Academic relations between Iran and the United States are a branch of cultural relations between the two countries that became widespread, especially during the Pahlavi dynasty era.
Higher education in Iran in the modern era generally begins with the establishment of the academy of Dar ul-Funun. However, there have already been a number of activities to establish higher education institutions in Iran, in which the Americans have played a major role.
The first ones
"Yokhanan Sayaad Abaajlou", a graduate of Dr. Joseph Cochran at Urmia University of Medical Sciences, went to New York City in 1887 for postgraduate studies, making him the first Iranian student to go to the United States for higher medical education.
Other Iranians who went to the United States for the first time to study include the following:
"Hakim David Yokhna" (born in Urmia), who left Iran for the United States in 1895 to obtain a doctorate in medicine from Case Western Reserve University. "Hakim Yaqob Sarkis", who went to Ohio in 1893 to study medicine. "Elisha Sayaad Abaajlou", also went to Rush Medical College in Chicago for postgraduate studies, then returned to Iran in 1904 after graduating. "Hakim Polos Malek", son of "Shamas Babu Malek Mellatbashi", returned to Iran from Philadelphia in 1914 after graduating. "Eshaq Adams", who immigrated to the United States in 1891, received his medical degree from "Grand Rapids Medical College" in Michigan, USA. The book "Persia by a Persian", published by "Elliot Stock", London, 1906 was written by him. He died in 1942 in California. "Yoel Yoseph Ahl Baz", who graduated from College of Wooster in Ohio, USA in 1905. His daughter wrote a book called "Yesterday's Children: Growing Up Assyrian in Persia", which was published in the United States.
Memorial School of Tabriz
The Memorial School was founded in 1881 and was run by religious missionaries of the American Presbyterian sect. This school was one of the institutions founded by American expeditions that had served in the city of Tabriz since the mid-nineteenth century. Eighty Muslims and 135 Armenian and Assyrian Christians were enrolled in the school.
In the early years of its existence, the Memorial School did not matter. The students there were exclusively Iranian Armenians. Number of them were also limited, but later the school gained importance, and a group of Muslim students also began to study there. After the Constitutionalism and the cultural movement, the Memorial School has become more important.
Kasravi writes: "Before the constitutional movement and also in the early years of that movement, the American School in Tabriz (Memorial School) was valued by libertarians because it was the only place where English and European science were taught and many wise young people came there. At this time, a story was created about the solidarity between that school and the constitutional movement, and that was the joining of Mr. Baskerville, one of the teachers there, to the Tabriz revolutionaries and his killing in the way of the Iranian constitution."
Vartan Gregorian is one of the graduates of this school who immigrated to the United States to continue his education and after studying in the United States, he taught and researched and became the president of Brown University, the president of New York Public Library and finally the president of Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Alborz School and American Girls' School in Tehran
It was in 1932 that the Alborz High School and the American Girls' School in Tehran were officially chartered by State University of New York. One of those who worked hard for the development of these American pre-university institutes was Dr. Samuel M. Jordan, an American who some has been called him the "father of modern Iranian education." Jordan Street in Tehran was also named in honor of him.
Urmia University of Medical Sciences
In medical sciences, while the "Maderseye Tebb" and the Dar ul-Funun in Tehran are often considered the first institutions of higher medical education in Iran, modern medical education in Iran was actually established in 1878 in Urmia. Founded by the American Dr. Joseph Cochran, the institute delivered a total of 26 graduates between 1878 and 1909. Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar himself signed the graduation certificates of some graduates.
Dr. Cochran and almost all of the American faculty (including Dr. Wright, Dr. Homles, Dr. Van Norden, and Dr. Miller) were all buried in Urmia, and the institute eventually became Urmia University of Medical Sciences.