Dr. Reza Hedayati (August 9, 1944 - May 4, 2018)
Dr. Reza Hedayati was born in Kashan, Iran on August 9, 1944. He and his family moved to Tehran for his high school years, where he subsequently scored the highest score on his Konkour examination and entered Tehran University School of Medicine. He attained his Medical Doctorate degree in 1970.
Dr. Hedayati met his wife, Nahid, in 1972 and within a month married the love of his life on November 20, 1972. Within several months, Dr. Hedayati and his wife immigrated to the United States, where he initially settled in Erie, Pennsylvania, continuing his internships followed by his residency in Diagnostic Radiology in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania until 1975. Later in 1975, Dr. Hedayati moved to New York with his family, which at this point included his first child, Annie and second child, Amir, and he continued his residency at Long Island Jewish Hospital. In 1977, he moved to New York City to attain his fellowship in Neuroradiology at Cornell-New York Presbyterian Hospital which he completed in 1978.
In early 1979, Dr. Hedayati and his family moved to Iran where his third child, Alireza, was born and after several failed attempts to escape Iran, they finally left Iran in 1987. During his 8 years in Iran, Dr. Hedayati was Chairman of Radiology in Iranshahr Hospital, Mehr Hospital, and Alvand Hospital. In the United States, Dr. Hedayati held positions as Chief of Neuro and Interventional Radiology at Coney Island Hospital, Assistant Professor of Radiology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Chief of Neuroradiology and Interventional Radiology at St. John’s Queens Hospital, Director of Radiology at Franklin Hospital Northshore/LIJ Health System, and Medical Director at Universal Open MRI. Most notably, Dr. Hedayati had dual Board Certifications in both Radiology and Neuroradiology.
Dr. Hedayati became involved in community activities very early in his life. He always provided assistance to the less fortunate without seeking public exposure. He helped thousands of individuals throughout his lifetime and gave his life to our community. He began to volunteer with the Iranian American Society of New York, Inc. (IAS) in 1989, immediately joining the Board of Directors focusing on increasing membership of the organization. In the late 1990’s, he also volunteered with Noor-va-Danesh in New Jersey and held the position of President. Always giving a helping hand, Dr. Hedayati was always a great listener, most reliable, trustworthy, extraordinarily humble, and extremely dependable. He became the President of IAS in 2007, and with the exception of 2015, continued as President until his passing in 2018.
Dr. Hedayati was also extremely involved in the Iranian American Medical Association (IAMA) New York Chapter and was the President from 2014-2018. To say that he was just involved is an understatement. He was practically president or was the leader of any organization that he was a part of throughout his life. This was due to his immaculate character and most beautiful personality, making him one of the great leaders of the Iranian-American community. Dr. Hedayati’s mission was always to promote the Persian culture, through the arts -especially music and poetry, and his lifelong mission was to open a community and cultural center for the Iranian American community here in New York.
Nothing in his profession or his volunteer work could amount to the love Dr. Hedayati had for his family. He and his wife, Nahid, have devoted their entire life to the betterment of their children and grandchildren. Dr. Hedayati is survived by his wife, Nahid; 3 children, Annie, Amir and Alireza; and 5 grandchildren, Shayan, Farzan, Aryana, Arman and Ava. He will be remembered and missed for many years to come and his legacy will live on.