From war refugee to Clemson graduate

The first-ever doctoral address at Clemson University was given by a man born in Afghanistan who grew up as a refugee in Pakistan.  Tanin Haidary credits his success to his family which has a deep devotion to education.  Haidary’s father was a base commander in the Afghan military.  In Pakistan, the only job he could get was repairing television sets.  His mother, a doctor, was allowed to provide care in Pakistan to other refugees.  The son said, “I remember them not buying clothes for themselves for years just so they could send us to school, which was not free in Pakistan.”  Before he earned a scholarship to study in the U-S, the son worked with the U-S Army Corps of Engineers helping to build military bases in Afghanistan.  Now a recent Clemson graduate, Haidary is working as a project engineer for a contractor involved in building a new Greenville County administration building near downtown Greenville.  In two years, he expects to take a new assignment in San Francisco.