Doctor of Laws, honoris causa
Born in Iran, Hamid Eshghi has an immense appreciation for his life in Canada. Having lived through the 1979 Iranian revolution and Iran-Iraq war, Hamid’s experiences and memories have enabled him to embrace and interact with people from various cultural and economic circumstances. His passionate interest in people and communities fuels his desire to give back and engage with organizations he supports.
Through Hamid’s leadership as president of the Djavad Mowafaghian Foundation for the past 20 years, the foundation has made a positive impact on countless organizations and residents across the North Shore, Metro Vancouver and Canada.
To date, the foundation has contributed in excess of $65 million to provide support for recent immigrants, education, international outreach, children’s services, the performing arts and health-care research and innovation.
Hamid’s generosity of spirit and commitment to philanthropy also extends to the foundation’s work with children and its support of youth programs and education—most notably, committing over $16 million to the BC Children’s Hospital and $1.5 million to We Charity, among others. At CapU, a significant contribution of $500,000 by the foundation was made to the new Centre for Childhood Studies.
Outside his philanthropy work, Hamid volunteers his time on major fundraising campaigns for both the Vancouver General Hospital and UBC Hospital Foundation and the UBC and Lions Gate Hospital Foundation. With his wife, Arya, he has travelled to three different continents to build schools with Me to We.
For their work in the community, Simon Fraser University honored Hamid and the foundation with the President’s Distinguished Community Leadership Award in 2022.