Donor Spotlight: Salem Alnuaimi, DMSB’01

by Michal Biletzki

Salem Alnuaimi, DMSB’01, is a successful businessman in Abu Dhabi, serving as chairman of the Wio Bank UAE and managing director of the Abu Dhabi Pension Fund. Though he graduated less than a quarter century ago, Salem has already made his mark on Northeastern with a major gift in support of co-ops and the University Library system — a dual-purpose gift he considers to be what he owes Northeastern for giving him the tools, the community, and the experience he needed in order to be successful.

Salem began his undergraduate studies at Boston University, but quickly realized it wasn’t a good fit for him. The campus did not feel welcoming, classes were too big, and he did not find a community there. A year later, he transferred to Northeastern University and found what he was looking for.

“The classes were just the right size,” he reminisced. The campus was a community (and later a home-away-from-home when his brother became a Husky as well, at the College of Engineering), the library was at the center of it all, and of course, there was no equivalent anywhere else for the experience he gained through his co-ops at the Central Bank at the UAE and the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development.

“Northeastern played a big part in getting me here,” he said. “Not only academically, but in preparing for the world in terms of welcoming me ass a student and making me feel like I was part of a community.”

Several years ago, when he was in a position to give back, an email to alumni piqued his interest in supporting Northeastern and he chose the library as one of the beneficiaries of his monthly contribution. He recalls Snell Library always being central to his academic experience. Physically, it is the center of campus, and even if he wasn’t going to the library, he would pass by it and knew that everyone else did, too. If giving back meant allowing others to have the experience that he had, supporting the library allowed him to support all Northeastern’s students — the significance of the library to the campus and to the Northeastern Global Network meant that Salem’s gift was also important.

A few years later, through meeting with university leadership and staff, Salem inquired and learned more about the library’s role and how his gifts can have an impact on the Northeastern community. Salem chose to make an even larger gift, and now his endowed gift to the library will support new services, equipment, and events at Snell Library, and will be mostly designated to enhancing experiential student activities through the library.

Truly manifesting his own path through his gifts to Northeastern, Salem also asked about supporting the co-op program — a program that guided his own road to success and taught him many important corporate and business lessons as an undergraduate. Supporting the co-op program in the United Arab Emirates, his endowed gift will enable Northeastern to support students who choose to complete their co-op in the UAE and require additional funds to make their international co-op experience possible.

“It’s a privilege and it’s a responsibility that I feel I need to give back to the community that helped create and support me in the way that it did,” he said. Salem’s commitment and connection to Northeastern and the library is the strongest testament to the impact Northeastern has its students, and his generosity and thoughtfulness in giving back are sure to have an impact on the Husky community for many years to come.

To join Salem in supporting the Northeastern University Library, visit our support page or email Michal Biletzki at [email protected].