Aziz "Oz" Alhadi

Aziz was a native of the Shenango Valley, spread across the Ohio-Pennsylvania state line. He was the loving son of immigrant parents from Yemen, and of a proud, blue-collar upbringing based on faith, morality, hard work, and biculturalism. He was also the brother of three, a husband of over forty-four years, a father of five, and the grandfather of two, as well as a loyal friend, a mentor, and a dedicated educator for over thirty-five years before his untimely passing.  

Growing up, the work ethic instilled in him by his parents motivated Aziz to work his way through middle and high school in a variety of common jobs, including newspaper delivery, retail grocery, food service, and even some factory work. All the while, consistent with his Yemeni heritage, he effectively served as a third parent to his younger brothers as well as a faithful companion and protector of his older sister. He helped to foster their development and to mitigate the inherent challenges to overcoming age, cultural, and communication gaps as first-American-born children to immigrant parents, who were deeply rooted in their ethnic heritage and never had the opportunity to get a formal education – all challenges that he, himself, had been forced to navigate largely on his own.   

Aziz was the first person in his entire extended family to graduate from a U.S. high school. Right after that, he went to his motherland of Yemen to explore his heritage and check on his big sister, who had preceded him there. There, he saw where and how his parents grew up, learned about the culture, and it wouldn’t be long before he got married in traditional fashion. At the same time, he found his calling. He saw how much of the young Yemeni population, while energetic, hardworking, and innovative, had little or no access to a quality education like he did in the U.S., let alone an opportunity to get a higher education somewhere else. He couldn’t help but think how powerful and successful they would be if only they had a chance. So, after a brief stint in Yemen, he returned to the Shenango Valley with his wife to start their family as he worked his way through college. Aziz would earn an individualized BA in Combined Business and Middle East Cultures and then his MBA, which he completed in 1986 as a Distinguished Student of Business. Within a few months, he would return to Yemen to manage a multi-million-dollar program funded by USAID for Oregon State University to invest in the education of Yemen’s youth. Building on its success, he would then continue his career as an educational administrator with organizations such as AMIDEAST Yemen, the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and the Yemen-America Language Institute over the next twenty-nine years.  In these positions, he collectively managed over $100 million in funding to develop and implement innovative projects and plans for colleges, universities, and other institutions as well as for public and private industry -- all of which served as a bridge between them and international students.  He would then return to the U.S., where he served the American Scholar Group in Pennsylvania before joining Mesa Community College as Director of International Education in 2019, where he would work to expand its access to the global market and opportunities for students.  Throughout, his approach to management was always collaborative, with an emphasis on establishing and maintaining productive relationships, thinking outside the box, turning problems into opportunities, and devoting every ounce of his creativity and innovation to devise visionary plans to expand educational opportunities for students. 

Aziz’s accomplishments over his thirty-five-year career are far too many to list, but he did not just excel as a professional. He also excelled as a human being. Anyone who has ever met him knows of his larger-than-life personality, empathetic soul, and good nature.  He welcomed everyone he met with a warm and hearty smile and lived his entire life trying to help people – family, friends, colleagues, and “his” students (as he called them) alike. Despite having more than his fair share of life’s trials and tribulations, he remained an eternal optimist and never let those troubles get in the way of his sense of compassion and community. When it came to education, nothing pained him more than knowing there was a bright mind out there that didn’t have the opportunity at an education. He was also well aware of the cultural and sociopolitical factors that stood in their way, and the tremendous challenges awaiting them in foreign lands even when they could make their way there. For these reasons, he simply didn’t create opportunities where none existed before and manage the mere transactional nature of it all.  He also went out of his way to actually inspire students and make personal connections with many of them and their families in order for them to feel some sense of community so far from home and from each other.  He would work to make sure students felt welcome in their new environments.  For example, sometimes he took it upon himself to welcome arriving students at the airport because no one else would be there. He sometimes even provided them with some essential groceries and other items at his own expense to get them by until they could get settled and learn where to get what they needed on their own. He also wanted to make every student feel like there was someone who was truly invested in their aspirations and whom they could rely on for support in time of need. So, in addition to the academic and career guidance, he often went out of his way to lend an ear to students trying to acclimate and mitigate various issues while offering reassurance to their families who were concerned about them. 

In short, many considered Aziz to be a ray of hope and light on this earth. When he passed on, in addition to the gracious help and comfort from our loving family and friends, we were overwhelmed by the offerings of condolences, prayers, goodwill, and support by so many people from different parts of the world, including students and colleagues who were a part of his life many years ago. To us, all of it stands as a testament to the positive impact Aziz had on so many lives for so long, and gives us even more reason to celebrate his truly extraordinary life and soul. Our hope in creating this space is for people to share their favorite memories of Aziz, including pictures, cards, anecdotes, and stories of good times, his kindness, compassion, leadership, and inspiration, or other posts to serve as a memorial to him and inspiration to those who visit to continue his legacy through education, charitable acts and good deeds. We thank you, in advance, for your contributions, and ask for your prayers for our dearly departed brother, husband, father, grandfather, uncle, cousin, colleague, and friend.