Paul Mohazzabi: Faculty Distinguished Service Award

Pirooz “Paul” Mohazzabi is a professor of Physics in the Mathematics and Physics department here at University of Wisconsin-Parkside. He first joined the university in January of 1986, bringing with him ten years of prior experience as faculty of physics and engineering at other institutions in the U.S. and overseas.

Paul was born in Tehran, Iran in 1946. Because he was born just after the end of World War II, he was named “Pirooz”, meaning “victory” in Persian. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Tehran University 1970 and MS and PhD degrees in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1972 and 1975, respectively. After receiving his PhD, Paul realized that his true passion was for Physics. Therefore, he pursued physics from then on. He has been teaching and publishing research articles in physics for over 43 years. He has nearly 100 research publications in international refereed journals, ranging from bicycle stability to cancer theory.

His favorite part of UW-Parkside is the small campus and classes and excellent students. During his tenure here, Paul has served on many key committees, including the Personnel Review Committee, Committee on Research and Creative Activity, University Committee, and the Course and Curriculum Committee. He also has served as an augmenting member on executive committees of several departments, including Geosciences, Computer Science, Chemistry, and Biological Sciences.

Not only that, but he also founded the innovative Science Night program back in 2003. The Science Night program was designed to get children from the community engaged in science and to provide an experience that someone without any background could enjoy. Today, Science Night is one of the most successful community programs that UW-Parkside currently offers.

Paul had been awarded the Excellence in Research and Creative Activity Award at the 2018 Fall Convocation award ceremony.

Congratulations, Pirooz (Paul) Mohazzabi!