UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State has about 700,000 alumni across the globe, but few are as eager to sit through three seasons of the “Law and Order” franchise as Penn State alumnus Isam Al-Zadjali.

Al-Zadjali recently was named a 2024 Alumni Fellow and returned to the University Park campus from his home country of Oman to accept his fellowship from President Neeli Bendapudi. (Watch the video here.)

He frequently makes the roughly 25-hour trek from Oman, and the self-proclaimed crime-drama buff does it with a laptop full of fresh television programming — and a passion for giving back to the University that, he said, gave him so much.

From Oman to State College

Long before Al-Zadjali’s most recent trip to Penn State, there was the first one: In the late 1980s, he was among the second cohort of students from Oman to attend Penn State. He majored in petroleum and natural gas engineering in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences and after graduating he returned home to assist with the country’s booming oil business. Oil, first exported there in 1967, was then and is now one of Oman’s chief commodities. Oil accounts for two-fifths of Oman’s gross domestic product and about three-fourths of its government income, according to Brittanica.com.

Al-Zadjali, the oldest of nine children, said his family urged him to get a great education. He said they knew very little about the United States, only that it was home to some of the greatest education institutions in the world. And they wanted that for him.

“My parents wanted me to go out there and reach for the sky, and they were so ecstatic and happy for me to go to America,” Al-Zadjali said. “I wanted to make them proud. I wanted to make sure that I did well but also embraced the culture. It was exciting yet challenging, and my goal was to earn a great degree and go and serve back my government and my country.”

Trials and triumphs

Al-Zadjali settled in and said he began feeling comfortable at Penn State. He saw people from all over the world — something at the time not common in Oman — and took it all in, with sports such as soccer being a way to make friends.

He was learning how to balance socializing with the challenges associated with the demanding engineering curriculum when a seemingly insurmountable challenge happened his junior year: His father died, and his family grieved a half a world away.

“I made up my mind on the flight back that I was going to quit school and start working to help my mother support my other sibling,” Al-Zadjali said.

But his mother forbade it. She told him she would manage and that he needed to finish what he set out to do. It’s a selfish life lesson that he said still guides him today, he said. She wasn’t in a position, financially, to manage; she made a sacrifice so that he could succeed.

“It was very hard to see my mother, knowing that she had little means to raise a family of nine kids,” Al-Zadjali said. “It was very, very tough to come back to school knowing that my heart was still back home, but everyone at this University was so sympathetic, so considerate; they helped me navigate through the last year.”

In 1992, the new Penn State graduate returned to his home.

Industry and leadership

Al-Zadjali started as a drilling engineer for Petroleum Development Oman PDO, working a few years before shifting to a government position, where he focused on the business-government side of things. He tackled issues such as regulation, oversight and governance.

From there, he joined Occidental Petroleum, a U.S.-based oil company with global operations, including in Oman. There, he said he found his passion. He’s someone who embraces challenges and he helped the company grow as he rose to president and then general manager before returning to the Oman Oil Company as its CEO.

In 2019, he shifted his career again, overseeing a municipality in Oman as its minister. Now, he’s a consultant in the energy industry.

His career models what he tells students when he visits: Don’t be afraid to embrace new challenges.

Paying it back at Penn State

Looking back on his career, Al-Zadjali ticks off the long list of people who helped him succeed: his colleagues, his family and the Penn State community. He said that inspires him to brave the long flights so that he can engage with current students.

“Penn State gave me the tools to navigate through the world and confront the challenges that arose,” Al-Zadjali said. “Now, I want to give back. I truly believe that giving back will make me happier. Why? Because this University has been good to me, and I want to give whatever I can to help these students like I was helped.”

Being presented as an Alumni Fellow by the Penn State Alumni Association, he said, was a humbling experience. But he said giving back is something he’d do regardless. At the ceremony, Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi described the University as “a nourishing mother.” As someone who found his home away from home, those words landed for Al-Zadjali.

“That's what this University is. People are accepted from all walks of life, and you can easily assimilate in this University,” Al-Zadjali said. “The faculty are great. They truly do all they can to make sure that your Penn State journey is rewarding, and that's what I love the most. And Penn State is forever part of me. It’s in my blood. I bleed blue and white.”