Since at least 1948, Iraqi students have been attending the University of Illinois. Early Iraqi Illini have included chemists, civil engineers, electrical engineers, mechanical engineers, mathematicians, musicians, prospective medical doctors, singers, soccer players, and student leaders too.
Read on to learn more about early Iraqi Illini!
Illinois – Iraq Connections
In 1937, Journalism Class of 1935 graduate John L. Strohm (Record Series 26/20/75) visited Iraq. From 1939 through the early 1940s, Polish refugee and University Library cataloger Felicia L. Turyn (Record Series 35/2/27) lived in occupied Poland during World War II and she would later flee to the United States, after traveling through Turkey, Iraq, and India. In the Felicia L. Turyn Papers, researchers read about her experiences and travels. In 1948, Agronomy and Plant Genetics Professor Jack R. Harlan (Record Series 8/6/25) was part of a USDA Near East program in Iraq and neighboring countries. From 1953 to 1954, Animal Science Professor William E. Carroll (Record Series 8/7/24) was a livestock consultant to the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture. In 1955, For the middle and late 1950s, the CIC-AID Rural Development Research File (Record Series 8/4/40) includes U.S. university collaborations with foreign universities including Iraq too.
Students
Mr. Khidi H. Dizdi, (B.S. Mathematics, 1951), of Arhil, left few records behind. While Mr. Jacob “Jack” Hayya, (B.S. Civil Engineering, 1951), of Baghdad, left more records behind. During the spring of 1948, Mr. Hayya was initiated into the multicultural student organization Cosmopolitan Club (Record Series 41/64/8). The following May, with eight other club members, Mr. Hayya was a guest of the local Rotary club in Champaign. At least during the 1940s, the Rotary club helped find off campus housing for foreign students, The Daily Illini reported. For academic year 1948-1949, Mr. Hayya was a member of the Illini Union movies committee. In May 1949, a Daily Illini reporter interviewed foreign students about their first surprises upon entering the U.S. For Mr. Hayya, he was surprised by the positive and negative differences of higher education in the United States. Then by December 1949, Mr. Hayya had become the social chair for the Cosmopolitan Club’s annual Christmas ball committee.
Meanwhile, Mr. Salman “Sal” Sassoon, (B.S. Civil Engineering, 1951), of Baghdad, was an busy, studious student too. In 1950, he was elected an officer of the honorary international intercollegiate fraternity Phi Kappa Epsilon. In March 1951, as a member of the engineering honorary fraternity Tau Beta Pi, Mr. Sassoon was Special Awards Chair. And in 1951, Mr. Sassoon earned recognition for his high grades by adding his name on the 1951 Bronze Tablet.
Mr. Sadik H. Habib. (B.S. Mechanical Engineering, 1952), of Baghdad, was an invited speaker for at least two events off campus. In February 1951, with Egyptian Illini Mr. Wassef Nawar, Mr. Habib was an invited speaker at the Monticello Presbyterian church. Just two months later in April, Mr. Habib gave a talk titled, “Mohammedan Religion” for the McKinley Foundation too. Mr. Mishal M. Hammodat, (B.S. Mechanical Engineering, 1952), of Mosul, was an active student leader. In 1952, he was elected club vice president of the Engineer Council. Later in May, he was initiated into Phi Kappa Epsilon as well.
Also, Ms. Suhaila Nejib, (B.S. 1952), of Baghdad, was also a frequent honoree and speaker. In January 1951, Ms. Nejib was part of a seven-student-member symposium on foreign relations, hosted at the Paxton Women’s club. In July 1951, she was part of an eight-student-member group who arranged an international night for the Girl Scouts camp in the nearby town of Mahomet. In November, Ms. Nejib was part of a four-student-member talk for the United World Federalists titled, “The Islamic Nations”. For the 1951 Iraqi Night, Ms. Nejib performed Iraqi songs. In February 1952, Ms. Nejib was part of a YWCA trip to take Bellflower high school to meet local students. Finally, during senior year, Ms. Nejib gave one last talk, during Mother’s Day weekend, when she was invited to speak on the status of women in Iraq.
Mr. Akram S. Abdul-Kadi, (B.S. Electrical Engineering, 1953), of Kirkuk, left few records behind. While Mr. Naji H. Elsaeidi, (B.S. Electrical Engineering, 1953), left some records. From Daily Illini reporting, we know that Mr. Elsaeidi was a member of the 1950-1951 Cosmopolitan Club soccer team and the 1951-1952 team too. That year in May, the team defeated the Purdue University team.
Mr. Sabah S. Kachachi, (B.S. Chemistry, 1953), of Baghdad, was busy during his junior and senior years. Mr. Kachachi was involved in the 1951 student-organized Iraqi Night at the Y.M.C.A., where he performed as a soloist, and he was an artist for the Iraqi Night program booklet too. Mr. Kachachi was active in Cosmopolitan Club events too. In 1952, he was part of a five-student-member panel discussion “The Foreign Students’ Impressions of the United States”. That same semester, he was part of the student organization Little UN which was a mock version of the United Nations where he represented Iraq. For academic year 1951-1952, Mr. Kachachi and another student organized a Cosmopolitan Club sponsored nine-event series of round table discussions on international affairs. The following school year, Mr. Kachachi was elected club vice president for the Cosmopolitan Club. Finally, as last as March 1953, Mr. Kachachi would sing another series of songs in Arabic, for attendees at the Cosmopolitan Club’s 1953 IUSA coffee hour at the Illini Union.
Of course there were graduate students too. Some early graduate Iraqi Illini have included Hashim Ibrahim Al-Zubaidi, (M.S. Pharmacology, 1952), Omar Rashid Gardi, (M.S. Civil Engineering, 1956), Mudhafer Ali Ghalib, (M.S. Civil Engineering, 1956; M.S. Sanitary Engineering, 1956), Iyad Abdul Wahhab Nader, (M.S. Zoology, 1958; PhD Zoology, 1964), Fakhri Abdul Latif Bazzaz, (M.S. Botany, 1960; PhD Botany, 1963), Adnan Hardan, (M.S. Agronomy, 1960), and Majid Ahmed Al-Radhawy, (PhD Zoology, 1963).
Organizations and Special Events
At least as early as 1951, the first Iraqi Night program was organized by Iraqi Illini with the administrative support by the Y.M.C.A. The 1951 Iraqi Night included food, live music, poetry readings in English translation, and a narrated slideshow of pictures describing Iraq.
Although documentation of Iraqi Illini after the 1960s is limited, student enrollment figures document that Iraqi Illini enrollment had continued until 1990.
Are you an Iraqi Illini? Do you know someone who is? We’d like to hear from you! Please send us a message or leave a comment below. We want to include you and your story, as we celebrate the first 150 years of the University of Illinois.
Happy First 150 everyone!
References
[] As always, a special thank you to all students and staff whose tireless work for student life and publications (many of which are available at the University Archives) help preserve the memories of Illini everywhere.
