HONORING
FACULTY EXCELLENCE
On June 12, we celebrated Richard (Todd) Allen, MD, PhD, as the inaugural Behrooz A. Akbarnia, MD, and Nasrin A. Owsia, MD, Endowed Chair in Spinal Surgery.
Drs. Akbarnia and Owsia established this endowed chair in partnership with the San Diego Spine Foundation and the broader San Diego spine community. This significant contribution reinforces their long legacy of support for the field of spinal surgery and Department of Orthopedic Surgery at UC San Diego School of Medicine. Their generosity will help us continue to drive innovation and, ultimately, to improve the quality of patients’ lives. We are deeply grateful of their partnership, and we look forward to sharing Dr. Allen’s accomplishments with you in the future.
Omid Fouladpouri
Omid Fouladpouri, ISSD graduate, graduated from Canyon Crest Academy on June 2, 2023. He will be attending UC Irvine this fall.
Rustin Amini
Our little man, Rustin, was born in July 2023. He may be small, but he has brought a lot of joy and diapers into our life.
-Sadaf & Shaahin Amini
Ramin Iranpour Rice
Ramin Iranpour Rice was born on May 19, 2023. He was born on the same day as his mother, Neda Iranpour. He is happy and healthy and sleeps so well! We know that is a miracle and are so grateful. He was born weighing 8.3 pounds, 20 inches tall, and is now 12.5 pounds. Life with Ramin and his big sister Roya has been very fun. Of course, it takes an adjustment for the big sister to get used to sharing her parents’ attention. But their bond is so sweet. She loves to make him laugh, which he seems to only do for Roya. We are grateful to have two healthy children and we love talking them to the beaches of San Diego. I returned to work as morning anchor on CBS8 on August 14.
-Neda Iranpour
Jila Kashefi
Our deepest condolences to our sister organization, KCIS, and the children’s NGO community of Iran for the passing of dear Jila Kashefi. The world, the children, and our community have lost one of their finest. She was a symbol of compassion for children in need and her life a celebration of forward thinking and making it happen. She is now in peace and free from the pain that she battled so bravely and for so long. Her memory and her vision will forever stay close to our hearts.
– Dollar a Month Foundation
Winner of Inaugural Mo Habib Translation Prize in Persian Literature Announced
The University of Washington’s department of Middle Eastern languages and cultures (MELC) is thrilled to announce the winner of the inaugural cycle of the Mo Habib Translation Prize in Persian Literature: Dr. Michelle Quay, for her translation of Reza Ghassemi’s novel Woodwind Harmony in the Nighttime (Hamnava’i-ye shabaneh-ye orkestr-e chubha). Dr. Quay and Mr. Ghassemi will be awarded $10,000 and $5,000, respectively, while the novel will be published by Deep Vellum in 2025. The judges would like to recognize Hajar Hussaini for her translation of Khosraw Mani’s Death and its brother as an honorable mention.
MELC received twenty varied and exciting submissions from around the world. We are deeply thankful to the Mo Habib Memorial Foundation for making this initiative possible and to the judges who carefully read and discussed the submissions: Anna Learn, doctoral student in Near and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Washington; Shelley Fairweather-Vega, literary translator from Uzbek and Russia and past president of NOTIS; and Siamak Vossoughi, Iranian-American writer and educator based in Seattle. The judges write:
“Ghassemi’s novel, whimsical and darkly humorous at once, follows the life (and afterlife) of an Iranian man recently arrived in Paris, who finds himself amidst a bizarre group of exiles trying to eke out an existence in the French metropolis. Darting among absurd characters and comical episodes, Dr. Quay’s translation sample is a romp to read, and draws the reader in with ease, while also dropping anxious hints at the provocative political and social questions the novel promises to raise about the immigrant experience. A winner of the prestigious Golshiri Prize in Iran, Woodwind Harmony will be an exciting addition to the library of modern Persian literature available in English.”
MELC looks forward to working with Dr. Quay and deep Vellum to ensure that Woodwind Harmony will soon be in the hands of English-language readers and listeners in print and audio book formats. The second cycle of the Mo Habib Translation Prize will be announced in September and will focus on Persian Poetry. Stay tuned!
-Aria Fani, Director of Persian and Iranian Studies at the University of Washington
