Rahim Shayegan

M. Rahim Shayegan is Professor of Iranian and the Ancient Near East and the Eleanor and Jahangir Amuzegar Chair in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures (NELC) at UCLA. He serves as the founding director of the Pourdavoud Institute for the Study of the Iranian World (established 2017), the founding director of the Yarshater Center for the Study of Iranian Literary Traditions (established 2023), and the founder and chair of Global Antiquity (established 2020), an academic unit of the Humanities.

Professor Shayegan received his PhD from Harvard University, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, and was a Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows before joining the NELC faculty at UCLA. His educational background includes PhD Candidacy in Iranian Philology at Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen; an MA in Iranian Philology and Ancient History from Institut des Études Iraniennes, Université de la Sorbonne; and a BA in Philosophy, Comparative Philology, and History from Albertus-Magnus-Universität zu Köln.

Professor Shayegan's research focuses on Old and Middle Iranian philology and epigraphy, with specialization in Achaemenid, Arsacid, Seleucid, and Sasanian history. His work examines interactions between Mesopotamia and Iran, Greco-Roman and Iranian cultural exchanges, Ancient Iranian and Near Eastern religions, Greek historiography, and epic and oral traditions. His scholarship bridges philological rigor with historical analysis to illuminate the complex dynamics of ancient Iranian civilizations and their interactions with neighboring cultures.

Professor Shayegan has been recognized with numerous prestigious awards including membership in the Academia Europaea (2019-present), Corresponding Membership in the Austrian Academy of Sciences (2022-present), a Guggenheim Fellowship (2013-14), and the Ehsan Yarshater Book Award for his work 'Arsacids and Sasanians' (2012). He was also invited as the Yarshater conférencier in November 2022, delivering five lectures at INALCO/Collège de France.

As an educator, Professor Shayegan teaches undergraduate courses including History of the Achaemenid, Arsacid (Parthian), and Sasanian Empires, Religions of Ancient Iran, and Early New Persian Epic Poetry and Prose. At the graduate level, he offers specialized courses in Old Persian Cuneiform, Avestan, and Advanced Western Middle Iranian languages, along with seminars on ancient Iranian history and religions. His leadership in establishing multiple research centers demonstrates his commitment to advancing the study of Iranian civilizations and promoting interdisciplinary scholarship.