By Erick Flores, February 3, 2026
Hassan Rejali, dedicated more than 30 years toward continuing the mission of Cal Poly Pomona, through teaching and by leading the department as chair for the mechanical engineering department; he is being remembered by many after his death.
“He always got everyone to be a better, very dependable member of the department and a renowned scholar”, according to Kevin Anderson, a former student and CPP professor of mechanical engineering who worked alongside Rejali.
Rejali’s areas of expertise were failure analysis, solid mechanics, material behavior, and stress. While instructing these areas presented challenges, Rejali was all about benefiting his students’ minds and teaching ethics and discipline, Anderson added.
“He was a true teacher,” said Amir Rezaei a mechanical engineering professor and another colleague of Rejali. “He wanted students to learn. His vision was teaching first. Presentations and papers were all second to teaching.”
The “learn-by-doing” philosophy at CPP was one of the things Rejali was most passionate about, said Anderson, according to Anderson “ Rejali wanted to provide learning experiences that connected theory and practice by providing hands-on learning experiences with traditional learning”.
Rejali was part of a movement to always put his teaching first and always had the best interest for students, despite being a hard grader, according to Anderson .
Outside the classroom, Rejali served as chair of the Mechanical Engineering Department from 2008 to 2012. During this time, Anderson said the department faced major obstacles he had to handle as department chair.
“During the 2008 budget cuts, he led the department through the financial challenges, lost some faculty members, and brought in new ones to help uplift the program,”Anderson said. “He truly cared about the engineering department.”
Rejali retired in 2012 after participating in the Faculty Early Retirement Program. However, he remained active in the university community, attending events organized by the department and engaging with the students and staff, and providing them with guidance, according to the department.
He was said to be a calm man with a sense of humor and the ability to listen to those who had a problem. He valued respect for everyone as well as being a good listener, colleagues said.
“He was a great man, very transparent,” according to Anderson . “He always got you to be better. He had the best interest in people, beautiful man and loved Call Poly Pomona with all his heart.”
Not only was he putting teaching first, but Anderson mentioned the academic programs Rejali enhanced, and the engineers he taught will keep his legacy alive. His manydetailed lectures can be found on CPP’s ME Online page.
“He’s one of the retired faculty who highlighted the department’s vision and mission,” said Henry Xue, who served as assistant department chair next to Rejali, also current department chair of the Mechanical Engineering department stated “He represented the mechanical engineering department very well.” Rejali left a huge impact at Cal Poly Pomona whether it was with faculty or students he always wanted to keep the mission of Cal Poly a float.
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