University of Pennsylvania
In remarks associated with the visit, the Shah emphasized the importance he placed on the development of universities and the expansion of education. He expressed appreciation for Penn’s continuing interest in studies and for its counsel in the development of the new Pahlavi University in Shiraz. He also described educational and cultural cooperation as a means of strengthening friendship between and American peoples and contributing to international peace.
For President Gaylord Harnwell, the occasion was part of a broader international outlook that characterized his seventeen-year presidency of Penn from 1953 to 1970. Harnwell was a physicist and educator who promoted Penn’s growth as a major research university while also pursuing international academic relationships. His engagement with was sufficiently substantial that he later published Educational Voyaging in 1962, describing his work advising on the establishment of an American-style university in Shiraz.
