With the goal of harnessing the untapped potential of Iranian-Americans, and to build the capacity of the Iranian diaspora in effecting positive change in the U.S. and around the world, the Iranian Americans’ Contributions Project (IACP) has launched a series of interviews that explore the personal and professional backgrounds of prominent Iranian-Americans who have made seminal contributions to their fields of endeavour. We examine lives and journeys that have led to significant achievements in the worlds of science, technology, finance, medicine, law, the arts and numerous other endeavors. Our latest interviewee is David N. Rahni.
David “Davood” N. Rahni has served as professor of chemistry at Pace University in New York for over 30 years. An alumnus of the National University of Iran, he has earned his Master’s and Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Universities of New Mexico and New Orleans, respectively. As a Fulbright Senior Research Scholar in Denmark, he has also held visiting professorships in the Universities of Oxford, Rome, and Florence to name a few. His concurrent adjunct professorships span from Environmental Law at Pace University to Dermatology at NY Medical College. Throughout his career, he has held visiting academic scientist and consultative positions with IBM, PEPSI, CIBA, AKZO-NOBEL, BASF, American Health Foundation, and others. In 2002, he was elected the Chair of the American Chemical Society’s New York/NJ region, and later as a member and the Chair of the Nichols Medal, the oldest and most prestigious chemistry award in the U.S. In more recent times, Professor Rahni has served as the Interim Associate Provost for Academic Affairs and Chair of the University Faculty Council at Pace University. His advisory membership in the National Institute Health, Department of Justice, Fulbright Board, and American Chemical Society (ACS) are well recognized. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a Fulbright Scholarship, Algorithm International Scientist, and Kenan Excellent Teaching Awards, and the American Chemical Society Outstanding Leadership award. Professor Rahni is a highly prolific author of diverse scientific manuscripts, as exemplified in his book entitled Bio-Imaging in Neurodegeneration. His complementary portfolio has dealt with current affairs, science policy, arts, culture, history, and literary treasure troves in Southwest/South Central Asia, with a particular emphasis on Iran. He is the founding CEO of Chemical Detective and Health Consultants, LLC, and has co-founded or served as a board member on a number of eminent Iranian-American Organizations. These include the Iranian Chemists’ Association of the ACS, Persian Watch Cat, and the Persian Cultural Foundation. His memoir, Natanz to New York: the Odyssey of an Ordinary Persian Wanderer, is soon to be published.
Thanks for sitting down to share with our readers where you grew up, and taking us on your journey through life. How did your family and surroundings influence you in your formative years?
I was born in Tajrish Shemiran (Dezashib off Niavaran Street) of Tehran,Iran, as the eldest among five other siblings, three sisters and two brothers, the youngest of whom is sixteen years younger than me! We moved to Evin when I was just a toddler, to our still standing home alongside the Parkway. After completing K-12 public schooling (Shahpour Tajrish High School) and receiving my chemistry degree from the National University, I moved to the U.S. in the summer of 1979 to "pursue" my (post-) doctoral studies just to return home upon graduation; one could surmise that my lifelong educational “pursuit" and permanent home return have not yet been fulfilled?! My living parents, currently in their 80s, were born in Natanz and moved to Tehran as teenagers. My father was a school clerk, who recorded and pen calculated grades and GPAs, and ultimately sent grade-reports home to parents. Back then, education was deemed to be the key to upward socioeconomic mobility, a notion which may still apply anywhere today.
Could you share with us a few more examples of odd jobs you held while in grades 6-12, and how you entered college?
