Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Warsame Ali

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was no consensus. Fritzpoll (talk) 07:40, 9 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Warsame Ali

Non-notable academic, does not meet WP:PROF. Assistant professor at Prairie View A&M University whose research and awards don't seem particularly distinguishing. The only references I can find are his resume and his profile on the school's website. — jwillbur 00:17, 2 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Academics and educators-related deletion discussions. -- TexasAndroid (talk) 01:22, 2 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Delete: per nom. Niteshift36 (talk) 05:00, 2 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Keep - Dr Warsame Ali is a notable academic

He has co-authored several peer reviewed articles about scientific research and innovations he has worked on, which has been funded and used by well known Technology hubs such as NASA[1]. This same research has also appeared in important journals such as the International Journal of Modelling and Simulation[2] and the Journal of Psychopharmacology aswell as in books such as Behandlungsleitlinie Schizophrenie [3]
His award from the NTA research organisation qualifies the criteria of receiving honor/recognition on a national level.
The awards he received from the University he currently works at showcase he had a significant impact in the area of Higher Education
He is a member of highly prestigious scientific organisations such as: The Scientific Research Society and the American Society of Engineering Education.

This alone should be sufficient for him to feature on wikipedia.org but i will go a step further and cement my position by highlighting his immense contribution to the Somali American community and why he is definitely a notable person:

He is Co-Founder and President of the Somali Community Development Association Houston
He is Co-Founder and President of the Multi-ethnic Community center of Greater Houston
He is Co-Founder and President of the Somali Development Foundation

Clearly this individual has made an impact in many people's lives wether in the academic arena or his career as an activist, because of this information i believe he deserves a page on wikipedia.org--Scoobycentric (talk) 10:18, 2 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

All of the things listed are laudable, but none of them pass the threshold of notability. You say he's "co-authored several peer reviewed articles ". But this is simply one of the requirements of keeping your job as an assistant prof at a research university; any assistant prof who couldn't get a peer reviewed paper in print would be quickly out of a job. Similarly for the funding he may have gotten: if wikipedia listed all the academics who received grants, it would be less like an encyclopedia and more like a resume hosting service. Hairhorn (talk) 12:21, 2 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I disagree Hairhorn, all of the things i have lised do meet WP:PROF and his academic career is not the only thing that qualifies him as a notable person, he is a well established activist in the Somali American community and mind you the Somali American community is a bi-lingual community(make sense since they live in the US) which means Warsame Ali is important to a significant number of English speaking people and hence why his inclusion on the english wikipedia is legitimate. His academic and activist life makes him multi-dimensional and therefore he easily passes the treshold of notability. --Scoobycentric (talk) 13:19, 2 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

He might be notable inside the Somali community; I haven't addressed that because it's not relevant here. He's a low ranking professor at a minor university: Prairie View A&M has only 4 doctoral programs. In order to be noteworthy he's going to need more than a couple publications and membership in academic societies that anyone with a relevant degree can get into. As a suggestion, maybe you could write a "Somali academics" article or something similar, and perhaps mention some of the scientists you've made entries for. Hairhorn (talk) 13:44, 2 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

His notability in the Somali community is relevant here, as were are not engaging in a debate about wether to excl./incl. Dr Warsame in a 'list of scientists' no this is about the complete deletion of his entry on wikipedia. Secondly if Praire A&M is such a insignificant university why then should we bother with a article on it? Your suggestion is an interesting idea but i remain unconvinced that there is a case for a complete deletion of Warsame's entry --Scoobycentric (talk) 14:11, 2 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Keep While it's true that any academic worth his or her salt should at least have a peer-reviewed paper in publication, the fact that Ali has also received a national level award and founded several apparently prominent organizations clearly indicates that he is not an ordinary academic and thus qualifies him as notable. Per the lengthy explanation above by Scoobycentric, I agree that notability has been reasonably established. Middayexpress (talk) 20:05, 2 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Living people-related deletion discussions. --Erwin85Bot (talk) 00:02, 3 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Delete. My search of Google Scholar shows papers with 4, 7, 1, 0, 0, 0 cites. This is a total failure to satisfy WP:Prof. Notability will have to be argued on other grounds. Xxanthippe (talk) 04:52, 3 June 2009 (UTC).[reply]
- He is founder and President of several important organizations such the Somali Development Foundation which is responsible for the reconstruction of Somalia's educational sector, the most prominent example being the University of Gedo --Scoobycentric (talk) 16:41, 3 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Why is it that the "Somali Development Foundation" doesn't even have a webpage? Their first Google hit is a press release from 2 years ago. Hairhorn (talk) 21:38, 4 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Delete. Not notable as a scientist. Also the Somali Development Foundation does not appear to be notable: a Google News search gives three hits of which one is relevant. -- Crowsnest (talk) 06:25, 5 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]
It is notable, as i said before because it's responsible for several major projects in Somalia, the most prominent being the University of Gedo. I'm also suprised that there is currently no website for this organisation but this doesn't take away their positive real life contributions wether in reconstruction in Somalia or organising major conferences in the Somali diaspora --Scoobycentric (talk) 10:13, 5 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Perhaps not, but it does affect verifiability, and prompts real doubts about notability. These are more relevant to the current discussion than whether their work has been worthwhile or not. Hairhorn (talk) 11:55, 5 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Fair enough, however there is both literature(English/Somali) and pictorial evidence that verifies SDF as an actual existing entity responsible for the aforementioned important projects and conferences involving former prime ministers, professors and prominent members of the Somali community[4][5], in my opinion this has to count for something. --Scoobycentric (talk) 13:31, 5 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

There's also this press release for a conference that was to feature "distinguished guest speakers from the United Nations, United States-State Department, community leaders and other expert commentators on Somali politics", including "James C. Swan, Deputy Assistance Secretary of the African Affairs from US State Department Bureau of African Affairs. Mr. Francois L. Fall, UN Special Representative for Somalia and the head of UNPOS, David Shinn, former ambassador of United State to Ethiopia, Dr. Ali Bahar and Dr. Ali Faqi, expert commentators on Somali politics and The chairman of Somali Development Foundation Prof. Warsame H. Ali." I doubt the UN & US government would be involved with the organization if it were non-notable or with Ali Faqi, another of Somali scientist whose article is also up for deletion under this same non-notable charge. Middayexpress (talk) 20:09, 5 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The only confirmation of this event is the press release itself, which has a number of spelling and grammatical errors (eg: "Deputy Assistance Secretary of the African Affairs"). There is no news coverage before or after that I can find, even from unreliable sources. Many of the claims in the three "Somali scientist" articles have turned out to be grossly inflated. Hairhorn (talk) 02:58, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Keep on the basis of his role in the higher educational system of his country, one of the criteria for academics, not all of whom need be researchers to be notable. DGG (talk) 02:21, 6 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Comment. Warsami Ali is listed at the beginning of the article as an assistant professor but later as professor in his CV (which will not download). However the web site of the university http://www.pvamu.edu/pages/2613.asp lists him as assistant professor. There is no indication or source of where he obtained his Master's and PhD degrees. The University of Gedo does not appear to have any staff or students yet and appears so far to be a virtual university. A questionably sourced article that is difficult to verify as noted by Hairhorn; an assistant professor with a low publication record in a low prestige institution--my recommendation to delete remains unchanged. Xxanthippe (talk) 04:15, 6 June 2009 (UTC).[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.