An installment in a series of profiles on GW professors.
Since 1984, one of the world's foremost Islamic scholars has been teaching here at GW.
University Professor of Islamic Studies Seyyed Hossein Nasr specializes in Sufism, Islamic philosophy and metaphysics. Nasr teaches "Islamic Philosophy and Theology" at the undergraduate level as well as a graduate course, "Man and Natural Environment" through GW's Department of Religion.
In 1933, Nasr was born in Tehran, Iran. As a 12-year-old, Nasr came to the United States to study at the Peddie School, a New Jersey boarding school where he graduated in 1950 as valedictorian. Afterward, he went on to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as its first Iranian student and obtained a master's degree in geology and geophysics.
Nasr pursued a doctorate degree in the history of science and philosophy at Harvard, and in 1958, Nasr returned to teach at Tehran University as an associate professor of philosophy.
Though Nasr initially studied sciences, he said he became "very dissatisfied with the modern view of science," which led him to study Islamic science and philosophy. In 1972, Nasr was appointed president of Sharif University of Technology, formerly known as Aryamehr University or Technology. A year later, Nasr established the Imperial Iranian Academy of Philosophy, which at the time was Iran's premier philosophical institution.
In 1979, Nasr left Iran just before the start of the Iranian Revolution.
"I knew there was going to be upheaval," he said. "After my house and property were plundered, I decided it was not possible for me to go back." Although he has not been to Iran since, Nasr added, "I hope to make a trip (to my home in Iran) soon."
As for his foray into teaching, Nasr explained, "I always have been interested in scholarship and teaching and the question of knowledge."
"I try to resuscitate the Islamic traditions (of) ... philosophy, science, Sufism, and I think I've been quite successful in doing that," he remarked.
Since 1984, one of the world's foremost Islamic scholars has been teaching here at GW.
University Professor of Islamic Studies Seyyed Hossein Nasr specializes in Sufism, Islamic philosophy and metaphysics. Nasr teaches "Islamic Philosophy and Theology" at the undergraduate level as well as a graduate course, "Man and Natural Environment" through GW's Department of Religion.
In 1933, Nasr was born in Tehran, Iran. As a 12-year-old, Nasr came to the United States to study at the Peddie School, a New Jersey boarding school where he graduated in 1950 as valedictorian. Afterward, he went on to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as its first Iranian student and obtained a master's degree in geology and geophysics.
Nasr pursued a doctorate degree in the history of science and philosophy at Harvard, and in 1958, Nasr returned to teach at Tehran University as an associate professor of philosophy.
Though Nasr initially studied sciences, he said he became "very dissatisfied with the modern view of science," which led him to study Islamic science and philosophy. In 1972, Nasr was appointed president of Sharif University of Technology, formerly known as Aryamehr University or Technology. A year later, Nasr established the Imperial Iranian Academy of Philosophy, which at the time was Iran's premier philosophical institution.
In 1979, Nasr left Iran just before the start of the Iranian Revolution.
"I knew there was going to be upheaval," he said. "After my house and property were plundered, I decided it was not possible for me to go back." Although he has not been to Iran since, Nasr added, "I hope to make a trip (to my home in Iran) soon."
As for his foray into teaching, Nasr explained, "I always have been interested in scholarship and teaching and the question of knowledge."
"I try to resuscitate the Islamic traditions (of) ... philosophy, science, Sufism, and I think I've been quite successful in doing that," he remarked.
