Loan Project in Memory of the late Dr. Mohammad Ali Modjtahedi
He started his elementary school at the age of seven at Haghighat school after which he came to Tehran to continue his education at the Daar-Ol-Moallemin-E-Markazi in 1925. He finished high school at Madrese-Motevasete in the eastern part of Tehran and received his high school diploma in 1931. In 1932, among 100 other prominent students, he was sent by the Iranian governments to France for higher education. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at Sorbonne in 1947. While at the university, he met and married Suzanne Van Den Ostende, a French lady. They arrived in Iran in September 1947. For almost thirty-five years, the Alborz name was synonymous with the name of Mohammad Ali Modjtahedi, the legendary principal who headed the school from 1944 until the Islamic Revolution in 1979. He was the founding father and was often referred to as "the Dr." He was also the founder of Sharif University of Technology (originally Aryamehr Technical University), Dean of Tehran Polytechnic University (currently renamed Amirkabir University of Technology), National University, and Shiraz University. During his tenure, Modjtahedi supervised the education of tens of thousands of students, many of whom went on to some of the world's best leading colleges and universities. His graduates made up the core of Iran's post-War young elite, filling numorous position of power and influence in universities, corporations and the government. For every one of those men, those students, he had been a towering figure in their youth, deeply respected and admired. At the time of his death in 1997, his former students were spread far and wide in Iran and around the globe. With their life and world impacted by the revolution, what bound these former students of different classes, religions, levels of achievement and political views was the love of their founding father, "The Dr." |
Excerpts from the Dr.'s Los Angeles Visit of 1988
Dr.'s message to his students:"Progress of any country is highly influenced by education of it's youth." "Value each other's opinion and put in use your collective talent pool." "A prosperous society flourishes from its keen focus on justice. " |
Dr. Mohammad Ali Modjtahedi Gilani (September 23, 1908 - 