Saman Shali
Senior Visiting Fellow
Saman Shali received B.Sc. from the University of Sulaimani (1973). Furthermore, he went to the UK and was awarded a Ph.D. in Science (1981) from the University of Sussex. After his graduation and until 1987, he worked as an Assistant Researcher and Assistant Professor at the University of Sussex, King Saud University, and Pennsylvania State University. He was Communications and Service Manager, 1987-1996 and Director of Commercial Business, 1996-1999, at STM Wireless, California. President and CEO of GSS, Inc., 1999-2008. General Manager, 2008-2011 at Kalimat Telecom, Iraq. 2011- 2012 Senior Adviser to Chairman of Kurdistan International Bank. 2012 until now, he has worked as a consultant at Shali Consultancy (Trade & Consultancy).
Dr. Shali was Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Chairman of the Finance & Business committee at Kurdistan University for Science and Technology, Sulaimani, Governing Board member, University Kurdistan Hawler, and Chairman and founding member of Iraqi Telecom & IT Associations.
Since 1976, he has become a Kurdish activist fighting for Kurdish human rights and self-determination. In 1989, he joined the Kurdish National Congress of North America and, at the 2004 16th annual conference, was elected as President. In March 2003, Dr. Shali represented KNC in a meeting at the White House with Dr. Condoleezza Rice, Vice President Dick Cheney, and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Dr. Shali was involved in editing and publishing the following Kurdish publications: Kurdistan in the Media, Kurdistan for Kurds, and Kurdistan Review. He has also organized many demonstrations, galleries, and conferences to bring the Kurdish cause to the international political stage. He also serves as an advisory member of the Kurdish Community center in San Diego. Dr. Shali did write many articles about Kurds, Kurdistan, and Iraq and appeared on many TVs in the US, Europe, Kurdistan, Iraq, and the Middle East.