Hussein receives SEEDs of Change Award

Kadir Hussein, a senior chemistry major and a member of the Department of Chemistry's Diversity Committee, has received a Sue W. Hancock SEEDs of Change Award. SEED stands for Scholarly Excellence in Equity and Diversity. This award honors students demonstrating impressive engagement with and commitment to issues of equity and diversity through outstanding academic achievement and activism. Kadir was honored at the sixth annual Equity and Diversity breakfast, Wednesday, November 13.

In addition to his work with the Diversity Committee, Kadir is president of the Oromia Student Union (Kadir is originally from Oromia, Ethiopia), and the university's chapter of the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers. He also serves as a peer mentor for the North Star STEM Alliance Program, and the Huntley House for African American Men, which is a living-learning community that explores the shared experience of African American males in and out of the classroom.

The Hancock SEEDs of Change Awards are named in honor Sue W. Hancock, whose 27-year career of serving students and working for equity and diversity at the University of Minnesota inspired her colleagues and the many students whose lives she touched.

As a chemistry major, Kadir is researching the toxicity of nanoparticles in bacteria.