He obtained his PhD in Computer Science from Stanford University. In 2009 the National Academy of Sciences named him a Kavli Fellow. In 2013 he was inducted into the June Harless West Virginia Hall of Fame. He was previously Robotics Group Lead for NASA/Ames during the MER landings, and is a retired civil servant, NASA GS15/10. In 2019 he was named a Hastings Fellow. He has co-authored textbooks and popular literature, including Robot Futures. He is a trustee of the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, Winchester Thurston School and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project. He is a Director at Open Planet, a London-based Community Interest Corporation, and also President and a director at Friends of Open Planet, a 501(c)3 based in the United States.

About the conversation partner:

Monica Ruiz, the Executive Director of Casa San José, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and has Latino roots from Guatemala and Puerto Rico. Her humanitarian work and passion for helping others began as a case manager for Catholic Charities, which led her to intern at Casa San Jose in 2014. She holds a Bachelors degree in Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh with a concentration in Psychology, and a Master’s Degree in Social Work focusing on Community Organizing and Social action from the University of Pittsburgh.Following her academic accomplishments, Monica completed the Lead Now Pittsburgh fellowship, a transformational leadership program for the civic sector in 2019. Monica advocates for minority communities in Pittsburgh and welcomes all from the Western Pennsylvania region.

Host or Publisher Riverstone Books