Remembering The Founder of NAIRS

Seyed Abdol-Majid Rooholamini, M.D.

1938 - 2007

By:  Karim Rezai, MD

An Obituary Published in BMJ

by Dr. Rooholamini's niece,

Bita Manzouri

S. A. Majid Rooholamini, M.D.

1938-2007

An Obituary

By:  Dr Farzin Eftekhari

Commentary by Friends and

Colleagues of

Dr. Rooholamini

Memorial Fund For Doctor Rooholamini

Set up by family and his colleagues

at Olive View Medical Center

Fund Information

Remembering The Founder of NAIRS Seyed Abdol-Majid Rooholamini, M.D. 1938 - 2007

Doctor Majid Rooholamini, the founder of NAIRS, passed away on February 1st, 2007 in his home in Granada Hills, California. His loss will be deeply felt by all members of this society as well as his own family. He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Fatima, and his daughter Sahar Rooholamini. I express heartfelt condolences to both of them on this sad occasion.

I first met Doctor Rooholamini in Tehran in 1978. I had just returned from my graduate studies abroad, but he was already a well established leader in the field of radiology in Iran. At that time the country was embroiled in a socio-political upheaval which eventually led to the change of regime in the winter of 1979.  Nearly all national institutions were paralyzed and at an standstill. But  physicians and hospitals, true to their mandate with humanity, were carrying on their services under those strenuous and extraordinary circumstances. We all felt we had a mission to accomplish, namely to help the fellowman get through those dire circumstances, and by and large the mission was accomplished.  It was at this critical juncture in time that between Dr. Rooholamini and I, we forged a bond of friendship that lasted through the end of his life, and will continue to warm my heart through the end of mine.

We parted ways in 1982, when I moved to United States, but then again reunited in 1986 when I managed to bring him to the University of Iowa as head of the cardiothoracic division in the Department of Radiology. Four years later he moved to Los Angeles where he stayed to the end of his days as a radiologist at Olive View Hospital affiliated with the UCLA School of Medicine. 

Dr. Rooholamini was an accomplished physician, a knowledgeable scholar, a superb teacher, and a first rate radiologist, but above all he was much more than that. He was born to be a noble man and a kind man who would continually strive to advance the cause of common good for his people and for the profession he had chosen. He was one of the pivotal figures responsible for founding and leading the Iranian Radiological Society and for many years he served tirelessly on numerous professional and scientific bodies in Iran that included the Iranian Medical Council, the Ministry of Health, as well as the Ministry of Higher Education among others. A list of his life time activities are detailed in the biographical sketch that I have included below, but suffice it to say that the professional embodiment of radiology in Iran owes its existence to him.

In the same spirit of dedication to societal work, in 1991 Dr. Rooholamini set about to establish a professional and scientific body for the Iranian radiologists in North America as well. Hence NAIRS was born and to this day has largely thrived on the strength of his endeavors. It is my sincere hope that this organization as well as the others he founded in Iran will live on and shine a light on the good name of a fine man who devoted much of his life to public service.

When I heard that I had lost my beloved lifelong friend, I searched for any cherished mementos of him in my possession and came up with one item. It is a piece of poetry by the late Persian Poet Rahi Moayerri. Majid had personally scribed it in his beautiful handwriting in a letter that he sent to me a few years ago. I present it below, as it is a window to his soul that I could not have portrayed in any other manner.

Karim Rezai, M.D.

Iowa City, Iowa