Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute is proud to announce a new endowment to the University of Arizona to establish the Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Professor of Persian Language at the School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.
The new professor will teach Persian language courses at all levels and will develop curriculum and teaching materials. The Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Professor of Persian Language will also contribute to the activities and programs of the Roshan Graduate Interdisciplinary Program in Persian and Iranian Studies, which was established in the UA’s Graduate College in 2016 with an endowment from Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute. Recruitment for the position has begun, and it is anticipated that the new faculty member will begin this fall.
This is Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute’s third endowment to the University of Arizona. In 2003, an endowment for Roshan Institute Fellowship for Excellence in Persian Studies was established in the School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies for outstanding graduate students in Persian and Iranian studies. The Roshan Graduate Interdisciplinary Program in Persian and Iranian Studies established in 2016 includes funding for an endowed faculty chair and an endowed professorship – both already filled – as well as for programming activities and new master’s and doctoral degree programs. The three endowments combined bring Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute’s total gifts to nearly $3.5 million in support of the renowned Persian and Iranian Studies program at the University of Arizona.