Alumni Spotlight
Ali Shakoor ‘99
Biology grad pursues love of the outdoors at U-M
This article by Janet Miller appeared in
Feb. 12, 2001, edition of The Ann Arbor
News and is excerpted by permission.
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Paul in March 1997. They welcomed their first
child, daughter Anna Cacia, in September 1999.
Cassie works as operations manager for a library
software company.
friends around me all the time. I know
what I’m out to do. I know what’s No.1
on my priority list.”
Ali Shakoor’s first memory is being in a
small boat on a lake with his father. He
remembers the times as a young boy
when his father would hoist him on his
shoulders as they took walks, pointing
out the flora and fauna and teaching
his eldest son about miracles of nature.
His father opened the world of science
to him. “There were the insects, the
chemistry sets, the telescopes,” Shakoor said.
Class
Notes
One way or the other, Shakoor said
he’s bound to be noticed. “I always try
to stick out,” he said. “I want to bring
recognition to my family name, so I’m
going to stick out, regardless.”
And then there was the fishing. Father
and son spent uncounted hours on
lakes next to streams fishing. Shakoor,
who is from Jackson, said he learned
many of his life’s lessons alone with his
father in a fishing boat. “I learned more
from being on the lake with him than any
academic class,” he said.
So it was no surprise that, when it
came time for Shakoor to pick a career, he turned to the outdoors. What
is surprising is that Shakoor is one of
so few African-Americans studying the
environment.
Shakoor, 29, is one of a handful of b