Atoosa Rubenstein

Atoosa Rubenstein (born Atoosa Behnegar in Tehran, Iran in 1972) was the editor-in-chief of Seventeen magazine. She was also the founding editor of CosmoGIRL!.

Her father, Mansoor Behnegar, a colonel in the Iranian air force, moved the family to Queens, New York when she was three. They later relocated to Malverne, Long Island.

As an undergraduate student at Barnard College, Rubenstein became a public relations intern at Lang Communications, the company that bought Sassy magazine. Though she loved the magazine industry, she had to work at Carvel and retail stores to pay her bills. Rubenstein had to drop out of her sorority and take night classes to take part in her second internship, which led to a position in the editorial department of American Health magazine.

In 1993 she became a fashion assistant at Cosmopolitan and five years later was made the senior fashion editor. This led to Hearst Magazines president Cathleen Black asking Rubenstein to come up with a concept for a new magazine. Forty-eight hours later Rubenstein presented the idea of CosmoGIRL! and was offered the position of editor. This made her the youngest editor in Hearst Magazine's 100 year history. Rubenstein went on to make CosmoGIRL! a success with a circulation of 1.25 million readers.

In May 2005, Hearst Magazine bought Seventeen magazine and gave Rubenstein the position of editor-in-chief. On 7 November, 2006, she announced that she would be leaving the magazine to launch her own teen-centered Web business, write a book and start a consulting firm specializing in the youth market. Her replacement was named in January 2007.

Rubenstein currently lives in East Hampton, New York with her husband of 8 years, Ari Rubenstein.

External links

• Roadtrip Nation interview
• East Hampton Star Interview
• The Magazine Group Profile
• Seventeen Magazine Bio
• Syndicated Column Bio
• WEDDINGS: VOWS; Atoosa Behnegar and Ari Rubenstein
• Atoosa's Ten Year College Reunion Page
• Atoosa news at jossip.com
• Atoosa Rubenstein, the Orchid of ‘Seventeen’
• Atoosa's Myspace