Ismael Abu-Saad (Ph.D. '89) was born in a Bedouin tent of woven goat hair
on the Negev Desert in southern Israel. He rode a donkey four kilometers to school. His father was a truck driver who couldn't read or write, but who made sure all of his 11 children went to school. "My dad invested in education," says Abu-Saad. "He was a wise man."

In 1989, Abu-Saad became the first Bedouin to earn a Ph.D., and he's spent his life following in his wise father's footsteps—on a grand scale. As a professor of education at Ben-Gurion University in Beersheba, Israel, and the founder of the Center for Bedouin Studies and Development, he has devoted himself to creating educational opportunity for all Bedouins. The 400 Bedouin students at Ben-Gurion University today represent a tenfold increase in less than a decade.

The Bedouins are an ancient people whose nomadic, herding culture focused on survival in the desert—not literacy. When Israel became a state in 1948, Bedouins were sent to live in seven government-created towns in the desert. But the schools were poor, jobs were scarce, and poverty ruled.

"Education is the solution," insists Abu-Saad. "Only with decent education can the Bedouin integrate into Israeli society." Abu-Saad is especially pleased that half of the 400 Ben-Gurion students are women. "Women prepare the next generation," he says. "When educated women go back to the Bedouin community, other mothers see them and think, 'Why not my daughter?'"

After earning his M.A. in education from Ben-Gurion, Abu-Saad could have left the desert behind. But he lives his belief that educated professionals can become the bedrock of more prosperous Bedouin towns. He spent 10 years as a teacher and school principal in Bedouin schools. "It was easy for the government to blame it on the culture," he says. "But the Bedouin community was not anti-education. They needed role models. That's why I moved back."

Abu-Saad pursued a Ph.D. in educational policy and administration, with the larger goal of eliminating the Israeli education system's discrimination against Arab minorities. The Israeli government refused his request for a scholarship, but Abu-Saad found a more welcoming environment at the U. "I owe Minnesota a lot," he says.

Today, Abu-Saad combines teaching, research, and lobbying for Bedouin education. "I have two full-time jobs," he says, laughing. For the past year and a half, he has served on a national task force for improving education in Israel. In January 2005, the Israeli government agreed with its findings and promised to correct the huge budget inequity between Arab and Jewish schools. "Now I have to work very hard to make sure our recommendations are implemented," says Abu-Saad. "But it's a good step, and I'm glad I was a part of it."

Originally published in Minnesota magazine in 2005.