FEZANA’s highest award is The Lifetime Achievement Award which recognizes a highly-respected North American Zarathushti, who through his/her personal achievements and meritorious service has brought recognition to the Zarathushti community worldwide. On the occasion of the 30th Anniversary Celebration, FEZANA is honored to announce that Ervad Dr. Jehan Bagli has been awarded this Lifetime Achievement Award.

The award is given to Ervad Dr. Jehan Bagli, a highly respected North American Zarathusti  and a scientific scholar, who through his professional excellence, personal achievements and meritorious community service has brought recognition to the Zarathushti community in North America and the world over. The award will be presented to Ervad Dr. Jehan Bagli at the FEZANA 30th Anniversary and ZAH Legacy Scholarship 10th Anniversary Gala on Saturday, April 29, 2017 in Houston, Texas.  The Gala will take place as part of the FEZANA Annual General Meeting 2017 weekend.

FEZANA Executive

About Ervad Dr. Jehan Bagli

Ervad Dr. Jehan Bagli obtained a Doctorate in Medicinal Chemistry from the University of London, and was the director of research at the Wyeth-Ayerst Research Laboratories in Princeton, NJ until his retirement. He has had over 60 publications and 49 US patents. He became an ordained Zoroastrian priest at age 14, and established the first Zoroastrian publication in North America “Gavashni” in 1974. He was editor of the FEZANA journal for two years.  Dr. Bagli is an accomplished Zoroastrian scholar and researcher.  He was the founding President of the Zoroastrian Association of Quebec (ZAQ) in 1968.  He has been the Chair of the FEZANA Research and Preservation committee since 2000.  Since 2001, Dr. Bagli has been the Chair of the ZSO lecture committee and represents ZSO at the Ontario Multifaith Council.

He has authored and co-authored several books on religious practices.  Invited to speak at North American Zoroastrian congresses and overseas at numerous symposia on religion on a variety of topics- Duality, Rituals, Priesthood, Jashan, Navjote, Fire, Universality, and Judaism as they relate to the Zarathushti Religion.  He has worked on unification of the Zarathushti Calendar.  He used to volunteer at the hospital to help with the needs and comfort of patients in emergency.  In 2015, he represented  FEZANA at the Parliament of World Religions.  He was a panelist for three discussions, Relationship with the divine as manifested by various Faiths, Stewardship of the Environment and The Interfaith Model – does it need tweaking?

In 2017, Ervad Dr. Jehan Bagli will be retiring from FEZANA at age 90.  FEZANA would like to honour and celebrate his life, achievements, contributions and devotion to the Zoroastrian faith.