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Omid Safi
Professor in the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and Director of the Duke Islamic Studies Center
Omid Safi likes to joke that it only made sense for him to get married at Duke after achieving nearly every other milestone at the University.
Safi earned his undergraduate degree and doctorate from Duke University. Two of his children were born here and one of them is now a first-year student. On Sept. 8, 2018, Safi married Corina Safi-Fehr at Sarah P. Duke Gardens.
“I have exhausted all Duke affiliations,” Safi said.
Safi met his wife three years ago in Turkey during a group tour he leads, called Illuminated Tours. She moved from Switzerland to Durham last year to be with him.
Safi and his wife never considered any venue other than Duke Gardens. They walk around the Historic Terraces regularly, and he takes his “History and Culture of Iran” class to the gardens for lectures when the weather cooperates.
Safi and Corina exchanged vows in front of the White Garden and the Peace Pond and had their reception at the Doris Duke Center.
“We knew it was the right place for us,” Safi said. “It appealed to us very much in terms of being somewhere sacred, natural and beautiful. The day couldn’t have been more special.”
