Abdul El-Sayed’s Oxford years: PhD, political influences and sporting distinction

Michigan senator-elect’s former peers recall his time at university in Britain – and his love of coronation chicken sandwiches In the cold, twilight days of 2008, inside the University of Michigan’s fortress-like Fleming administration building, one student was given a particularly adulatory sendoff. Mary Sue Coleman, president of the university at the time, convened a ceremony for the latest Rhodes scholar heading to the University of Oxford: Abdul El-Sayed. “There is no doubt among anyone who crosses his path that he will achieve all he sets out to accomplish and more,” she declared to a room full of the university’s leaders, calling the medical PhD student the “epitome of the engaged intellect”. Continue reading...

Sammy Gecsoyler · Sun, Nov 8, 2026, 7:26 AM
US news | The Guardian

Abdul El-Sayed’s Oxford years: PhD, political influences and sporting distinction

Michigan senator-elect’s former peers recall his time at university in Britain – and his love of coronation chicken sandwiches

In the cold, twilight days of 2008, inside the University of Michigan’s fortress-like Fleming administration building, one student was given a particularly adulatory sendoff.

Mary Sue Coleman, president of the university at the time, convened a ceremony for the latest Rhodes scholar heading to the University of Oxford: Abdul El-Sayed. “There is no doubt among anyone who crosses his path that he will achieve all he sets out to accomplish and more,” she declared to a room full of the university’s leaders, calling the medical PhD student the “epitome of the engaged intellect”.

This page shows an excerpt; reporting belongs to the original publisher. Some images or embeds may be omitted compared with the live article.