2010 John J. Peterson Scholarship Recipient

Biography: Mateen Safaie is a fourth-year Business-Economics student from Agoura Hills, California. After graduating from Agoura High School in 2007, Mateen attended Moorpark College for two years before transferring to UCLA. His primary academic interest is to study the feasibility and effectiveness of microcredit ventures in rural areas of developing nations. Outside of the classroom, Mateen is a board member for the Baha’i Association at UCLA and involved with the Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment Program. He is also a resident assistant for the Rieber Terrace on-campus housing community.

Future Plans: As Mateen enters his final year at UCLA, he hopes to pursue research in the area of microfinance. After he completes his degree in Business-Economics, he plans to attend law school. He wishes to utilize a legal education focused on international business law. He hopes to establish and sustain a non-profit organization that encourages socioeconomic development projects in rural areas, which safeguards the commercial interests of developing nations in international trade agreements.

What does the scholarship mean to me?: I am honored to receive the John J. Peterson Scholarship for the 2010-2011 academic year. The financial award of the scholarship will allow me to focus more of my time and energy on pursuing academic and extracurricular passions. Particularly, it will allow me to be more engaged in the research I hope to undertake in the coming year. Furthermore, the academic recognition that the scholarship entails motivates me to pursue greater degrees of excellence in my studies. I thank John J. Peterson very much for this honor and scholarship.