*12/16/16 Reza Jalali, USM Director Multicultural Student Affairs
Posted by David Clough
Who knew? "The first group of Muslims arrived in Maine almost 100 years ago," said Reza Jalali in an interview on MPBN last August. They were following a long tradition of New Mainers originating from distant lands in search of a better life. Reza, an Iranian of Kurdish descent, came to the U.S. more than three decades ago, after the Iranian revolution, and eventually made his way to Maine as a political refugee. A writer, educator and Muslim scholar, Reza is recognized as one of the eminent ethnic Americans in "Making it in America: a sourcebook on eminent ethnic Americans" and this year was named as one of Maine’s 50 leaders by Maine magazine.
As a member of Amnesty International USA Board of Directors, Reza has led delegations to different refugee camps in Turkey and Bosnia. He has participated in numerous United Nations-sponsored international conferences. In 1992, he visited the White House as part of a national delegation to discuss the plight of Kurdish refugees fleeing Iraq.
Reza wrote the Foreword to "New Mainers," a book on immigrant’s experiences in Maine. His first children's book, "Moon Watchers," has received a Skipping Stones Honor Award for Multicultural Book. His collection of short stories, "Homesick Mosque," was published in November 2013. His play, "The Poets and the Assassin," which is about women in Iran and Islam, was published in 2015
Reza has been included in "50 In 52 Journey," a national project to name “Americans who are problem-solvers, idea-generators in their communities, in their cities, and in their states and are moving America forward.”
Reza has taught at the Bangor Theological Seminary and the University of Southern Maine. He has been featured in the National Public Radio’s nationally-acclaimed "The Moth Radio Hour." He is the co-curator of the Maine Historical Society’s "400 Years of New Mainer."