The Legend of Instructor Mohammad Izadi
By Christopher Park
Mohammad Izadi loves telling this story. In 1993, Izadi got a call, around 9 o’ clock at night, from his friend, Hassan Rejali. A professor at Cal Poly Pomona then and retired now, Rejali asked Izadi, “Do you want to teach?”
Izadi, who ran his own engineering company at the time replied, “Sure, I am always willing to teach. When?”
“Tomorrow morning, 7:45.”
On that same night, Izadi put a lecture together. The next day, he got up before dawn, found Cal Poly Pomona on a paper map and drove 55 miles to teach his first class.
Since then, Izadi’s developed the kind of reputation that most professors and instructors aspire to. As an instructor for the mechanical engineering department, he’s taught only three classes during his 30 years of teaching—strengths of materials parts one and two, and vector statics. Considered foundational knowledge for several engineering disciplines, these three classes give an engineer the ability to design a structure that’s safe and reliable under any loads or stress. Izadi teaches these classes with a passion for the subject and a clarity in his instruction—a potent combination that can start the fruitful careers of engineering students before they’ve even begun. Careers for students like Elise Hough (’17, mechanical engineering; ’21, master’s in aerospace engineering), who took Izadi’s strength of materials classes.
“I wouldn’t be the woman and the engineer I am today if it wasn’t for him.” - Elise Hough (’17, mechanical engineering; ’21, master’s in aerospace engineering), principal structural engineer, Northrop Grumman
“He just poured out passion about the subject on the first day,” says Hough. “You could tell this was his bread and butter, that this was his favorite thing. It made me want to take his class extremely seriously from the very beginning.”
“His ability to explain the subject and its applications made me think, ‘Wow, I can actually do something with this. I can make a difference in the world.'”
And she has as a principal structural engineer at Northrop Grumman. Izadi’s teachings find daily application in her career. “I wouldn’t be the woman and the engineer I am today if it wasn’t for him,” says Hough.
Or students like Shant Danielian (’13, civil engineering), who took all his classes. “He lit a fire under me,” says Danielian, part-time lecturer for the civil engineering department.
“Frankly, before Izadi, I was uninterested in the material and didn’t care what was being presented to me. Then my aspirations grew through the three courses I took with him,” he says. “Not to sound too corny, but it was a life-changing moment, because it changed the trajectory of what I wanted out of life. He’s a huge influence, the biggest one I’ve had in my academic career.”
Few instructors have accumulated the quality and quantity of praise that Izadi has. He’s annually ranked as the top instructor in not only the department, but the entire college, according to student evaluations. Mention Izadi on our Instagram page, and past students come out of the woodwork, flooding comments with only words of gratitude for their favorite instructor. Any freshmen asking an older student who they should take for statics and strengths and they’ll hear, “Izadi.”
And we’ve yet to mention his YouTube fans. Izadi’s lectures are available on the site, where, in sum, his lectures combine for over 605,800 views. Just like his evaluations, the comments are effusive.
“Sir....... you deserve more than respect....love you sir”
“Genuinely wish you were my professor.”
“I followed Dr. Izadi for both my statics and strength of materials classes at university [sic]. Completed both courses with over a 100 percent average. Absolutely tremendous instructor.”
Izadi’s Secret
His secret is no secret at all—teaching is his work, and the affection, gratitude, and success of his students are his rewards.
“What’s better than that?” says Izadi. “This is my motivation.”
Izadi’s sharp instruction comes in part due to a long background of running his own engineering company. His projects made use of every principle, formula and equation taught in his classes. In turn, his classes are rich with real-world examples based on his successes and failures as an engineer.
“I'm just so eager to go to the class, so eager to teach them,” says Izadi. “I love it and they see it in my eyes, my action. When they see this, they listen and they participate. And when I see their success, I want to teach more and more.”
But at the age of 84, Izadi’s retired from his full-time position this year.
“When I mentioned to my students that Izadi was going to retire this year, there was a palpable sense of loss,” says Professor Paul Nissenson from the mechanical engineering department. “The combination of his longevity, excellent reputation among students and faculty, and friendly personality places him among the legends of the department.”
Though his legend doesn’t end here—he’s returning as a part-time instructor and he’s just as excited for the new semester as he was in 1993, when he made his first 55-mile commute to Cal Poly Pomona
“I always feel like it’s my first day of teaching.”