Ranin Kazemi at MTSU
FROM REFUGEE TO TENURED PROFESSOR Honors professors impart life-enriching foundation By Ranin Kazemi Late professor Ronald A. Messier
I recently heard about the passing of Ronald A. Messier, a former MTSU professor who taught in the History Department and the Honors College from 1972 to 2004. I was fortunate enough to take a number of classes with him in 1999–2002, when I was a double major in History and English. Professor Messier also served as one of two advisors for a research project that culminated in my Honors thesis. This work was about the love imagery in the poetry of Jalal al-Din Rumi, a 13th-century Persian thinker who has considerable global readership and influence in the 21st century. I worked with Professor Messier to prepare for graduate school, as well. Several years of working with him and other learned and dedicated professors at the Honors College, coupled with the broad and rigorous training I received at MTSU in general, led to admission to multiple research universities in the 50
ARETÉ MAGAZINE | Spring 2022
country. I ultimately completed my graduate work at two different institutions: the Ohio State University, where I obtained a master’s degree in History in 2005, and Yale University, where I was granted two additional master’s degrees and a Ph.D. in History.
Since my graduation from MTSU, I often thought about how the Honors College positioned me to succeed in a career that has been both competitive and rewarding.
