مدرسه عالی دماوند | |
Former name | Damavand Higher Educational Institute |
|---|---|
| Type | women's private (1968–1974); public (1974–1979) |
| Active | 1968–1979 |
| Location | 13 Diba Alley, Tehran, Iran (from 1968 to 1976), Lashgark Road, Tehran, Iran (from 1976 to 1979) |
 | |
Damavand College (Persian:مدرسه عالی دماوند;romanization:Madreseh-ye Ālī-ye Damāvand; and later,دانشکده دماوندDāneshkadeh-ye Damāvand) was founded in 1968 as a private institution of higher learning for women and run by an international community and by AmericanPresbyterianMissionaries. In 1974, it became apublic college, offering a four-yearintercultural program inliberal arts.
In 1976, the campus was designed byWilliam Wesley Peters ofTaliesin Associated Architects (Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation) and Nezam Amery of the Amery-Kamooneh-Khosrovi Group.[citation needed]
It was one of the last educational centers that closed down preceding the February 1979 events within theIslamic Iranian Revolution. The former campus of Damavand College is now occupied byPayame Noor University.
Damavand College takes its name fromMount Damavand, which rises out of theAlborz Range north of the city of Tehran.[1] A precursor to Damavand College was theIran Bethel School, which was established in c. 1874 by the sameAmericanPresbyterian Missionaries, other schools by these Missionaries in Tehran include Sage College, andAlborz College (also known as the American College of Tehran).[citation needed]
The school was founded in 1968 as a private institution of higher learning for women and run by an international community and was located at 13 Diba Alley in Tehran.[2] In 1974, it became apublic college, offering a four-yearintercultural program inliberal arts leading to the Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees.[citation needed]
The first class was consisting of 62 seniors graduated in 1972, while by 1978 the population increased to 162 graduates. In 1977–1978, the college had over 800 Iranian and international students. All classes at the school were taught in the English language, from the freshman year and on, except those classes on Iranian culture.[3]
In 1976, the school's new campus construction was completed at Lashgark Road in Tehran, it was designed and built by William Wesley Peters of Taliesin Associated Architects (Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation) and Nezam Amery of the Amery-Kamooneh-Khosrovi Group.[4][2]
It was one of the last educational centers that closed down preceding the February 1979Islamic Iranian Revolution. The collection of the books are now available at Central Library and the Documentation Center ofAllameh Tabatabai University.[5] The former campus of Damavand College is now occupied by Payame Noor University.[4][2]
From 1968 to 1979, Damavand College was served by three presidents, andMary C. Thompson was the academic dean all through the years. Under the leadership ofFrances M. Gray (1910–2001), Damavand College was established in 1968 and that same year was accredited. From the time of the founding of the college, Gray continued as president until her retirement in June 1975.[citation needed]
ProfessorD. Ray Heisey (1932–2011), was the second president, serving from Fall 1975 until 1978.[6][7] In 1978 he return to his position as professor ofRhetoric andCommunication at theKent State University inOhio.[citation needed]
Carolyn Spatta, a cultural Geographer was the third and the last president of Damavand College that was taken over by the Iranian Government in 1979 when the Islamic Revolution replaced thePahlavi dynasty. In 1995 withSusan Christine Seymour, she wroteAsian College Women's Aspirations: A Comparative Study of the Effects of Maternal employment in which Damavand College has been named as one of the nine colleges that joined Asian Women Institutes in 1971 and in 1975 the organization to share its concern about women's higher education in Asia.[citation needed]
ProfessorMehdi Mohaghegh became the president of the college after the victory of theRevolution in February 1979. He was from Tehran University and one of the Professors ofPersian Literature in the college. His presidency was short as with the formation of theCultural Revolution in 1980, Damavand was amalgamated into what is nowAllameh Tabatabai University and its existence came to an end.
In 1975, nine colleges of the Asian Women's Institute including Damavand College that had been founded as Christian Colleges, joined to share their concerns about women's higher education in Asia. Earlier than that in 1971 representatives of those colleges agreed to plan for a joint organization. They are all still active with the same goals except for Damavand College that was closed in 1979 prior to the Islamic Revolution of Iran.[citation needed]
