UBC’s Asian Studies’ faculty, staff and students were saddened to hear of the recent passing of Alireza Ahmadian. Alireza was a passionate supporter of our initiative to establish Persian Language and Iranian Studies within the Department, with which he first became acquainted in 2010 as an enthusiastic undergraduate student.
Alireza pictured here second-from-right at a 2018 UBC Persian Alumni Event
Alireza at front row, left, at UBC’s first Persian Studies lecture with guest speaker Abbas Milani
Our Head of Department, Professor Ross King, says: ”Alireza was a devoted and trusted advisor, supporter, confidant and friend. My colleagues in Asian Studies, the Dean’s Office, and the Office of Development and Alumni engagement could never say enough good things about his charisma, his passion, his articulate and insightful analyses of Vancouver’s Iranian community, and above all his warm and generous humanity.
He can never be replaced, but we sincerely hope other young people in the Vancouver Iranian community will follow his selfless activist example and help us continue our efforts to put Persian language and Iranian Studies at UBC on a permanent footing.”
May he rest in peace.
