As director of recruitment and student success at Bradley University, Shabeer H. Amirali has been instrumental in recruiting international students and strengthening the Peoria area’s global network. Recently honored with the Leadership and Service Award, Amirali has helped diversify and enrich the university, which saw a 95-percent increase in international graduate students in the fall of 2014, as well as the community at large. Prior to coming to Bradley, he built an impressive record of accomplishments working for U.S., European and Asian pharmaceutical companies in sales, marketing, business development and management.
Amirali’s “3C” (Connect, Communicate and Collaborate) leadership style helps drive strategy for the Bradley University Graduate School and serves as a model of leadership development for a range of student organizations. Never one to turn down a request for assistance, Amirali is a mentor for students, counseling them on applications and visas, linking them with alumni, and connecting them to job recruiters. He arranged for Bradley’s participation in an international education conference in India for the first time in its history, and has scheduled additional conferences in China, Taiwan and South America.
As a board member for the CARE (Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere) chapter at Bradley, Amirali is devoted to a range of activities on campus. He is an advisor for the Indian Student Association, Graduate Student Advisory Committee and other student associations, where he is pivotal in developing emerging leaders.
The father of two boys, Amirali still finds time to give back to the community. He volunteers for the St. Jude Telethon and devotes much of his time to raising donations for the organization, rallying his international connections to understand its mission. In addition, with a nephew who suffers from Wilson’s disease, Amirali aspires to start a nonprofit support group for children in India, where there are no support groups or assistance available, and eventually hopes to extend it to other developing nations. iBi
