Ali S. Hadi is a Distinguished University Professor and Chair of the Department of Mathematics and Actuarial Science, Founder of the Actuarial Science Program at the American University in Cairo (AUC), former Vice Provost and Director of Graduate Studies and Research at AUC, and a Stephen Weiss Presidential Fellow and Professor Emeritus at Cornell University, USA. Hadi has a very untraditional career path. He was born and raised in Saft El-Nour, a tiny village in Upper Egypt. He lived with his mother as his father passed away when he was two months old. His mother was poor and illiterate but dedicated her life to raising her child. Upon completion of his Bachelor degree from Ain Shams University in 1972, he worked as a customs officer at Cairo International Airport before leaving for the United States in 1975 to pursue his graduate education on his own expense with about $215 in his wallet. While attending the graduate school, Hadi worked in restaurants to support his family and to pay for his graduate education. Starting as a dishwasher, over the next 8 years – as he pursued his doctorate at NYU – Hadi was promoted to cook, then to first cook, to assistant chef, and, finally, to head chef, where he specialized in French-Continental cuisine. Hadi obtained his Ph.D. with honors from NYU in 1984. Hadi served as Assistant, Associate, and full Professor, as well as a Department Chair at Cornell. Hadi served as a Distinguished Visiting Professor at several universities in USA and Europe. Hadi won several excellence-in-teaching awards. He has written 5 books, 6 book chapters, and more than 100 articles. He was elected fellow of the American Statistical Association and member of the International Statistical Institute. He received more than 16,000 citations, http://scholar.google.com.eg/citations?user=-8xAh5IAAAAJ&hl=en. For more information, see his Website http://www1.aucegypt.edu/faculty/hadi/.
