Mehdi Marashi

Dr. Mehdi Marashi, Author, Professor Emeritus, has dedicated over thirty years of his life’s work to the study of Persian language and linguistics. He received his Ph.D. (1970) from the University of Texas at Austin then founded the University of Utah’s Persian language program. During his 23-year career at the University of Utah, Dr. Marashi also taught in the summer intensive programs at Princeton, NYU, University of Pennsylvania, University of Texas and in Peace Corps Programs. Upon his early retirement from the University of Utah, Dr. Marashi was offered a position as University of California, Berkeley’s Mellon Lecturer in Persian (1992-1996). He then moved on to government work at Monterey’s Defense Language Institute, Foreign Language Center (1996-2004) as an instructor and later as Curriculum Development Specialist.

Dr. Marashi is the author of several publications related to Persian language and culture. He sits on the Persian Board of the National Middle East Language Resource Center (NMELRC), is a Fellow of Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA), a member and certified Persian tester for the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), and a member of the American Association of Teachers of Persian (AATP).

Most recently, Dr. Marashi was recognized at the 44th Annual Middle East Studies Association (MESA) conference by the American Association of Teachers of Persian (AATP) for four decades of service in the fields of Persian language and literature. He has been a recipient of the Mellon Research Award (U.C. Berkeley), Faculty Fellow Award (U of U), Fulbright Lecturing Award (to teach at Tashkent State University), a Research Grant (U.S. Department of Education), a two-year Study grant (Ministry of Education, Iran).