Bridging the Divide

Ramazani
Photo by Dan Addison

In a world where we all search for something, Ruhi Ramazani searches for understanding. The beloved professor emeritus of government and foreign affairs has consistently urged American analysts and policymakers to look beyond simplistic interpretations of Iran’s actions to reach a more nuanced understanding of Iran’s culture, religion, government and people.

Officially retired from the University of Virginia in 1994, Ramazani has hardly slowed down. He organized an international conference in Prague exploring separation of church and state and is editing the conference papers. He serves as an outside reader on doctoral committees, he reviews books, and he continues to share his expertise through books, articles and opinion pieces.

Decades ago, the media dubbed him “dean of Iranian foreign policy studies in the United States” for his books, now classics, The Foreign Policy of Iran, 1500–1941: A Developing Nation in World Affairs (1966) — the first study of Iran’s foreign policy in any language — and its sequel, Iran’s Foreign Policy, 1941–1975: A Study of Foreign Policy in Modernizing Nations (1975).

At that time, international relations studies focused on the great powers, but Ramazani considered the smaller countries as players, not just as pawns of larger countries. He continues to emphasize the importance of history when interpreting current events and the factors that influence a government’s actions.

Born in 1928, Rouhoullah “Ruhi” K. Ramazani grew up in a prosperous, middle-class Muslim family in Iran’s capital, Tehran. But life changed dramatically when he was 15 — his mother died in his arms of heart disease; his father sought solace in alcohol, and Ramazani assumed responsibility for his two sisters.

At that time, after World War II, Iran grew unstable as communists, nationalists, socialists and Islamists fought for the country’s hearts and minds. The Communist Party hired people to intimidate students associated with other groups. One day, as Ramazani sat in class at the University of Tehran, thugs rushed in and stabbed a classmate to death. “I heard my name as part of the turmoil,” he says, “so I called out my own name as I ran through the hallways: ‘Get Ramazani!’” He realized he needed to leave Iran.

By then, Ramazani was “infatuated” with the U.S. Supreme Court and comparative law. In 1952, with $300 in savings, he and his wife, Nesta, sailed for the United States and enrolled at the University of Georgia.

The newlyweds paid $10 monthly rent for a WWII surplus trailer with neither shower nor bath, subsisting on Wonder Bread, bananas and beans heated in the can. He studied nearly round-the-clock — and received the constitutional law exam’s only A+. Because Georgia did not offer a doctorate in law, his professors recommended U.Va., where he received a DuPont Fellowship.

In 1953, Ramazani taught the first course on the Middle East at the University of Virginia, joining its faculty a year later. In 1954, he became the first person to receive a doctorate in the science of jurisprudence in international relations and international law from the U.Va. School of Law.

Ramazani loves teaching. “I take a lot of pride and joy in my students who have gone on to be successful,” he says, estimating he’s taught about 8,000 students, including one young woman who knew nothing about the Middle East when she arrived in his classroom. “Now,” he says, “Rita Ragsdale is the U.S. ambassador to Djibouti.

And Nat Howell, another student, was the U.S. ambassador to Kuwait during the first Persian Gulf War.”

“He’s had a significant impact on the field of government and diplomacy through his students,” says Professor of Politics James D. Savage.

U.Va. has recognized Ramazani’s many contributions with a chair in his name, election to two endowed chairs, a Distinguished Professor Award and a Thomas Jefferson Award. He also has received a Fulbright Award, a Social Science Research Council Award, and awards from the Middle East Institute, the American Association of Middle Eastern Studies and the Center for Iranian Research and Analysis, along with many honors for his writing.

“Ramazani helped build the University into a nationally ranked institution,” says Larry J. Sabato, University Professor and director of the Center for Politics. “There was almost nothing in the international field that he didn’t either run or have a hand in running.”

“One of Ruhi’s great hopes has been that he could personally help bridge the divide between the country of his birth, Iran, and the country where he has lived for most of his adult life, the United States,” says William B. Quandt, the Edward R. Stettinius, Jr., Professor of Government and Foreign Affairs and Middle East expert. “It remains to be seen whether Ruhi’s hope for reconciliation between the two countries he knows best will take place, but if and when it does, he will have played an important role behind the scenes.”