Safia Hattab is a national award-winning writer, TEDx speaker, and computer scientist. She earned her Masters of Fine Arts in Nonfiction Writing from Columbia University, where she was recognized for her excellence as a McCrindle Fellow, while she earned her Bachelors of Arts in both Computer Science and English (Creative Writing Emphasis) at Hope College.

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Her TEDx Talk "How Healthcare Biases Can Be Deadly" has been featured on popular websites such as Cliffnotes and is referenced in medical school curriculums in the United States and across the world. Her nonfiction essay "Through the Dome" won the 2018 Hajja Razia Sharif Sheikh Prize in Nonfiction, and her writing can be found in journals such as the Oakland Arts Review, the Allegheny Review, and Quarantine Magazine. That being said, she is just as much a writer and public speaker as she is a computer scientist: she won a Michigan Space Consortium Award for her work on using artificial neural networks to analyze eye-tracking data for chemistry education.

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It's her interdisciplinary background that accounts for most of her success and informs her mentorship style. She can relate to students across interests: from the students in the humanities to the engineers to everyone in-between, but she also believes that while students attracted to those interests often feel pressure to fit neatly in some box, it is in finding the things--both big or small--that makes the student stand out to universities that will ultimately lead to their success. Plus, her status as a self-proclaimed nerd brings a humour and levity to a process that can feel incredibly intimidating.

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When Safia is not working with students, writing, reading, coding, or researching, you can probably find her baking, playing video games, working or acting in the theatre, or supporting a local coffee shop or restaurant. Her most recent challenge includes the adoption of her first ever kitten Tiramisu, and she welcomes any advice to help keep her darling calico from stealing all of her socks.