In his time at the University, Ali Saaem has seen many sides of Duke and Durham. As he plans to graduate in the Spring, the fifth-year graduate student in biomedical engineering would like to “give back to the Duke family” as a graduate Young Trustee.
“It would be an incredible honor,” Saaem said. “If I can get into the right conversation I can impact 12,000 peoples’ lives.”
Saaem came to Duke in 2006 after getting his masters of computer engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology. He was attracted to Duke because he wanted to work with people who were on the cutting edge of research, he said. Since arriving on campus, Saaem said Duke has been a place of transformation for him.
“Duke took me in as an international student [and] trained me as a scientist,” he said. Duke has also been a place of personal growth for Saaem—he met his fiance at the University.
Saaem already has experience with the Board of Trustees, serving as a student representative on the Business and Finance Committee for the past four years. Given the bad economic situation, Saaem said his work involved “playing a lot of defense for students.” The committee, which administers funds to different University programs, is elected by the Graduate and Professional Student Council’s general assembly.
“Anything money-related going through Duke will come to that table,” he said. “Things like financial aid and tuition increases will come across that committee’s purview.”
Additionally, Saaem has spent the past four years as a GPSC executive, which has allowed him to listen to the concerns of many different departments. Currently, he is serving as a GPSC representative to the Alumni Association.
“Finding the commonality between everybody’s problems and presenting that as a little, digestible message to the Trustees is important,” Saaem said.
Saaem’s work with GPSC has also resulted in better professional development opportunities for graduate and professional students, said Jacqueline Looney, senior associate dean for graduate programs, who also serves as one of Saaem’s deans.
“He’s very thoughtful and researches his issues and brings them to the administration in the Graduate School, and we listen,” she said.
In addition to his experience, Saaem feels he would bring a unique perspective to the Trustees as he will be graduating in May and said he can relate to many students’ concerns about the job market. If elected to the position, Saaem would also like to focus on financial aid for students, make Duke aware of the voices of minorities and maintain stronger ties with Durham.
“Something that I would like to see is Duke doing more entrepreneurship activities, civic engagement and also high-tech entrepreneurship,” he said. “If Duke can really get a good footing in the community, that would be an awesome thing to be doing.”
James McDonald, a current graduate Young Trustee who knows Saaem through GPSC, said Saaem is qualified because of his vast understanding of campus issues.
“He comes with more knowledge of the University than most people I’ve heard of running for this position,” McDonald said.
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