Rahim Shayegan is an Assistant Professor of Iranian at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, and serves as Director of the Pourdavoud Center for the Study of the Iranian World and the Program of Iranian Studies. His research spans multiple historical periods and linguistic traditions of Iran. Education PhD in Iranian Philology & Ancient History, Harvard University MA in Old Iranian Philology & Ancient History, Sorbonne University BA in Philosophy, Comparative Philology, and History, University of Cologne His expertise includes Sasanian history, Iranian epigraphy, and comparative philology, with significant contributions to understanding ancient Iranian religions and historiography. He has received prestigious awards for his scholarship, including the Ehsan Yarshater Book Award and Guggenheim Fellowship. Academic Leadership Director, Pourdavoud Center (2017–present) Jahangir and Eleanor Amuzegar Chair (2013–present)
Rahim Shayegan is an Assistant Professor of Iranian Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), affiliated with the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures in the Division of Humanities. He currently holds the Pourdavoud Endowed Director's Chair (2018-present) and serves as Director of the Pourdavoud Center for the Study of the Iranian World. He also directs the Program of Iranian Studies at UCLA. PhD in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations (Iranian Philology, Ancient History) from Harvard University MA in Old Iranian Philology and Ancient History from Université de la Sorbonne BA in Philosophy, Comparative Philology, and History from Albertus-Magnus-Universität zu Köln His research focuses on Iranian epigraphy, philology, and historiography across multiple eras, including Achaemenid, Arsacid, Seleucid, and Sasanian periods. He studies Persian epic traditions, ancient religions, and intersections between Greek and Islamic historiographical practices. Ehsan Yarshater Book Award for Arsacids and Sasanians (2011) Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship (2013-2014) UCLA Faculty Career Development Award (2008-2009)
Nicholas John Sims-Williams is Research Professor of Iranian and Central Asian Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, where he has maintained continuous academic employment since 1976. His career progression includes positions as Lecturer in Iranian Languages (1976), Reader in Iranian Studies (1989), Professor of Iranian and Central Asian Studies (1994), Professorial Researcher (2008-2011), and his current role as Research Professor (2012-present). His educational background includes studies in Old and Middle Iranian languages, Sanskrit, Syriac and historical linguistics at Cambridge University, where he completed his PhD under Dr. Ilya Gershevitch. His doctoral thesis, an edition of a fragmentary manuscript containing Christian texts translated from Syriac into Sogdian, was published as The Christian Sogdian manuscript C2, Berlin 1985 and awarded the Prix Ghirshman of the Institut de France. Professor Sims-Williams' research interests focus on Middle Iranian languages of Eastern Iran and Central Asia, with particular expertise in Sogdian and Bactrian languages. His scholarly work equally emphasizes the linguistic structures of these Indo-European languages and their Central Asian cultural context, examining the complex interplay of languages, cultures, and religions in the region. His teaching has covered seven Iranian languages (Avestan, Old Persian, Middle Persian, Parthian, Bactrian, Sogdian and Khotanese) along with Syriac. His extensive honors reflect his standing in the academic community, including Fellowship in the British Academy, membership in multiple international academies, and prestigious research fellowships. Notable positions include Chairman of the Ancient India and Iran Trust and Vice-President of the Union Académique Internationale. Professor Sims-Williams has held visiting professorships at leading institutions worldwide including the Collège de France, Harvard University, and the University of Rome "La Sapienza," demonstrating his international recognition as a leading scholar in his field.
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.
