October 02, 2014

In Memoriam: Prof. Nas Rassekh

In Memoriam: Prof. Nas Rassekh

On Sunday, September 7, 2014, the History Department lost a wonderful teacher and beloved colleague, Nosratollah Rassekh, professor emeritus of history.

Nas was born on November 22, 1924, in Teheran, Iran. He came to the United States by ship in 1944 as one of nine young Persians sent abroad to study.  Nas enrolled at Stanford University, where he completed his BA in political science in 1948, an MA in international relations in 1950, and a PhD in history in 1960 with a focus on American intellectual history.  In 1960, Nas joined the Lewis & Clark faculty. Over the next thirty-one years he played a valuable role in the life of the College. After his retirement in 1991 he continued to teach summer school and graduate courses for more than a decade.

For many years Nas served as chair of the History Department. His colleagues deeply valued his leadership, collegiality, and support for developing an innovative curriculum. Professor Robert Cruden, for example, expressed appreciation for the fact that Nas encouraged him to offer new courses in US women’s history and African-American history at a time when neither of these were standard parts of the history curriculum at American colleges and universities.  Nas himself expanded the undergraduate curriculum by developing courses on Middle Eastern history and politics in addition to his offerings in American history. As a scholar Nas was active in both fields, conducting original scholarly research and writing numerous reviews.

Two years after arriving at the College, Nas led a group of undergraduates to Mexico—one of the two programs that launched the College’s renowned overseas study programs. He subsequently led overseas groups to Iran (1968) and Egypt (1984-85).

Colleagues wrote that “Nas is remembered by his gentle and kind spirit” and his “delightful sense of humor often expressed in the form of engaging stories.”  Professor Curtis Johnson captured these qualities when he recalled Nas’ “constant sincere smile, generous spirit, and sparkle in the eye that said ‘I know some things.’ He did.” Linda Quandt, administrative coordinator at the law school, is an LC alumna and former student of Nas. She writes:

As well as being a colleague, he was also my professor when I was in the midst of my undergraduate degree in the summers of 1991 and 1992. He never consulted lecture notes, the knowledge just flowed from him; students hung on every word. When I was a working student and single parent in the 80s-90s, I never dreamed that I would see as much of the world as I have, but he encouraged me to get out and see the places I studied and wrote about. After writing a paper in his Middle East class in 1992 on the environmental and humanitarian impact of damming the Nile, it was for him that I stood proudly on top of the High Aswan Dam more than a decade later. During his final summer class in Howard Hall, I walked into his class and showed him the photo of me standing on the dam and offered testimony to him and his students of the profound effect he had on my life. He had both a twinkle and a tear in his eye. What a brilliant educator and gentle humanitarian he was.

Nas is survived by his wife Mona, by six of their seven children, and by seven grandchildren. Our hearts go out to them, his wider family, and the many friends he leaves behind.  We will miss him.