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Scholar, author, and philanthropist Mehdi Heravi on Access Utah

A person wearing a suit stands in front of USU's Old Main building.
Utah State Magazine

Our guest for the hour today is scholar, author, philanthropist, and USU College of Humanities and Social Sciences graduate Dr. Mehdi Heravi.

Mehdi Heravi was born in Tehran, Iran and moved to Logan, Utah, for high school and remained in Logan to continue his education. He received a bachelor's degree in Political Science in 1963 and a master’s degree in 1964, both at Utah State University. He received his Ph.D. from the American University School of International Service.

Heravi later served as vice president and provost at the University of Iran. After retirement, he has focused his time on philanthropy, providing support to academic programs and charities, including an orphanage in Iran. He is passionate about encouraging young academic talent, and cares deeply about students receiving access to international programs and other academic opportunities.

Today we’ll review with Mehdi Heravi some of the highlights of his interesting life. We’ll also talk about the Heravi Peace Institute in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHaSS) at USU and the Mehdi Heravi Global Teaching and Learning Center in CHaSS at USU, as well as the many scholarships he is endowing at USU, including the Mehdi Heravi Student Scholarship for Utah Public Radio.

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Tom Williams worked as a part-time UPR announcer for a few years and joined Utah Public Radio full-time in 1996. He is a proud graduate of Uintah High School in Vernal and Utah State University (B. A. in Liberal Arts and Master of Business Administration.) He grew up in a family that regularly discussed everything from opera to religion to politics. He is interested in just about everything and loves to engage people in conversation, so you could say he has found the perfect job as host “Access Utah.” He and his wife Becky, live in Logan.