Reza Vaghefi —
Persian Heritage, #111, Spring 2024 —
Professor Fazlullah Reza:
Winter 2023 Issue of the Persian Heritage contains a comprehensive article by Dr. Mashaei, about Professor Reza’s contributions to science, space technology and Persian literature which present the reader a summary of major accomplishment of a unique man in the history of our homeland. His trials and setbacks and revivals indicate an unflinching drive to achieve what seems unachievable. The above-mentioned research work indeed portends the man’s determination to produce scientific and literary work that are unrivalled and enjoy a lasting effect in literary history of Iran and the world.
The author’s acquaintance with the scholar began on the campus of Concordia University in Montreal, Canada where both of us enjoyed a visiting professorship in two different fields. He was engaged in electrical engineering, and I was in business-economics. He also taught at McGill university in the city. Shortly before that he had been Iranian ambassador in Canada, and I had a prestigious job in Iran before the regime change.
Professor Reza was born in Rasht, province of Guilan on the shores of Caspian Sea. He was one of the first graduates of the College of Engineering in the newly created University of Tehran (1934). His ambitions pushed him for more advanced technical education. The United States loomed large in his mind. He travelled to New York and registered at the Polytechnic Institute. The hardship he had gone through paid off in a few years and he was awarded a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering which landed him a job at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After a while a more appealing offer took him Syracuse University and an informal advisor to General Electric about some complex issues that this monumental enterprise was facing.
In l960s Iran was advancing in many directions and vast array of social, economic and political issues had produced challenges that needed serious attention. One sector of society was grudgingly moving though not at the tempo that was required given the rest of society: the university system. Shah became aware of this acute issue and decided Iran was unobtrusively falling behind. The answer was Arya Mehr University of Technology, now Shariff University of Technology. Its early start was incongruent with the objectives set out for it, so they decided to look beyond borders and found a most distinguished scholar in the United States, by the name Fazlullah Reza. He was invited to assume chancellorship of the Arya Mehr University of Technology. Time was not on his side so the new leader embarked on revamping the programs and set in motion the most up-to-date curriculum beginning with electrical engineering. Other areas like mathematics, chemistry and physics were added as the University took off.
As mentioned, change was the order of the day in the country. The Chancellor of Tehran university retired at the time. Even though Professor Reza had just begun to reorganize the only technology university he was immediately asked to assume the chancellorship of the oldest university in Iran. It was the biggest challenge for him but accepted the responsibility enthusiastically. It was a dream which seemed to fit Professor Reza’s deep ambitions and desire to help the fatherland. Soon he found that a lengthy academic “menopause” had inflicted serious pain on this major academic institution. Programs in most departments were rusting and faculty and administrators were reluctant to touch the status que. So, it was most opportune to implement some major structural and academic changes to revitalize the most important educational institution in the country. He initiated a two-front strategy. One: academic personnel and Two: academic courses.
The Tehran University was established in 1934 as part of Reza Shah’s (the founder of Pahlavi dynasty) to train: doctors, civil servants, lawyers, schoolteachers etc. At the senior level the university was staffed by scholars that had been sent to Europe, mostly France and Germany, to receive advance education and upon returning formed the nucleus of professors in each area. Some of the returnees, in addition to teaching, produced literary works that enlightened thousands of minds. But others were not quite motivated to produce lasting works which could potentially enlighten many lives. The leadership of the university never thought of challenging the status quo therefore no change had occurred in many years. Therefore, the new chancellor, a product of latest science and technology, had the challenge of his life right in front of him. The only solution was a shakeup. After an intensive review he retired about hundred calcified faculty and began hiring brand new Ph.D. students coming from top European and American universities. This was a great shock to an established order which had deep political influence in society and government.
It had taken a few months to accomplish this monumental task, attacking the old programs and replacing them with new ways of doing and teaching. This courageous step created an undercurrent of intrigues and backstabbing to which the new chancellor was totally unfamiliar and was not accustomed to.
The University of Tehran had a special place in society. Respect for the institution and its independence from government changes was the cornerstone of an established order. But once the backbiting and unjust behavior of the old guard began even the ones that had encouraged change of leadership decided to join the chorus of people whose influenced had been threatened.
Government had few weapons in its arsenal against the new chancellor. No one could accuse him of the thrust in upgrading the rusted programs because he was hired to do just that. The drastic change could not be thwarted. He had been invited to revitalize the institution. No one could achieve any revitalization with exhausted hands. So, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education began to look at the University’s budget in a way to hamstring the university. The Chancellor was terrified because such a move may torpedo his plan to update the system, in addition to undermining an established rule. The Ministry also used uncongenial methods to undermine the chancellor. But the man with an international reputation was not used to such dirty methods. The pressure was immense.
So, he resigned but that was not to terminate the enthusiastic spirit with which he left a secure job in the United States. The government who pushed out of chancellorship offered to nominate him to work as Iran’s Ambassador at the United Nations Scientific, Educational and Cultural Organization, UNESCO in Paris. As is his nature, Professor Reza accepted the job with his usual enthusiasm. The author of An Introduction to Information Technology, the first of its kind which was translated into French Russian, Japanese, Rumanian, Hungarian and Spanish provided a world-wide audience which by itself was very unusual. Numerous scientific papers where published before he travelled to Iran. His arrival in Paris was also welcomed by the most prestigious Sorbonne University’s invitation to teach in area of his research, a God given opportunity for French students who enthusiastically welcomed his arrival in their homeland.
