Each month Page 4 asks a member of TU Delft’s foreign community to share their thoughts with us. Professor Majid Hassanizadeh (49), from Iran, is a geo-hydrologist, specializing in groundwater analysis.
He has lived in Holland for seventeen years.
If you were TU President for a day, what would you change? I’d right a serious wrong within the TU system: UDs (Associate Professors) and UHDs (Assistant Professors) basically have no rights, they’re treated like second-rank citizens. Because they can’t be promoters, they don’t get the credit they deserve. Instead, because a professor’s name must always be attached to projects%even when they’ve had nothing to do it%the professor gets the credit. Academics don’t do this job for the money; we do it for the honor and recognition. UDs and UHDs deserve that too.
Does the TU feel like an international university? Not really, although the situation’s improving. More investment in internationalization is needed and the TU should definitely have an International House.
What’s humankind’s greatest challenge for the 21st century? Peace. There’s too much hatred and selfishness in the world.
What book has influenced your life? ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’, by Stephen Covey. It made me look at life differently, especially things I had taken for granted. I gave copies to all my friends.
What are your best qualities? Hardworking, and interested in other people.
And your worst? Too much of a perfectionist, which sometimes causes problems.
What person%living or dead%would you have liked to have been? Avecina, an 10th century Iranian philosopher and physician who did many good things for society.
Does Iran deserve inclusion in Bush’s infamous ‘Axis of Evil’? No. Of course there are bad elements within the Iranian government, but to label the entire nation and Iran’s democratically elected government ‘evil’ is close-minded and simplistic.
How would you like to die? With no regrets, which is how I feel now. If I were to die tomorrow, I can say I’ve enjoyed my life, my parents, wife and children. I’ve been very fortunate.
Do you believe in an afterlife? No, I take physics much too literally for that.
Each month Page 4 asks a member of TU Delft’s foreign community to share their thoughts with us. Professor Majid Hassanizadeh (49), from Iran, is a geo-hydrologist, specializing in groundwater analysis. He has lived in Holland for seventeen years.
If you were TU President for a day, what would you change? I’d right a serious wrong within the TU system: UDs (Associate Professors) and UHDs (Assistant Professors) basically have no rights, they’re treated like second-rank citizens. Because they can’t be promoters, they don’t get the credit they deserve. Instead, because a professor’s name must always be attached to projects%even when they’ve had nothing to do it%the professor gets the credit. Academics don’t do this job for the money; we do it for the honor and recognition. UDs and UHDs deserve that too.
Does the TU feel like an international university? Not really, although the situation’s improving. More investment in internationalization is needed and the TU should definitely have an International House.
What’s humankind’s greatest challenge for the 21st century? Peace. There’s too much hatred and selfishness in the world.
What book has influenced your life? ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’, by Stephen Covey. It made me look at life differently, especially things I had taken for granted. I gave copies to all my friends.
What are your best qualities? Hardworking, and interested in other people.
And your worst? Too much of a perfectionist, which sometimes causes problems.
What person%living or dead%would you have liked to have been? Avecina, an 10th century Iranian philosopher and physician who did many good things for society.
Does Iran deserve inclusion in Bush’s infamous ‘Axis of Evil’? No. Of course there are bad elements within the Iranian government, but to label the entire nation and Iran’s democratically elected government ‘evil’ is close-minded and simplistic.
How would you like to die? With no regrets, which is how I feel now. If I were to die tomorrow, I can say I’ve enjoyed my life, my parents, wife and children. I’ve been very fortunate.
Do you believe in an afterlife? No, I take physics much too literally for that.
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