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| 1 | SENATE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened | ||||||
| 3 | to learn of the death of Dr. Marvin Zonis, who passed away on | ||||||
| 4 | November 15, 2020 at the age of 85; and
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| 5 | WHEREAS, Dr. Marvin Zonis was born to Leonard and Clara | ||||||
| 6 | (Barenberg) Zonis in Boston, Massachusetts on September 18, | ||||||
| 7 | 1936; and
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| 8 | WHEREAS, Dr. Marvin Zonis attended Belmont High School, | ||||||
| 9 | during which time he participated in a student exchange | ||||||
| 10 | program in Greece; this curiosity about global cultures was | ||||||
| 11 | inspired through literature, specifically the works of Richard | ||||||
| 12 | Halliburton; ultimately, he became conversationally fluent in | ||||||
| 13 | Arabic, Farsi, French, Hebrew, and Italian; and
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| 14 | WHEREAS, Dr. Marvin Zonis earned a bachelor's degree from | ||||||
| 15 | Yale University, a master's from the Harvard Business School, | ||||||
| 16 | and a doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of | ||||||
| 17 | Technology; he also completed coursework at the Chicago | ||||||
| 18 | Psychoanalytic Institute; and
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| 19 | WHEREAS, Dr. Marvin Zonis lived in Tehran, Iran from 1963 | ||||||
| 20 | to 1965 as part of the research process for his dissertation on | ||||||
| 21 | the Iranian political regime; ultimately, he interviewed the | ||||||
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| 1 | Shah; this project was covered by the Iranian Press TV; and
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| 2 | WHEREAS, Dr. Marvin Zonis discovered that he had family in | ||||||
| 3 | Tehran; he helped these relatives immigrate to the United | ||||||
| 4 | States where they obtained professional degrees; and
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| 5 | WHEREAS, Dr. Marvin Zonis authored books on Middle East | ||||||
| 6 | politics and the global economy, including Majestic Failure: | ||||||
| 7 | The Fall of the Shah, among others; and
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| 8 | WHEREAS, Dr. Marvin Zonis became Nightline anchor Ted | ||||||
| 9 | Koppel's go-to expert for help with explaining the Iranian | ||||||
| 10 | hostage crisis, which began in 1979; during those 444 days, he | ||||||
| 11 | was a frequent interview guest; and
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| 12 | WHEREAS, Dr. Marvin Zonis taught for five decades at the | ||||||
| 13 | University of Chicago; he worked in the Departments of | ||||||
| 14 | Political Science and Comparative Human Development and at the | ||||||
| 15 | Center for Middle Eastern Studies; and
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| 16 | WHEREAS, Dr. Marvin Zonis was a professor and mentor to | ||||||
| 17 | some technological and academic luminaries, including | ||||||
| 18 | Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and the executive director of | ||||||
| 19 | Facing History and Ourselves' Chicago Office Maureen | ||||||
| 20 | Loughnane; he was also attentive and responsive to minority | ||||||
| 21 | student concerns; and
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| 1 | WHEREAS, Dr. Marvin Zonis possessed brainpower and style; | ||||||
| 2 | he was once featured in an ad for the clothing company Bigsby | ||||||
| 3 | and Kruthers; and
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| 4 | WHEREAS, At the time of his death, Dr. Marvin Zonis was | ||||||
| 5 | survived by his wife, Lucy L. Salenger; his three daughters, | ||||||
| 6 | Nadia Zonis, Leah Harp, and Brix Smith Start; and his two | ||||||
| 7 | grandchildren; therefore, be it
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| 8 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL | ||||||
| 9 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | ||||||
| 10 | Dr. Marvin Zonis and extend our sincere condolences to his | ||||||
| 11 | family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it | ||||||
| 12 | further
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| 13 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 14 | presented to the family of Dr. Marvin Zonis as an expression of | ||||||
| 15 | our deepest sympathy.
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