I held a number of odd jobs and apprenticeships such as fruit picking, blacksmithing, shoemaking, baking, and tutoring. I also pursued to make a few pennies golf caddying at the newly constructed 18-hole Royal Golf Club less than a mile from home. It was tough and rewarding. Later I served as an English interpreter at the annual summer international trade exposition across the Parkway. This experience allowed me to perfect English as my third language; of course after our native Persian, and a haphazard Arabic! That said, my parents instilled in me the importance of quality of life, and that a perpetual sense of reciprocity towards the community should far outweigh materialism. Money is, we were told, a relative means to a comfortable existence, but must not overshadow over lives. Later, while still attending college, English became my bread and butter. I tutored and managed 14 daily ESL classes in a private K-9 school on Pahlavi Avenue. This 100-year old institution - which still stands alongside two streams along a sycamore lined avenue - is one of a kind in southwest Asia. Let me reiterate that although I ranked among the few top peers from 1st to 7th grade, but did rather poorly with repeat exams each August during 8th to11th. Then, I finally completed diploma studying after Nowruz, and earned a 17.5/20.0 GPA. I passed Konkur to enter the university through a competitive entrance process that allows less than 10% high school graduates to enter.
Your fields of interest appear diverse and are seemingly unrelated to a layperson. Could you highlight certain areas of particular interest to you?
Analytical chemistry, which is a modern branch of chemistry, deals with what specific substances are present, say in a bodily fluid or organ as in a physiologically native region (e.g., brain, kidney), how much of each substance is present, and how their fates relate to the manifestation of specific diseases or the curing of a malady at the molecular level. It is a science anchored to the development of biosensors, and has remained a major part of my research. Most of my research contributions probe fundamental questions in clinical, environmental, forensics, and medical challenges. This is outlined in our book entitled, Bioimaging in Neurodegeneration as well as a prolific number of manuscripts on progress in neuropsychopharmacology and biological psychiatry. In light of my recognized lack of access to cheap pre-/post-doctoral intellect and sophisticated instrumentation, I have, however, been able to collaboratively execute mutually beneficial research projects with cross-disciplinary colleagues at a myriad other universities (Oxford, Copenhagen, Rome, Florence, New Orleans, Stony Brook) as well as with peers at a number of corporate R&D centers and foundations (IBM, PEPSI, CIBA, AKZO-NOBEL, BASF, AMERICAN HEALTH FOUNDATION.)
You are a recipient of many awards. What has been your “secret to success?”
If there are any accolades that accompany an award, then the credit genuinely belongs to more than one individual; the students, peers, and colleagues who inter-collaboratively brought a project to fruition are equally deserving. Life without a perpetual path of learning, sharing, nurturing, imparting, and a conscientious sense of advancing humanity and justice might as well have been a far less meaningful journey for us all, right?!
What are the avenues of research that you are exploring for the next few years?
I continue remaining abreast of, and a contributor to, the much anticipated integration of in-vivo biosensors into the human body. These would provide real-time monitoring, control, and regulation of drug delivery in specific physiological organs. That said however, and as I am perambulating the final path of my career trajectory, I am progressively taking on more university administrative roles. My scholarship is increasingly drawn to writing on the arts and culture, archaeology and history, science, environment and policy, and poetry and prose, especially as these relate to Iran and southwest/south central Asia. Moreover, my goal is to play a more crucial role in propelling the Persian diaspora forward.
What are the lingering challenges and emerging opportunities in the fields of chemistry and education?
It is mind-boggling to compare the ever-expanding number of chemical molecules discovered or the chemical articles published; they currently stand at 50 and 100 million, respectively, compared to a mere one million words in the English language! For every chemical or scientific discovery, 100 new questions worthy of further investigation arise. The education and training of chemists is rapidly transforming, due in part to pedagogical innovation and instructional, computational, and simulational technologies. It is ironic, however, that despite access to some of the best instructional technologies and pedagogical methodologies, science and math competencies for K-12 in the U.S. fall far behind countries like Iran, Vietnam, or even North Korea. Luckily, thanks to a disproportionately large number of international (post-) doctoral students and immigrants from war-torn nations, American universities have benefited from this international brain drain since WWII.
What is the biggest challenge that you have faced in your career?
