Saiful Mahdi, born in Pidie, is the co-founder and general coordinator of The Aceh Institute. He is a lecturer in Statistics at Syiah Kuala University. Saiful is now working on his doctoral degree at Regional Sciences Department, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY focusing on Policy Modeling and Quantitative Methods.

Educational Qualifications:

·     Ph.D. student in Regional Sciences, City and Regional Planning, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, with scholarship from TPSDP (January 2003 to December 2005). Taking in absentia to return to Aceh in January-October 2005; already finished all required course works. Concentration: local and regional economics, data and policy analysis and modeling.  

·     MS in Applied Statistics, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, May 20, 2001, full scholarship from the university and Fulbright Scholarship covering tuition and living expenses.

·     BS in Applied Statistics, Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS), Surabaya, Indonesia, March 1993, full scholarship from Syiah Kuala University covering tuition and living expenses.