�鶹ӰԺ

Today, she’s a powerhouse venture capital executive who discovers and helps support the best and brightest new tech companies. She was recently named to . 

Her transformation would not have been possible without the students, faculty and staff at CU �鶹ӰԺ, she said, where she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degree in electrical engineering. 

Now, Nouri is giving back to the school that helped her launch a successful two-decade career in semiconductor and clean tech engineering and, later, venture capital. In addition to her day job as a founding member and managing director of Lam Capital, the venture arm of Lam Research, Nouri also serves as a member of the Engineering Advisory Council and the CU �鶹ӰԺ Research & Innovation External Advisory Board. 

“I landed in �鶹ӰԺ as a lost child, completely lost and overwhelmed and had no idea what to do,” she said. “It’s been a long journey and it’s very satisfying to come back home and again and be able to contribute. And I’m very proud of the school — the campus has changed and grown so much, and the school is doing a really good job with diversity and inclusion.”

As a young student growing up in Iran, Nouri always enjoyed math and science. And though her parents — both teachers — emphasized education equally with Nouri, her sister and her brother, she grew up in a culture that did not value girls' education, an ingrained lesson that took years for her to overcome.

"I remember getting to CU feeling like I didn't have the confidence that boys had," she said. "It took me a really, really long time to develop confidence in myself."

Her parents sent her to �鶹ӰԺ for college because Iran was still turbulent following the revolution in 1979 and the country's universities were closed.

Though it was difficult living in a new country thousands of miles from home, with a language she didn’t know very well, Nouri loaded up on math classes — which rely heavily on the universal language of numbers — and just dug in.

“It was new and mind-boggling and crazy and overwhelming,” she said. “It was a sink or swim experience, and I sort of swam at the end, not very gracefully, but I swam.“

Nouri's children, Cameron and Julia.

After earning her CU degrees, Nouri headed straight for Silicon Valley. Throughout her career, she worked for fledgling startups and large, well-established companies, learning the inner-workings — and the pros and cons — of both. She earned an MBA from Stanford and later transitioned to business development and venture capital. Nouri also became a mother to two children, Cameron and Julia, who she describes as her greatest teachers.

Nouri’s robust industry and academic experience — she’s written more than 60 peer-reviewed papers and holds 26 patents — makes her a savvy investor for Lam, which specializes in advanced microchip equipment. 

Nouri continues to be excited about her work, since her team focuses on companies that are addressing high-impact problems and making a difference.

“I love the ability to pluck a technology that has a lot of promise and potential and help it develop,” she said. “When it all works, you actually are enabling that technology to have an impact.”