Nasser Al-Saadi

Nasser Ali Al-Saadi has served as Medical Attaché at the Embassy of the State of Qatar in Washington since 2011. An educator and diplomat, he has worked across teaching, culture and medical affairs, with responsibility for supporting Qatari patients and their companions in the United States.

He was born on 5 December in Freej Sharq and grew up in Freej Ishaq, Umm Ghuwailina. His comfortably situated family included three sons, three full sisters and a paternal half-brother.

His childhood in the freej was calm and secure. He and his friends played football and traditional games, while neighbours shared joy and sorrow and made excursions into the desert together. Their relationships were so close that they felt like one family.

From childhood, he valued learning and assumed responsibility readily. He sought self-reliance, both financially and in making his own decisions.

His parents exerted the greatest influence, guiding him towards education and religion. A strong, firm mother and an exceptionally kind father created balance within the home.

He attended Al Khaleej Al Arabi Primary School, Doha Preparatory School and Doha Secondary School. In 1983, he entered Qatar University to study education and graduated in 1987.

Determined to support himself, he began his career immediately after secondary school as office manager to the then Director of Qatar Television, His Excellency Manea’ bin Abdul Hadi Al-Hajri, and remained in the post until graduation. He married at eighteen and became a father while still young, creating the challenge of balancing work, study and family responsibilities.

After completing the education degree that reflected his passion, he taught for two years, then progressed to deputy head and subsequently headteacher.

His career changed significantly in October 1994, when he was selected as Assistant Cultural Attaché at Qatar’s embassy in Washington. He served for six years and was promoted to Cultural Attaché in 2000, remaining until the Cultural Office closed in 2009. He then spent a year guiding civil-aviation students attached to Qatar’s Civil Aviation Authority in the United States.

A chance meeting in 2009 with His Excellency Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al Kuwari, former Minister of Culture, led to another opportunity. The Minister was visiting the United States officially, and their conversation turned to Doha’s forthcoming year as Arab Capital of Culture, then a Ministry priority. Recognising his intellectual qualities, Dr Al Kuwari invited him to lead one of the committees and manage an integrated programme of exceptional international complexity.

He carried several responsibilities for the global event, serving as Director of Public Relations, working on the Public Relations and Marketing committees and joining the opening- and closing-day committees. Major events were attended by His Highness the Father Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, then Crown Prince, and numerous ambassadors, ministers and senior officials. For almost a year, he worked nearly every day from six in the morning until after midnight. The event became one of the Arab and Islamic worlds’ most successful cultural celebrations. It deepened his management experience, taught him to work with people from varied backgrounds and allowed him to learn from Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al Kuwari. He remained until the assignment was complete and helped make the programme a success that drew international attention to Qatar.

While at the Ministry of Culture, he met the then Minister of Health, His Excellency Abdullah bin Khaled Al-Qahtani, at a meeting in 2010. The Minister invited him to become medical attaché in Germany, but he first had to complete a year of assignments connected with Doha’s programme as Arab Capital of Culture.

At the end of that year, the Minister contacted him again. A medical attaché had by then been appointed in Germany, but the Qatari Embassy in Washington required one. He accepted and returned to the United States in 2011. His earlier experience helped him perform the role fully; he has remained Medical Attaché since then.

Success accompanied his work across different fields and locations, each of which carried a distinctive contribution. The most important and demanding period, however, was more than a decade as Medical Attaché. He reviewed cases as they arrived and refused to postpone a file when delay might endanger a patient. Diligence, accuracy and commitment, together with rapid responses and flexible procedures, produced high satisfaction among patients and their families. He placed patients’ interests first and argued firmly on their behalf, securing exceptions that helped save people in critical condition. He often persuaded the medical committee to reconsider decisions and facilitate procedures, aided by the members’ constructive response.

The role brought substantial challenges. His appointment coincided with an increase from fewer than one hundred patients to more than one thousand. Unlike students, every patient was facing a difficult or critical condition and needed the best possible environment and support. He became like a father to patients and companions whose combined number reached three thousand, often caught between individual requests and the complex requirements of treatment abroad, particularly under American law.

The work had no fixed hours. He had to remain available by telephone and email at all times and frequently received calls late at night. His responsibilities extended across hospitals throughout the vast United States.

Two major events in the United States defined his responsibilities: the attacks of 11 September, when he served as Cultural Attaché, and the Covid-19 pandemic, when he served as Medical Attaché. After 11 September, he assumed responsibility for protecting Qatari students, returning them home and persuading the Ministry not to count the disrupted semester. The period brought acute psychological strain. Because of the time difference, families called late at night, while students required answers throughout the day.

Students experienced ill-treatment after the September attacks, and some faced harassment or threats. The Qatari state responded to their situation.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, approximately three thousand patients and companions were in the United States. Many wanted to return to Qatar while most airports were closed and flights suspended.

When he first moved to the United States, his children were still young: the eldest, Ali, was at primary school, while Hessa had not yet begun school and was still in her earliest years. Sarah and Mohammed were born in America.

From the outset, he had a clear educational vision for his children, emphasising Arabic and Islamic studies. This was his greatest challenge in America. The Saudi Islamic Academy in Washington provided a practical route, and all his children attended it. He successfully nurtured Islamic values while ensuring that they spoke Arabic fluently and English at a native level.

He instilled an Arab and Islamic identity in his children while allowing them to engage openly with American ideas and adopt what was useful and compatible with their values. The family balanced Qatari customs and religion with study and participation in American society. All the children graduated from respected American universities, returned to Qatar and took on positions through which they contribute to their country.