Biography

 

Born in 1989, Maan Ali AlSultan was raised in Riyadh where he obtained his general education with excellent academic performance enabeling him to be accepted in the College of Dentistry in King Saud University 2006.

Probably one of the most exciting aspects of his academic history is his contribution to the extracurricular activities. It has given him an excellent experience to improve his teamwork and leadership skills that facilitated his selection as a President of Students' Clubs Council, Manager of Students' Research Club, and coordinator of several dental community projects.

He always seek challenges that have a strong and positive impact on himself, as well as on others. In 2010, he served as the team coordinator of the first dental community project for King Saud University which served more than 3000 people and earned a general satisfaction of 98%. It was his first exposure to leadership, developing an organizing team, and managing the project's budget. In 2012, he served as a cofounder of the 1st Research Summer Program among Saudi Universities, where he was responsible for assigning research mentors and international speakers and developing a scientific program schedule. Thirty undergraduate biomedical students have completed the program as young researchers. As a result, Maan received a letter of appreciation from the Dean of Students’ Affairs for the successful completion of the program. All of the previous initiatives were proven to be beneficial and have inspired other students toward their participation in students' extracurricular activities.

Coupled with his friend Muath, they were able to establish "Talkodontics.com" in 2009. It is a mean of sharing their daily diary in the dental school with dental students around the world and keeping the website visitors informed regarding the upcoming dental activities nationally and internationally.

With a clear vision of the importance of research, Maan started his research journey when he was a third year dental student in 2010. In April 2014, he was given the opportunity to present the outcomes of that research at the American Association of Orthodontists Meeting in New Orleans. In addition, he has presented a poster at several national dental conferences.

Maan has been able to deserve numerous academic awards because of the balance he seeks between the academic and social spheres. In 2009, he was honored to be on the Dean’s List for outstanding students. Then in 2012, he was blessed with the Ideal College Student Award, and recently (2014), he received the First Prize in Young Dentist Research Award at the Annual Saudi Dental Society Conference. Plus he has graduated with Honors.

One thing on the top of Maan's ‘bucket list’ was to write a book describing everything he learned in dental school indirectly related to dentistry- those non-academic and extracurricular activities that had considerable influence on his thoughts and view on life. After nine months of continuous writing, he published his first book, titled: “Within the Folds” in February 2014.  It was on the top of the best-selling book list in different international book fairs, selling more than 8,000 copies in just a few months. It is now under translation into English.

Maan currently works as a teaching assistant at College of Dentistry in King Saud University. He is determined to continue his post-graduate education in Orthodontics in North America where he hopes to further enrich his learning, teaching and research skills.