1994 Elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
2001 Mentoring award of Middle East Studies Association (MESA), which also made her an honorary fellow in 2003
2001 Award for scholarly distinction from the American Historical Association (AHA)
2002 Persian History award from the Encyclopedia Iranica Foundation
2004 Balzan prize from the International Balzan Foundation
2008 Lifetime Achievement Award for Iranian Studies from the International Society for Iranian Studies (ISIS)