Mohammad Jafar Mahallati
Mohammad Jafar Mahallati is an Iranian scholar of Islamic studies and a former diplomat. He is currently serving as the Nancy Schrom Dye Chair in Middle East and North African Studies at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio. During 1987-89, he served as the Iran's ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations.Life
Born in Tehran, Mahallati initially studied economics at the National University of Iran and civil engineering at the University of Kansas in the US. Later, he obtained a master's in political economy from the University of Oregon and earned his PhD in Islamic studies from McGill University in Canada. Serving as the chair of the department of economics in Kerman University for a year, Mahallati became a diplomat and spent a decade working with the United Nations. He played a major role in adopting the Security Council Resolution 598 which brought the Iran-Iraq war to an end. Returning to his academic career, Mahallati taught at various institutions including Columbia, Princeton, Yale, and Georgetown. In 2007, he joined the Oberlin College and is still serving as the Presidential Scholar in Islamic Studies and the Nancy Schrom Dye Chair in Middle East and North African Studies.Works
