|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1. Administration
The Wilmette Institute is an agency of the National Spiritual Assembly. It operates as a center of learning, offering academic, professional, and service-oriented programs related to the Bahá'í Faith. The Wilmette Institute's programs and services aim to enhance unity and fellowship among all people regardless of their ethnic, national, and religious background. Its services are available to students all over the world. It aspires to become a national center of learning, a training institute, and to evolve into a dependency of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár in Wilmette, Illinois.
Faculty of Religion, Philosophy, and Theology
Dr. Frank Lewis received his Ph.D. in Near Eastern languages and civilizations from the University of Chicago in 1995. He is an assistant professor of Persian language at Emory University. He has taught Islam and Islamic philosophy for the Wilmette Institute.
Mr. Dann May received has Master's degree in philosophy from Northern Texas University in 1993. He has taught classes in philosophy, logic, ethics, Christian ethics, the philosophy of religion, Asian religions, the history of religion, and religious dialogue at various universities in Texas and Oklahoma. He has considerable familiarity with Christian theology. Currently he teaches at Oklahoma City University. He teaches Buddhism, Chinese religion, and Christianity for the Wilmette Institute.
Dr. Anne Pearson received her Ph.D. in religious studies with a specialization in Hinduism from McMaster University in 1993. She has been a lecturer on Hinduism, women and religion, and world religions at McMaster University and Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario. She teaches women in religion and Hinduism for the Wilmette Institute.
Mr. Habib Riazati is a researcher and lecturer who has traveled widely across North America and is known for his courses on Bahá'í scripture. He has taught Qur'án and Islamic thought for the Wilmette Institute.
Dr. Behrooz Sabet received an Ed. D. in philosophy of education from State University of New York at Buffalo in 1987. He teaches in the Graduate School of Education of the University of South Carolina and at the Graduate School of America and has taught religious studies at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte. He has taught the introduction to philosophy for the Wilmette Institute.
Dr. Julio Savi is a physician residing in Bologna, Italy. He has translated many Bahá'í scriptures and works about the Bahá'í Faith into Italian. He is the author of several books and articles, among them The Eternal Quest for God, a work about Bahá'í theology. He has taught Bahá'í theology for the Wilmette Institute.
Dr. Robert H. Stockman received his doctorate in the history of religion in the United States from Harvard University in 1990. He is an instructor of religious studies at DePaul University, where he teaches world religion. He is also Coordinator of the Institute for Bahá'í Studies in Wilmette and Administrator of the Wilmette Institute. He has taught primal religions, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity and Old and New Testaments for the Wilmette Institute.
Faculty of the Study of Individual Development,
Marriage, and Family Life
Ms. Lily Ayman completed her undergraduate studies in foreign languages at Moscow University and in philosophy and educational sciences at Tehran University. She has pursued graduate studies in education and psychology at London and Edinburgh Universities and in Children's Literature at Columbia University. She has been coordinator of programs on education and family life at Landegg Academy, Switzerland; Head of the Department of Life-long Education and Training, National Center for Adult Education and Training, Tehran, Iran; and Lecturer in Children's Literature at the College of Education, Tehran University. Most recently she has taught Persian at the University of Chicago. She has served as executive officer of a number of professional organizations. Lily Ayman has authored a number of books and has published extensively in the field of education. She has taught about parenthood and family life for the Wilmette Institute.
Dr. Saba Ayman-Nolley received M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Chicago. She is Associate Professor of psychology and international and intercultural studies and Chairperson of the Psychology Department of Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago. Her fields of specialization are developmental psychology and early childhood development and education. Her research areas include children's social development and their development of creativity. She has served as the coordinator of the special education program for the six Head Start programs at the Fort Peck Indian reservation in Montana. She has taught psychology, personal development, marriage, and family life for the Wilmette Institute.
Dr. Michael L. Penn is a clinical psychologist and professor of psychology at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Temple University in clinical psychology. He has won awards for academic excellence and was nominated for a teaching award. His research and teaching areas include developmental psychopathology, culture and psychopathology, social psychiatry, public health, race relations, and violence against women and girls. In June 1998 he became Assistant Rector of Landegg Academy. He has taught individual development for the Wilmette Institute.
Ms. Mary K. Radpour has a Master of Science degree in social work from the University of Tennessee. She has taught English at Morehouse College and the Community College of Baltimore and taught psychology and social work at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Currently she is a practicing counselor. She has taught about marriage and family life for the Wilmette Institute.
Faculty of the Study of Governance and Community
Mr. Arash Abizadeh received his Master of Philosophy in politics from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. Currently he is a Ph.D. candidate in political theory at Harvard University, where he has taught courses in ancient and modern political philosophy, and where he has been a Frank Knox Fellow, a Judith Shklar Fellow, and a fellow of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. His research interests currently focus on the treatment of discourse and diversity in democratic theory. He has taught political theory as it relates to Bahá'í administration for the Wilmette Institute.
Dr. John S. Hatcher holds a B.A. and M.A. in English literature from Vanderbilt University and a Ph.D. in Old and Middle English literature and linguistics from the University of Georgia. He is professor of English literature at the University of South Florida. He is the author of numerous books about Bahá'í theology and scripture as well as Bahá'í poetry. He has taught about the divine nature of the Bahá'í Administrative Order and its relationship to the Most Great Peace for the Wilmette Institute.
Dr. Michael McMullen received his Bachelor's degree in sociology and mathematics from the University of Kansas and his Ph.D. in sociology from Emory University. His revised doctoral dissertation, The Atlanta Bahá'í Community: On the Religious Construction of a Global Identity is forthcoming from Rutgers University Press. He has taught sociology of communities and organizations for the Wilmette Institute.
