Nafhat N. Nasr

A Celebration of Life memorial was held on Saturday, July 10^th at Flanner Buchanan Washington Park North, 2706 Kessler Blvd West Drive, Indianapolis, Indiana. Memorial gifts may be made to the Dr. Nafhat Nasr Scholarship at the Balamand Educational Foundation. www.balamandeducationalfoundation.org/donate. Balamand University is located on the outskirts of Dr. Nasr’s birthplace, where he was a Fulbright Scholar in 2002.  

Obituary

Nafhat Nassim Nasr passed away peacefully at 11:55 AM on June 8, 2021, at his home in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, in the warm care of his family. He is survived by the love of his life and, as he would say, his soulmate and mainstay, his wife Nadia (Sweis) Nasr, with whom he would have celebrated their 60^th anniversary this September. Together they had three children, daughters Lena Nasr Snethen and Iva Nasr, and son, Ghassan Nasr, who, with his wife, Myriem Benzouina, gave him his only and greatly loved grandson, Adnan Nasr. He also leaves behind his son-in-law, John Snethen, husband to Lena, and he leaves behind as his last surviving brother, Waddah Nasr (Lebanon).  He was predeceased by his parents and two other brothers, Wafa Nasr and Isam Nasr.  He considered Nadia’s family his own and for her surviving brothers, Nabil Sweis (Jordan) and Suheil Sweis (United Kingdom), he would want his ties recorded. Their brother, Munir Sweiss, predeceased them. Nafhat is remembered for his gentle and peaceful nature, his quiet persistence and courage, his tireless devotion to his students, and his fierce and never-ending love for his family. Nafhat Nasr was a scholar, teacher, son, brother, friend, husband, father, and grandfather, and a self-described “internationalist.” An outpouring of love and sympathy immediately came in from around the globe as news of his passing quickly spread. From the Arab World, North Africa, and Europe, to South America, Australia, and across the United States, an overriding theme emerged from those countless messages of support: Nafhat exuded kindness and humor with everyone he met, was a mentor to men and women who became business, civic, and political leaders around the world, who became teachers and scholars in pursuit of truth and wisdom, who became world citizens par excellence, modeling in their respective communities the lessons of tolerance, wisdom and peace that Nafhat modeled throughout his long and blessed life. His grace, wisdom, and ever-present humor left an imprint on all who knew him; his resolute and peaceful nature made friends rather than enemies even in the face of profound disagreements.  He cared about the well-being of our planet and its inhabitants and was an advocate for sustainable development. Nafhat was born in 1935 to the late Nassim Nasr who was a teacher and highly respected man of letters, and his mother Najla Moussa who was a tireless activist in the Lebanese women’s movement. He spent most of his childhood years in the Koura region of Lebanon in his native Qelhat, a small, picturesque town of olive groves and grape and fig orchards nestled in the hills overlooking the Mediterranean and home to the Balamand Antiochian Orthodox seminary and attached university by the same name. Nafhat was a graduate of Choueifat High School in Lebanon, the American University of Beirut where he received his M.A. in 1960, then Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee where he received his Ph.D. in 1967. He had short teaching stints at Southern Illinois University and then the American University in Cairo, Egypt before landing in 1968 at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon, a return to his homeland, where he taught for almost 20 years before immigrating to the United States in the 1980s. He and the Nasr family were members of the Antiochian Orthodox Church and later, after he and Nadia moved to Greencastle, Indiana, they became members of the Gobin Methodist Church. He taught at DePauw University from 1987 until he retired as Professor Emeritus in 2006. He was awarded the Mr. and Mrs. Fred C. Tucker Jr. Distinguished Career Award from DePauw that year as well. He loved teaching and his students more than anything else he did professionally.  His focus was international issues and organizations, and in the second half of his career, he developed an interest in conflict resolution studies, which he introduced at DePauw, eventually establishing it as a program in its own right. Memorial gifts may be made to the Dr. Nafhat Nasr Scholarship at the Balamand Educational Foundation. www.balamandeducationalfoundation.org/donate. Balamand University is located on the outskirts of Dr. Nasr’s birthplace, where he was a Fulbright Scholar in 2002. Feel free to leave your remembrances of Nafhat with Guestbook Entries below. Thank you.