President Thrasher held a small reception in his office on Wednesday, February 22, to officially welcome Gholamreza Amirinia back to FSU’s campus.

Amirinia, Civil and Environmental Engineering Doctoral Candidate with the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, was unable to renew his student visa because he was visiting his home country of Iran when the Executive Order impacting travel from seven countries was signed.

President Thrasher and the administration at FSU contacted various senators and Secretary John Kelly of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in attempts to have Amirinia’s visa issued. Amirinia was able to get his visa at the U.S. Consulate in Dubai and returned to the U.S. on Friday, February 17.