Ms. Gayle Morrison received her Bachelor’s degree in history from the University of California at Santa Barbara in1967. She has done graduate study in Southeast Asia Studies at Yale University and received an M.Ed. from the University of Massachusetts in 1970. She is the author of To Move the World: Louis G. Gregory and the Advancement of Racial Unity in America (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1982). From 1985 to 1995 she was a member of the Continental Board of Counselors for Australasia and an Auxiliary Board member for Protection from1981 to 1985. Currently she is coordinating editor of the Bahá’í Encyclopedia project. She has taught about the institutions of the learned for the Wilmette Institute.
Faculty of Bahá'í History and Scripture
Dr. Iraj Ayman (see bio above)
Mr. Bill Collins holds B.A. from Middlebury College in French and Russian, an M.S.L.S. in Library Science from Syracuse University, and an M.Sc. in history and political science from Syracuse University in 1995. He was director of the Bahá’í World Center Library, 1977 to 1990. He has taught classes on the life and writings of Shoghi Effendi for the Wilmette Institute.
Dr. John S. Hatcher (see bio above)
Mr. Dann May (see bio above)
Dr. Heshmat Moayyad received his doctorate in Persian literature from the University of Frankfurt. He has taught Persian literature at Harvard University, the University of Naples, the University of Frankfurt, and since 1966, at the University of Chicago. He is the author, translator, or editor of several works on modern Persian literature in English. He has taught the life and writings of ‘Abdu'l-Bahá for the Wilmette Institute.
Mr. Habib Riazati (see bio above)P>
Dr. David S. Ruhe was a member of the Universal House of Justice from 1968 to 1993 and is the author of two books, The Robe of Light (a biography of Bahá'u'lláh through the year 1853) and The Door of Hope (a description of Bahá'í holy places in Israel). He has taught about the life and writings of Bahá'u'lláh for the Wilmette Institute.
Dr. Behrooz Sabet (see bio above)
Dr. Robert H. Stockman (see bio above)
Skills Development Faculty
Dr. Roya Ayman received her B.A. (honors), M.A., and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Utah, the last in social and organizational psychology. She is Associate Professor and Director of the industrial and organizational psychology program at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. She has published extensively in professional journals and has co-authored several textbooks in the field of leadership. She gives workshops for the Wilmette Institute on public speaking, consultation, and skills for organizing meetings.
Dr. Phyllis Bernard holds a B.A. in history from Bryn Mawr College, a Master's in history from Columbia University, and a J. D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She has been director of a mediation program in central Oklahoma since January 1996 and is professor of law at Oklahoma City University Law School, where she teaches alternative dispute resolution, administrative law, legal ethics, and health law. She also teaches in the Native American Legal Assistance Clinic. She has taught conflict resolution for the Wilmette Institute.
Dr. Keyvan Nazerian has a doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from University of Tehran and a Master's degree and Ph.D. in microbiology from Michigan State University. He pioneered to Italy, 1960-63 and Sweden 1972-73. He was associate professor of microbiology at Michigan State University, 1975-85. He served on the National Teaching Committee of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States, 1980-86, and has been a staff member in the National Teaching Committee Office since 1995. He is coordinator of workshops on teaching the Faith for the Spiritual Foundations for a Global Civilization program and has taught classes on the subject.
Dr. Peter Oldziey has an Ed.D. in Education from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. He wrote and helped publish The Garden of Bahá'u'lláh: Visual Lessons for Study of the Bahá'í Faith (New Delhi: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1988), a work based on theories he developed in his doctoral thesis on development of educational materials that symbolize spiritual concepts in a way that permits dialogue with a nonliterate population. Dr. Oldziey has also written a case study of the Hoosick Falls, N.Y., teaching project. He has taught workshops on teaching the Faith for the Wilmette Institute.
Dr. Phyllis Perrakis holds a Ph.D. in English literature from the University of California at Berkeley. She teaches writing at the University of Ottawa and serves as an editor for the Journal of Bahá'í Studies. She has taught writing skills for the Wilmette Institute.
Mr. David Rouleau is coordinator of the Office of Community Administration and Development at the Bahá'í National Center and is one of the most experienced local spiritual assembly trainers in the country. He has taught local spiritual assembly skills for the Wilmette Institute.
Mr. Ramsey Zeine is an architect and chair of the National Spiritual Assembly of Lebanon. He has extensive experience in fostering efforts to teach the Faith and helping Bahá’ís to teach more joyfully and effectively. He has taught workshops on teaching the Faith for the Wilmette Institute.
Faculty of the Study of the Persian Language
Ms. Lily Ayman (see bio above)
Mr. Jonah Winters received his bachelor's degree in religious studies from Reed College, Portland, Oregon in 1994. He completed a master's degree in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Toronto in 1997, with a focus on Shi'i and Babi concepts of martyrdom. He has taught classes on Islamic studies at the Wilmette Institute and provides administrative support for the the web site, and assists with Wilmette Institute courses in Bahá’í scripture and world religions. He is executive editor of the Baha'i Academics Resource Library.
Michelle Reid, faculty assistant for the Revelation of Baha'u'llah series, has a variety of experience teaching the Baha'i Faith. She helped initiate and direct an Accelerated Learning Program at the New Era Baha'i School, worked as an assistant for Dr. Roxanne LaLonde at the University of Alberta in the field of Human Geography, and is a certified Ruhi trainer. She has worked for the Continental Board of Counselors while pioneering in India and Kazakhstan and was secretary for the Regional Institute Committee of Alberta. She also has experience building web pages for Baha'i organizations.
