Keeping the Faith: Muslim Alum is Pioneer

As one of RSDM’s first female Muslim students, Hoda Yousef was asked a lot of questions. It was the late 1980s, and some students told her they’d never met a Muslim before.

Because she wears a hijab, the head covering worn by devout Muslim women, they asked if she spoke English. Yes, she would answer, explaining that she grew up in Monmouth County after arriving in the United States with her family from Egypt at age 3.

Tired of the stares and misperceptions, she fleetingly considered leaving the hijab at home but decided against it. “I thought, Why should I? This is America—this is my home, where anybody can be anything and have the right to live the way they want to live,'' said Yousef, an RSDM faculty member and doctor at Rutgers Health University Dental Associates.

She's glad she stuck it out.  “I think that your struggles strengthen you,” she says.

Now an associate professor at RSDM, Yousef graduated from the school in 1991 and earned a certificate here in prosthodontics and a Masters of Science degree in 1996. She is course director for Fixed Prosthodontics and does research in the biomechanics of dental implants. Yousef lectures internationally on implant systems and what factors will increase their effectiveness and works with implant companies. She’s also senior editor of the Implant Dentistry Journal and a fellow of the International College of Dentistry, among other honors.

Yousef was drawn to dentistry because it enabled her to pursue both science and artistry. “I liked the aspect of it that allowed the creative part of you to come out,” she says. “With restorative dentistry, I liked taking something and recreating it.”

But one of Yousef’s greatest passions is teaching. “I like to give more than take, and education is the best way to express that,” she says. “When I have a student who finally gets something and really understands, it gives me great satisfaction and is the best gift ever.’’