Newsroom

Adebola “Serah” Sulaiman, a graduate student at The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, was recently appointed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to serve as the student regent on the UNT System Board of Regents.

The second-year physician assistant graduate student in HSC’s School of Health Professions will serve a one-year term through May 31, 2024. Sulaiman will represent the interests of all students within the UNT System while attending and participating in Board of Regents meetings and serving on task forces and committees.

“We are incredibly proud to have a thoughtful, passionate student leader like Serah representing HSC on the UNT System Board of Regents,” said Dr. Sylvia Trent-Adams, HSC president. “Serah has earned this honor through hard work, and she is a true credit to HSC, our School of Health Professions and the entire UNT System.”

Sulaiman recently served as vice president of the Physician Assistant Student Association, currently serves as Student Ambassador and recently joined the team of student tutors. She said her experience as a student leader, combined with her passion for education, led her to apply for the opportunity to serve her peers as the student regent.

“I want to make an impact on students’ educations and be part of the process of ensuring they can be successful no matter where they came from,” Sulaiman said.

Prior to studying for her Master of Physician Assistant Studies, Sulaiman earned her first master’s in Spanish language arts and culture, within a cohort of bilingual and Spanish teachers, at the University of Salamanca in Spain. During the course of her career, she worked as an educator for 13 years. Her career has included stints teaching third- through fifth-grade bilingual math and science in Dallas Independent School District. She has also worked as an instructional coach, instructional interventionist and behavior technician, as well as an international teacher in Taiwan and Abu Dhabi.

After earning her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Southern Methodist University, Sulaiman knew she wanted to work in the field of psychology. During her final year of teaching, she met a psychiatric physician assistant and was immediately intrigued. After researching and shadowing physician assistants, she knew that was the path she wanted to pursue.

“I received my offer from HSC three weeks before delivering my second child,” Sulaiman said. “I canceled the rest of my interviews because it was close to home, warm, inviting and checked all of the boxes of what I was looking for in a physician assistant program. I knew it was where I was meant to be.”

Applications for student regent are annually solicited through the student government and forwarded to the governor by the chancellor for final appointment. The student regent position is open to all undergraduate and graduate students at any institution within a university system.

“On behalf of our Board of Regents, we congratulate Serah on such an incredible achievement,” Board Chair Laura Wright said. “We are excited to work with Serah and are eager to learn from her how we can continue to make our System a leader in higher education for all of our students.”

• Share
• Tweet