Mohammad Jalal Abbasi-Shavazi

Professor of Demography
The University of Tehran

mabbasi@ut.ac.ir

Field of Study: Demography
 
Specialization: Families and Households, Fertility, International Migration
 
Regional focus: Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
 
Education: Doctorate (Ph.D, or MD), Australian National University, Demography, 1998
 
Population Association of Iran; International Association for the Study of Forced Migration
Working languages: English
Persian (Farsi)
 
Other association membership in population or related fields: Asian Population Association (APA), European Association for Population Studies (EAPS)
 
 
Professional Summary:

Mohammad Jalal Abbasi-Shavazi is an Academy Fellow, Vienna Institute of Demography, and Professor of Demography, University of Tehran (UT). He holds a PhD from the Australian National University (ANU) and is an ANU Honorary Professor. He served as Head, Department of Demography, UT (2002-2006), Research Fellow, Australian Demographic and Social Research Institute (2010-2014), and was the Director of the National Institute of Population Research, Iran (2014-2020). He has widely published on Iran's fertility transition, family change, population policies, Muslim demography, and forced and refugee migration; and is the author of a prize-winning book on Fertility Transition in Iran: Revolution and Reproduction. Abbasi-Shavazi is a founding member of the Asian Population Association and served as its Vice-President (2009-2010) and President (2011-2012). He is the IUSSP Council member (2022-2025), Editor of PAI journal, and a member of Editorial Board of Asian Population Studies, International Migration, and Iranian Population Studies. Abbasi-Shavazi is the Laureate of the 2011 United Nations Population Award.

 

Publications:

BOOKS:
Hugo, G., Abbasi-Shavazi, M.J., and Kraly, E.P. (eds.) 2018, Demography of Refugee and Forced Migration, Springer.
Abbasi-Shavazi, MJ., P. McDonald, and Hosseini-Chavoshi, M. 2009, The Fertility Transition in Iran: Revolution and Reproduction, Springer.

SELECTED PAPERS:
Kraly, E. P., Abbasi-Shavazi, M. J., Torres Colón, L. L., & Reed, H. E., 2023. Social consequences of forced and refugee migration, Annual Review of Sociology, 49: 129-153.
Abbasi-Shavazi MJ. 2021, COVID-19, economic recession, and the Refugee situation, International Migration, 59:289–292.
Abbasi-Shavazi, MJ., and Jones, G. 2018, Population Dynamics and Human Capital in Muslim Countries, Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vol. 16, pp. 1–25.
McDonald, P., Hosseini-Chavoshi, M., and Abbasi-Shavazi, MJ., 2015, Assessment of Iranian fertility trends using parity progression ratios, Demographic Research, Vol 32 (article 58): 1581−1602.
Abbasi-Shavazi, M.J., Hugo, G., Sadeghi, R. and Mahmoudian, H., 2015, Immigrant-native fertility differentials: The Afghans in Iran, Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, Vol. 24(3) 273–297.
Abbasi-Shavazi, M.J., Askari-Nodoushan, A., and Thornton, A., 2012, Family life and developmental idealism in Yazd, Iran, Demographic Research, 26(10): 207-238.
Thornton, A., Binstock, G., Yount, K, Abbasi-Shavazi, MJ., Ghimire, Xie, Yu, 2012, International Fertility Change: New Data and Insights from the Developmental Idealism Framework, Demography, (DOI) 10.1007/s13524-012-0097-9.
Lutz, W., Crespo Cuaresma, J., Abbasi-Shavazi, M.J. 2010, Demography, Education and Democracy: Global Trends and the Case of Iran, Population and Development Review, 36(2): 253-281.

 
Honorary or professional positions and awards:
 
Member of the IUSSP Council, 2018-2021 & 2022-2025

Vice-President (2014-2017) and President (2018-2021) of the Population Association of Iran

Member of IOM Migration Research Leaders' Syndicate (since 2017 -)

Member of International Scientific Advisory Board, Asian Demographic Research Institute, Shanghai, China (since 2015)

Chair of the IUSSP Scientific Panel on Demography of Refugee and Forced Migration (2010-2014)

Vice-President (2009-2010) and President (2011-2012) of the Asian Population Association

Chair of the Establishment Committee (2007-2008) of the Asian Population Association

Member of Developmental Idealism Study Group at the University of Michigan, USA (2008-2014);

Member of Management Committee of Refugee Research Network at York University, Canada (2008-2014);

Member of Irregular Migration Research Advisory Group, Australian Dep. of Immigration and Border Protection (2012-14)

Member of Board of Trustees, International Center for Diarrhoeal Diseases, Bangladesh (2007-2013)

Research Fellow, Economic Research Forum (ERF), Egypt (since 2008)



AWARDS:

2021, Distinguished Professor of Education, University of Tehran

2016, Distinguished Researcher of the Year, Islamic Republic of Iran

2016, Distinguished Writer-International, Social Sciences Category, University of Tehran;

2011, Laureate of the United Nations Population Award;

2011, Winner of the World Prize for the Best Book of the Islamic Republic of Iran;

1997, Winner of the W. D Borrie Prize for the Best Graduate Essay, Australian Population Association
Research grants:
2021-2022 Population Dynamics and Human Capital in Iran

2010-2014 Australian Research Council, Future Fellowship Grant on Changing Patterns of Migration from Afghanistan;

2012-2015 Australian Research Council, Demographic consequences of Disaster in Selected Asian Countries (Co-Investigator);

2012-2013 Recent Trends and Levels of Iran's Fertility using the own-children method, Statistical Center of Iran;

1998-2007 Three large grants from the Wellcome Trust on Iran's Fertility Transition.