While we are enriched with our historical heritage from our ancestral nation of Iran, we are indeed blessed to live here, where we have effectively raised our children and give back to our adopted land, America. However, the lingering impasse between the governments in Iran and the U.S. over the past four decades has negatively impacted our career prospects. This is especially true for the achieving mid- to upper-career level opportunities aspired to by Iranian-Americans. One might argue that this is, to a certain extent, self-inflicted (induced by low self-esteem) or perhaps due to relentless politically-charged rhetoric by the media from both sides. The fact still remains, the same propaganda turns the tides of public opinion and the minds decision-makers against people of Iranian descent and, by extension, against Iranian-Americans. The result is over-achievement by Iranian-Americans in education and superior career advancement through hard work, as they defy the odds to advance. Despite overachievement, many in our community opt for less risky career paths to mix in and be a bigger fish in a smaller pond per se. I opted for exactly that, but in the long run it enabled me to strike a balance between job and community and family roles. So, many of us live our entire lives in a twilight, between a rock and a hard place, none of which we have ever had anything to do with....
You are or have been actively involved at a leadership level in many organizations. Why is it that you are so passionate about the community? What do you believe the future holds?
A major hallmark of my tripartite activities in higher education is multifaceted service. By this I mean advancing or contributing toward learned and professional societies, government advisory panels, and international development as priorities. The advancement of humanity and community, equality and harmony, and justice and peace--all anchored on altruism, philanthropy, and volunteerism--is in our genetic makeup. These values can be gleaned from our Persian literati poems, prose, and ethos, the philosophical doctrine for a balanced and meaningful life in a cohesive community. So, I did nothing beyond the ordinary, except to learn from, and simply follow in the footsteps of our historical giants. These include Ferdowsi, Rumi, Algorithm, Hafez, Sa’adi, Avicenna, and Razes, as well as more contemporary ones like Forough Farrokhzad, Parvin Etessami, Ahmad Shamlou, Amir Kabir, Mohammad Moin, or the exemplary leaders among us in the U.S.
Can you share with our readers your thoughts on your Iranian-American identity? What does it mean to be an Iranian-American?
This is the quintessential essence of our purpose in life. Currently, we may conceal our ethnicity in reaction to xenophobic stereotyping and culture bashing in the US, or from fear of persecution elsewhere, through portraying ourselves as the more popular immigrants, i.e., Italians or Greeks. But it is only through becoming exemplary world/American citizens, as great as the American apple pie, while proudly declaring ourselves to be IRANIAN-AMERICANS that we can claim our Iranian-American identity. We cannot avoid the sheer fact that even after many generations we, to most mainstreamers, are perceived as “Persian watch cats” at best, and not the American watch dogs! Our conundrum is further exacerbated so long as the two governments of Iran and the the U.S. fail to respect each other, embrace the free exchange of arts, culture, science, and technology, and remove trade embargos. My thoughts should not be misconstrued when I advocate for “saving the baby and bath,” while at the same time trusting people to peacefully and civilly cleanse the bath water! I am not favoring any government or political system as they have all emerged at one short historical juncture, and disappeared over time. What's far more critical is to safeguard the dignity and the well-earned stature of a diverse people and their secular society and human and democratic constitutional rights, which are anchored on the sovereignty, security, and heritage of a nation. Let me reiterate again, that our Persian ethnicity and culture (read Iran and Ireland) is complementary to our newly adopted naturalization in the U.S., which as a duo, make us more resilient and confident in doing our very best in life and the community, and in the nation and beyond.
Having just returned from the Harvard Iranian Weekend Forum, the large and per usual most impressive attendees and speakers- several hundred in number - were charged with the theme “ENGAGE.” Allow me to take the liberty to expand this theme with more consequential “E” words as Entice, Enrapture, Educate, Energize,, Enable, Empower, Effectuate, and Enrich. The paradigm shift for a loosely held coalition of diverse Iranian-American organizations could result from uniting on a few hallmarks. We need to inspire our Iranian-American community and our future generations that the time to appreciate their ancestral heritage and culture is NOW. This is congruent with E pluribus unum, out of many, ONE! And so, may I in closing share with your beloved readers the translation of the famous poem by the 13th century Persian poet Saadi:
All humans are members of one frame, Since all at first, from the same essence, came. When by hard fortune one limb is oppressed, The other members lose their desired rest. If thou feel’st not for others’ misery, A human is no name for thee.