Retiring prof’s last class crashed by hat-wearing colleagues paying tribute to a physics department GOAT

Colleagues crashed Reza Nejat’s last class with noisemakers, best wishes and an impressive collection of hats.

They were celebrating Nejat’s retirement after 45 years of teaching physics, first at the University of Guilan in Northern Iran and than at McMaster beginning in 1996. The associate professor closed out his career having taught more than 35,000 students in over 900 classes while supervising upwards of 1,000 teaching assistants.

The surprise party’s toques, pith helmet, sun and rain hats were a nod to how Nejat called out students in his classes. Anyone wearing ballcaps exponentially increased their odds of being asked a physics question. “Mr. Hat, what’s the answer?” was a common refrain.

Twenty years ago, Sara Cormier was repeatedly called out in Nejat’s physics class. While she never wore a hat, she shared the same name as Nejat’s daughter. “In my first year at Mac, Dr. Nejat was the only professor who learned and remembered my name. That meant a lot. It also meant reading the textbook and completing all the practice problems before every class because I knew I’d inevitably be called on by Dr. Nejat to answer questions.”

Cormier says the extra preparation paid off in his course and her career. “Dr. Nejat was a big part of the reason why I chose to major in physics.” Cormier went on to earn a master of science in experimental polymer physics and became a fixture in the department, working as an outreach coordinator, sessional instructor and instructional assistant over the past 14 years.

“Not only did Dr. Nejat know my name, he truly cared about how I did in his class. And that’s still who he is to this day – he cares about students as whole people and does everything he can to help them learn and succeed.” Cormier wasn’t surprised that Nejat closed out his last class not with physics equations but with a reminder for students to be good humans by sharing poems from 13^th century Persian poet Saadi Shirzazi and Iranian poet and painter Sohrab Sepehri.

Cormier organized the surprise party with associate professor Miranda Schmidt. Two dozen faculty, staff and graduate students turned out to honour their retiring colleague. Department Chair Alison Sills sang Nejat’s praises in front of his students and then presented a certificate recognizing his four decades of teaching excellence and distinguished service. Cormier – who wasn’t called out to answer one last question – presented Nejat with an oversized card signed by students in his other physics course.

“I was truly surprised and incredibly happy to see you all there,” Nejat wrote to his colleagues after his last class. “I don’t remember exactly what I did or how I reacted but I do know I was deeply moved and thoroughly enjoyed the moment. I am sincerely grateful for everything – the speech, the certificate, the flowers and most of all, the heartfelt gesture. The joy lingered with me throughout the day.”

Nejat is the first teaching-stream faculty member to retire from the department. The surprise send-off was also a first but might become a tradition in Physics & Astronomy. “Just don’t tell any professors who are close to retirement,” says Cormier. “We want it to be a surprise.”

Photos by Jennifer Ayres