[custom_adv] Mohammad-Ali Najafi (born 13 January 1952) is an mathematician and reformist politician who was the Mayor of capital, serving in the post for eight months, until April 2018. [custom_adv] He held cabinet portfolios during the 1980s, 1990s and 2010s. He is also a retired professor of mathematics at Sharif University of Technology. He is currently under police custody with murder charges, and submitted himself to local police after killing his second wife. [custom_adv] He ranked first in national university entrance exam and enrolled in Sharif University of Technology (then known as Aryamehr University of Technology). He earned a bachelor of science degree in mathematics from the Sharif University of Technology. [custom_adv] Following his bachelors, he enrolled in the graduate program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He received his master of science degree in mathematics with the final grade of A+ in 1976 but dropped out of PhD program in 1978 during the revolution to return to homeland. [custom_adv] Following the revolution of 1979, Najafi returned to homland and became a faculty member at Isfahan University of Technology in 1979 and he was the chair of the university from 1980 to 1981. He was a faculty member at department of mathematical sciences in Sharif University of Technology from 1984 to 1988, when he moved to government. [custom_adv] At the end of the reformist government of Mohammad Khatami and following Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's election Najafi moved back to university and has been faculty in the department of mathematics at Sharif University of Technologyworking on representation theory. [custom_adv] He served as an advisor to Mostafa Chamran. He was the minister of higher education from 1981 to 1984 in the cabinet of then Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi. [custom_adv] In 1989, he became the minister of education under then President Hashemi Rafsanjani and served until 1997.In 1997, he was appointed vice president and head of the Planning and Budget Organization by President Mohammad Khatami, but after a merge of the organization with another he was succeeded by Mohammad Reza Aref in the post. Najafi was an advisor to President Khatami and the senior advisor to the minister of industries from 2001 to 2005. [custom_adv] In the persian City and Village Councils elections, 2006, Najafi ran for a seat in capital City Council. He headed a list named "The Union of reformists" . This was the first time Najafi ran in a general election in homeland. [custom_adv] He was not seek for a reelection in 2013 election. He was also advisor to Mahdi Karroubi. He is the cofounder of the Executives of Construction Party. [custom_adv] He was nominated as minister of education by Hassan Rouhani. However, the Parliament did not approve his appointment on 15 August 2013. He received 142 votes in favor, 133 votes against, and 9 abstentions.
