Mehrdad Izady

Who is Mehrdad Izady?

Michael Mehrdad R.S.C. Izady, is a contemporary writer on ethnic and cultural topics, particularly the Greater Middle East, and Kurds. He was born to a Kurdish father and a Belgian mother, and spent much of his youth in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Korea, as his diplomat parents moved from one assignment to another. He received his BA degree in History, Political Science and Geography from Kansas University, and then attended Syracuse University where he received two masters degrees in Remote Sensing-Cartography and in International Relations. He received his PhD at the department of Middle Eastern Languages and Civilizations of Columbia University in 1992. He taught for six years in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University and in the Department of Middle Eastern Studies and History at the Joint Special Operations University in Florida. He has testified before two US Congressional Committees and has authored many books and articles on Middle East and Southeast European subjects. He has been a part-time faculty at the Department of History at Fordham University and Pace University since 2001. He also continues his educational services to the US military, diplomatic corps and the NATO. Since 1997, he has also been a Master Adjunct professor at the Joint Special Operations University, Florida.