Farzam Arbab

Dr. Farzam Arbab, "born in Iran, obtained his doctorate in physics at the University of California, Berkeley. He was the representative for the Rockefeller Foundation in Colombia (1974 to 1983) and the president of the FUNDAEC development foundation there. He was a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Colombia and a Continental Counsellor before being appointed to the International Teaching Centre. He was first elected to the Universal House of Justice in 1993."

"Farzam Arbab's doctorate in theoretical particle physics led him to Colombia to work with the University Development Program of the Rockefeller Foundation to strengthen the Department of Physics at the Universidad del Valle. While there he began to study the relationship between science, technology, and educational policy and their effects on development, which led him and a group of colleagues to form the Fundación para la Aplicación y Enseñanza de las Ciencias (Foundation for the Application and Teaching of Science)."


 * Member (in 2003 at least), Universal House of Justice

Select Publications

 * Contributing Author, The Lab, the Temple, and the Market: Reflections at the Intersection of Science, Religion, and Development, Edited by Sharon M. P. Harper (IDRC/Kumarian 2000). (Other contributors were: Azizan Baharuddin, Gregory Baum, Pierre Beemans, Sharon Harper, Promilla Kapur, William Ryan)

Rockefeller Foundation Background
"The Rockefeller Foundation opened a field office in Cali, Colombia in 1960, ten years after the establishment of the Colombian Agricultural Program in Bogota. Guy S. Hayes, an Assistant Director in the Medical and Natural Sciences division, held the post of Field Director in Cali from 1960 until 1970. After 1970, the office was headed by Foundation Representatives Patrick N. Owens (1970-1974) and Farzam Arbab (1974-1978). The office closed on December 31, 1983."

According to the Rockefeller Foundations 1976 Annual Report they had four representatives in Colombia, Farzam Arbab was listed under Health Sciences, and three other individuals were listed under the International Center of Tropical Agriculture. The last three were Loyd Johnson, James M. Spain, and Kenneth O. Rachie. (p.vi)

According to Farzam Arbab: "The Rockefeller Foundation agreed to support our first efforts to create a private foundation, FUNDAEC, to consolidate our group, and to begin certain educational programs. Fundación para la Educación Superior (FES) was the first Colombian institution to offer us help. Later on, a number of other agencies, International Development Research Centre ODRQ the Interamerican Foundation, Private Agencies Collaborating Together (PACT), Volunteers in Technical Assistance (VITA), Appropriate Technology International, as well as the Colombian Ministries of Education, Agriculture, and Planning, contributed to the expansion of FUNDAEC and the consolidation of its work in Norte del Cauca where all of its activities during the first 7 years were concentrated. Expanded activities brought new talent to our group among whom we should at least mention Jaime Millan, Jairo Roldan, Carmen Inez Gamboa, Ana Gonzalez, Enrique Castellanos, Roberto Hernandez, Alan Fryback, and Gabriel Carrasquilla."

Related Sourcewatch articles

 * Baha'i Faith
 * Spirituality, Culture and Economic Development meeting (1995)
 * Universal House of Justice