Op-ed: Remembering Firouz Naderi’s legacy of compassion and scientific achievement

Throughout the 2022-2023 academic year, the UCLA campus heard the voices of many students of Iranian descent in protesting the brutal treatment of women in Iran. The “Woman, Life, Freedom” Movement was ignited in the aftermath of the death of a young Iranian woman in the hands of the Islamic Republic’s security forces, which brought to the fore the ongoing plight of the Iranian youth seeking their basic freedoms. While rallies and demonstrations were happening simultaneously around the globe, the voice of the youth was reinforced and echoed by the credible voice of Firouz Naderi.

Naderi led important space projects as the head of the Mars Exploration Program. Among the projects were six successful Mars landings, including the Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. In his final role with NASA as the director for solar system exploration, he oversaw robotic missions to Jupiter, Saturn, asteroids and Europa. He also led the formation of the first-ever Mars helicopter and earned his doctorate degree in digital image processing from the University of Southern California.

In recognition of his contributions towards the advancement of space exploration, Naderi was awarded NASA’s Outstanding Leadership Medal, Space Technology Hall of Fame Medal, and NASA’s Distinguished Service Medal. In 2005 he also received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor award. The International Astronomical Union renamed an asteroid after him in 2016.

Although the science of outer space was his forte, he was quick to point out what he had learned throughout his distinguished career. It is truly in the vastness and loneliness of outer space that one realizes how fortunate we are to call Mother Earth our home. Regardless of our differences and political persuasions, we all occupy this same home, and there is no alternative but to coexist with love, compassion and respect for each other. This message of tranquility was ever present in all his interactions with students and those that were fortunate to be his mentees.

Naderi shined as a role model, and when the youth reached out to him to reinforce their cries for freedom, he willingly stepped forward. He leveraged his platform to speak loudly about the injustices and atrocities experienced by Iranian women and pleaded to bring awareness to what is happening in Iran. Since he spoke with great wisdom and greater humility, it was impossible to discount what he said. On this path, this scientist of the stars and the galaxies was able to connect all of us earthly beings to each other based on our commonalities.

Dr. Naderi untimely passed away on Friday, June 9, 2023. There will be much said about all he did to elevate science and human intelligence. There will be honorable mentions and calls for a moment of silence at the seats of Congress, across the nation’s state capitals and in all corners of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and NASA. If interested, and as you search his name on the web, I am sure that you will learn a great deal about all he meant to this country and the human race. However, the legacy of Dr. Firouz Naderi, my mentor and friend of over two decades, was him teaching all of us how easy it is to be a human being. That you will be best remembered not just because of your accomplishments but how you used your successes to be kind, aware and compassionate and how you used your platform to help others in times of their need.

Dr. Naderi, my Trojan friend, will be missed immensely. He was there for us Bruins as we looked for inspiration to be the voice of our brothers and sisters in Iran. All of us in the Iranian and Iranian American Bruin family will mourn his passing with great grief, but his impact on bringing good will live forever in every one of us.

Pouria Abbassi, P.E. is the Executive Director and CEO of ASUCLA.