This is a list of notable Somalis from Somalia, Somaliland, Djibouti, Kenya, Ethiopia as well as the Somali diaspora. Academics Ali A. Abdi – sociologist and educationist, and professor of education and international development at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; former President of the Comparative and International Education Society of Canada (CIESC); founding/co-founding editor of the peer reviewed online publications, Journal of Contemporary Issues in Education and Cultural and Pedagogical Inquiry Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi – scholar, linguist and writer; published on Somali culture, history, language and ethnogenesis Ali Jimale Ahmed – poet, essayist, scholar, and short story writer; published on Somali history and linguistics Shire Jama Ahmed (c. 1935–1989) – linguist who devised a unique Latin script for the Somali language Suleiman Ahmed Gulaid - prominent professor and the president of Amoud University Abdirahman Hussein – scholar and teacher at University of Tennessee Abdi Kusow – professor of sociology at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa; has written extensively on Somali sociology and anthropology Mohamed Haji Mukhtar – professor of African and Middle Eastern History at Savannah State University; has written extensively on the history of Somalia and the Somali language Ismail Jim'ale Osoble – lawyer, once served as Minister of Information in the government of Aden Abdullah Osman Daar Abdi Ismail Samatar – prominent scholar and professor at the University of Minnesota Ahmed Ismail Samatar – prominent professor and Dean of the Institute for Global Citizenship at Macalester College; editor of Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies Said Sheikh Samatar (1943–2015) – prominent scholar and writer and former professor of history at Rutgers University; main areas of interest are history and linguistics Activists Dekha Ibrahim Abdi (1964–2011) – peace activist in Kenya Leila Abukar – political activist Fartuun Adan – social activist; founder and executive director of the Elman Peace Centre Elman Ali Ahmed – entrepreneur and social activist Halima Ahmed – political activist with the Youth Rehabilitation Center in Mogadishu Hodan Ahmed – political activist and Senior Program Officer at the National Democratic Institute Ifrah Ahmed – social activist; founder of the UYI NGO Nimco Ahmed – Somali-American political activist; State Director for the DFL Abdulkadir Yahya Ali (1957–2005) – peace activist, co-director and founder of the Center for Research and Dialogue. Abdirizak Bihi – social activist; Director of the Somali Education and Social Advocacy Center Ilwad Elman – social activist at