Semi-Retired Fowler College Professor Honored With Scholarship

Faculty can’t just walk away Fowler College of Business at San Diego State University. The school’s got a hold on them. At least that was the case for Finance Professor Mehdi Salehizadeh.

The professor retired in May 2017 after 37 years at the school, a press release reads, but he’ll actually be around campus this year, too. Salehizadeh agreed to stay with a school just a little bit longer while Fowler finds a replacement for The Corky McMillin Center for Real Estate. So for now, he’ll be its interim director until a full-time director is hired.

Given the semi-retired professor’s commitment to the business school, it’s now honoring him with a scholarship in Salehizadeh’s name with the Mehdi Salehizadeh Legacy Endowed Scholarship. The hope is that the scholarship would be $4,000 given to two students or $2,000 to four students every year. But the school must raise the money first. Ideally, $100,000 to be matched by the school, said Scott Brusseau, chair of the center’s advisory board.

Salehizadeh knew what kind of student to whom he wanted to gift such a scholarship. Here are the basics. The student’s got to be a junior who’s majoring in finance or real estate. This student must have a minimum 3.0 GPA. And, obviously, this person’s must be enrolled with the Fowler College of Business. There’s even the potential for the scholarship to give priority to first-generation college students who face obstacles different than their peers whose parents have attended college.

Center Coordinator Melissa Abeyta thought up the scholarship in conversation with Brusseau. She knew she wanted to honor the professor’s legacy with Fowler but wasn’t quite sure how.

“The scholarship was a great way to thank him for all he’s given to SDSU, for sustaining The Corky McMillin Center for Real Estate and his leadership within the Fowler College of Business,” Abeyta said.

The first scholarships were given out for this school year, 2017-18

regions: San Diego

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