Short answers, pulled from the story.
Richard Foltz is known for his work on Iranian civilization, the religious history of the Silk Road, and the academic subfield of religion and ecology. He argued that premodern trans-Asian trade was driven primarily by Iranian peoples, particularly Sogdians, rather than being a Chinese-centered story. He is also the author of the first scholarly book on Muslim attitudes toward animals.
Foltz holds a Ph.D. in Middle Eastern History from Harvard University and degrees in Persian literature and applied linguistics from the University of Utah. He taught at Kuwait University, Brown University, Columbia University, and the University of Florida, and was a full professor at Concordia University in Montreal until his retirement in 2026.
Foltz argued that the premodern trans-Asian trade networks were driven primarily by Iranian peoples, principally Sogdians but also Parthians and Persians, rather than by China. He developed this argument in his book Religions of the Silk Road, revised for a second edition by Palgrave Macmillan in 2010.
Among his thirteen books, notable titles include Religions of the Silk Road (revised 2nd edition, 2010), Spirituality in the Land of the Noble (2004), Animals in Islamic Tradition and Muslim Cultures (2006), The Ossetes: Modern-Day Scythians of the Caucasus (2021), and A History of the Tajiks: Iranians of the East (revised 2nd edition, 2023). His history of the Tajiks and his book on the Ossetes are each the first monographs on those peoples written in any Western language.
Foltz played a formative role in establishing religion and ecology as an academic subfield, editing three seminal works including Islam and Ecology: A Bestowed Trust, co-edited with Frederick M. Denny and Azizan Baharuddin and published by Harvard University Press in 2003. He also edited Environmentalism in the Muslim World (2005).
Foltz argued that Iranian civilization holds a foundational role in Asian identity comparable to the role of Classical Greece and Rome for Western culture. He stated directly: "Most of the cultures of Asia identify with Iran on some level, much as Westerners do with Greece and Rome." His work spans Iranian influence on Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Islam, and the Bahai Faith.