Kettering / / College of Sciences & Liberal Arts

Babak Elahi joined Kettering University in 2019 as the Department Head of Liberal Arts. Over the years, he held various roles within the college and demonstrated his dedication to academic leadership. In August 2023, he was appointed as the Dean of the College of Science and Liberal Arts.

Before joining Kettering, Elahi was a professor of communication and literature in the College of Liberal Arts at Rochester Institute of Technology. He also served as Associate Dean there from 2011 to 2016. 

He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Comparative Literature from San Diego State University; a Master of Arts degree in English and American Literature from the University of California, San Diego; and a P.h.D in American Literature from the University of Rochester. 

His research interests include American literature, popular culture, Iranian diasporic life writing, modern Iranian fiction and documentary film. Elahi has translated many Iranian works of fiction from Persian to English. His most recent academic article, “Reorienting Grass,” is an extended study of the 1925 documentary film “Grass: A Nation’s Battle for Life” and the subsequent musical score Iranian musicians composed in 1992. Elahi also is a musician with writing and performing credits on the musical score of the 2018 independent documentary “The House of Stronzo.”