From RIT Professor to Libyan Prime Minister
By: Caroline Tucker
Updated: September 12, 2012
One day after the attacks that killed 4 Americans including the U.S. Ambassador to Libya, there is a new prime minister.
Mustafa Abushagur was elected on Wednesday.
It turns out he has strong Rochester connections as a former professor at RIT and president of RIT Dubai.
Abushagur left his post last November to become Libya's deputy prime minister to help build democracy in his homeland.
The professor of Microsystems engineering joined RIT in 2002.
That's when Associate Professor Karl Hirschman met him.
"I knew Mustafa as he joined our program as the head of the P.H.D. program in microsystems engineering," said Dr. Karl Hirschman, Associate Professor of Electrical and Microlectric Engineering at RIT.
RIT reported that Mustafa Abushugar led what was the worlds' first doctoral program in microsystems engineering.
He also did research in nanophotonics and micro-optical systems.
"He was very caring and students always came first," said Hirschman.
But the RIT professor, who earned his degrees from California Institute of Technology, had another calling.
He was a refugee and was on the "Most Wanted" list in Libya because he actively opposed the Moammar Gadhafi regime.
He became deputy prime minister in 2011 after Gadhafi's death.
"I am sure he wrestled with leaving his post at RIT Dubai but was looking forward to reform in his country which he could participate in and make things happen," said Hirschman.
On Wednesday, the Libyan Parliament elected him to take over as the new prime minister.
He becomes the nation's first elected official since the killing of Gadhafi last year.
On what appears to be his twitter account, he wrote that he was friends with U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and condemned the "barbaric acts."
He wrote, "This is an attack on America, Libya, and free people everywhere."
His former colleague said the election was a surprise but the campus is proud.
"He is driven to succeed so I think we are confident the country will be moving forward in a positive direction," said Hirschman.
Abushagur is considered an official who is acceptable to both Islamists and liberals.
His term is expected to last 18 months.