The Directorship at UNESCO was the beginning of a great period and most welcome opportunity to awaken the other half of his immense talent: the discovering, and putting it in print, the meaning of what has become an integral part of Persian civilization: Epics of Kings by Iranian hero Ferdowsi. Interpretation of masterpiece required a deep knowledge of Persian culture not commonly understood. He began to use his ambassadorship at UNESCO to write and awaken The Epic of Kings, something that many scholars before him had avoided primarily because in order to do so, it would require a deep understanding of the issues that had been avoided until now.
The philosophical and scientific achievements of late professor Reza are beyond the scope of this author. My purpose is primarily to see why the Iranian leadership did such a disservice to a man who had accomplished so much in scientific world where every scientist was looking up to him. He was called Father of Information Theory. Was it lacking understanding what his mission was? Wasn’t he invited to reform? Was he too much to stomach? Was he too far ahead of the leadership that had invited him to upgrade the system? Was it that his presence was a threat to the vested interest of losers, and this was a purely and mis understandingly naïve way of looking at a jewel far beyond their comprehension? Or a combination of the factors mentioned above led to a tragedy? It is hard to comprehend.
My purpose is to look at his accomplishments after he left the chancellorship and the extent of his contributions to deeply review the Persian language, an ocean without border as he mentioned so many times. It is well established that his work follows the tradition of another well-known scholar Omar Khayyam who was a mathematician before he created historical literary work Rubaiyat which has been translated into English by Edward Fitzgerald. Some of his:” geometric solutions to mathematical problems… would not be found for another 400 years “Sara Hart, NYT, April9, 2023. As a matter of fact. Late Professor Reza’s most valuable and inspiring companion was Hafez in whose work Professor Reza found many references to mathematical phenomena that would remain unresolved for centuries.
Professor Reza’s poems appeared while he was in school of engineering. That talent may have been the fountain of so many high-quality mathematical solutions which were the foundation of An Introduction to Information, which may have contributed to Apollo Moon Landing in 1968-69. That masterpiece was followed by numerous scientific articles which enriched hundreds of engineering programs world-wide. It seems that his command of mathematical issue and Persian poetry and writings complemented each other in the 20th century Omar Khaya outcome of which have enriched many libraries of lovers of Persian and mathematics. He was indeed a new Omar Khayyam.
Conclusion:
I have been troubled by the fact that a distinguished scholar, most famous in international circles, was invited to inject modern science and technology into a sleepy system in order to awaken the talent that was there to be trained yet his presence was not appreciated by the very system that desperately needed such a rare human asset to get out of declining situation and thrusting into a new century that the rest of the world had been ushered in long time ago? Could the regime not understand him? Was he too much evidence of the backwardness of the system? Was the major beneficiary, the student body, aware of delinquencies of the ruling university leadership? Or was the power of the old guard a deciding factor in the process that made an ideal situation unbearable and let the precious human asset give in and avoid class warfare? It is hard to understand the puzzle that was. But there is something in the work environment of the three distinguished Iranians who seems to have affected their decisions to give up and that is the toxicity which undermines objective decision making and analytical thinking required where only a pleasant goal-oriented atmosphere is a fundamental factor which seemed to be missing. Centuries ago, the religious community was frightened by presence of another distinguished scientist Avicenna and forced him to run away as a non-believer where he complained that if:” I am a non-believer, there’s no one who believes in the religion tenets”. It seems that historically the giants who unwittingly challenged the status que without a solid support to back them up leave the scene heartbroken. The three Iranians who gave their homeland the best they could follow the Avicenna and others who faced the same thick wall of ignorance and lack of care for the outcome that could have been achieved for a larger good.
Furthermore, the three distinguished Iranians shared some fundamental qualities: They were proud of their achievements helping the fatherland. They were not mischievous. Such behavioral inadequacies were not part of their DNA. They believed in Iranian and Persia culture, and they resented chauvinism and self-aggrandizement which had become a common feature of some people around them. They were not pretentious and had deep feelings about human talent.
They were puritans of highest order, and nothing would shake their faith in people of Iran. Persian literature has made many references to the most important phase of a man’s life which is summed up in: It is not what a man/woman earns in a material world, the most important feature of a man/woman life is what he or she leaves behind. The three distinguished people mentioned in this article left behind undeniable and immortal phenomena. They were not pretentious’ Their works were self-evident. Ebtehaj built the most important Dez Dam which supplies electricity and water to millions in the southwest province of Khuzistan. It is one of many similar contributions to Iranian people. Dr. Bolourchi left behind a Dietetic Handbook in addition to many peers reviewing scientific work for students and thousands of dieticians and doctors to help their patients. Her book in Nutrition became a standard TEXT for hundreds of students in food as well as in medicine. Professor Reza left behind innovative scientific and technological works in addition to numerous unique Persian works that have enriched an ocean of remarkable and durable literature that have deepened mankind’s knowledge beyond ordinary matters. And because of their altruistic nature they remain alive in the mind and heart of the people who knew them and continue to enjoy their work.