Ruhi Ramazani

Professor Emeritus

Biography

Dr. Ruhi Ramazani (1928–2016), Edward R. Stettinius Professor Emeritus of Government and Foreign Affairs, taught at the University of Virginia from 1953 to 1994. His first class was for a group of nine students, the first course ever offered on the Middle East at UVA. Born in Iran in 1928, he emigrated to the U.S. in 1952, initially studying at the University of Georgia, then graduating from the UVA with a Doctor of Science of Jurisprudence (in international relations and law) from the School of Law in 1954. As a professor and advocate he spent 60 years following his hope to “advance a better understanding of Iran’s foreign policy, and its relations with the United States.”

Over his career Dr. Ramazani published more than 100 articles and book chapters. His media writing includes op-eds in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and the Christian Science Monitor, and television appearances on Meet the Press, CNN, CNN International, ABC News and other TV programming.

His reach extended far outside the University, to Johns Hopkins University as Visiting Professor at the School of Advanced International Studies, as a Member of High Table at University of Cambridge in England, as the Aga Khan Professor of Islamic Studies at the American University of Beirut, and lecturing in over thirty cities overseas. Known as “The Dean of Iranian Foreign Policy Studies in the United States,” he was a former Vice President of the American Institute of Iranian Studies, and an Emeritus Member of the Board of Governors at the Middle East Institute, and was frequently called upon by the news media as an expert in the Middle East and the changing face of Iran over a 60 year period.

His love for his home institution and the city of Charlottesville includes creating, with James Perkins and Allen Lynch, Foreign Cultures and American Foreign Policy series at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, founding the Middle East Studies program at the University, and serving on the Board at Monticello.

In 2024 the UVA Board of Visitors has named a new residence hall on Brandon Avenue for Dr. Ramazani, Ramazani House. Their resolution honors his legacy and achievements.

Books

European Common Market and the Middle East (1964)

The Northern Tier: Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey (1966)

The Foreign Policy of Iran, 1500-1941: A Developing Nation in World Affairs (1966)

Persian Gulf: Iran’s Role (1972)

Iran’s Foreign Policy, 1941-1975: A Study of Foreign Policy in Modernizing Nations (1975)

Beyond the Arab-Israeli Conflict: New Directions for U.S. Policy in the Middle East (1977)

The Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz (1979)

The United States and Iran (1982)

Revolutionary Iran: Challenge and Response in the Middle East (1986-1987)

The Gulf Cooperation Council: Record and Analysis (1988)

As Editor

Iran’s Revolution: The Search for Consensus (1990)

Iran at the Crossroads (2001)

The Future of Liberal Democracy: Thomas Jefferson and the Contemporary World (2004)

Religion, State and Society: Thomas Jefferson’s Wall of Separation in Comparative Perspective (2008)

Awards and Honors

Distinguished Professor Award

Thomas Jefferson Award

Fulbright Award

Social Science Research Council Award

Middle East Institute Award

American Association of Middle Eastern Studies Award

Center for Iranian Research and Analysis Award

Advisor

President Jimmy Carter

US Departments of State

US Departments of Defense

US Departments of Treasury

Secretariat General of the United Nations

Via USIA: Foreign ministries of Britain, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, Spain and Turkey

Rockefeller Foundation’s International Relations Program

Boards

Advisory Board of the International Center for Jefferson Studies

Advisory Board of The Middle East Journal

Editorial Board of Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies

Editorial Board Journal of the Center for Iranian Research and Analysis