Ahmad Saad, BBA ’19

Ahmad Saad’s passion for accounting was born from an atypical place: the inside of a bakery. As a high schooler, Ahmad helped out at Csweet, a wholesale bakery owned and operated by his mother. Whether it was by completing invoices, organizing expenses, or coordinating with vendors and retailers, Ahmad’s involvement with the bakery introduced him to the world of business operations — and revealed his penchant for crunching numbers. 

While working at the bakery, Ahmad attended his first year at the University of Michigan - Dearborn. It only took one course to affirm his interest in accounting. “I felt like I was able to  relate a lot of what I learned in class to what I was doing at my mom’s business. I was able to connect the dots between coursework and what I was doing in real life, so it made me enjoy accounting even more.” 

I can attest to the fact that, now having been here for three years, a lot of the opportunities that I’ve had — the internships, the networks that I’ve built — are simply because people know what type of student they’re getting when they recruit at the Ross School of Business.

When Ahmad considered transferring to the University of Michigan Ann Arbor his sophomore year, the Ross School of Business stood out to him as the best way to transform his natural knack for numbers into a successful accounting career.

“I can attest to the fact that, now having been here for three years, a lot of the opportunities that I’ve had — the internships, the networks that I’ve built — are simply because people know what type of student they’re getting when they recruit at the Ross School of Business. There’s a large number of employers who want to recruit Ross students,” Ahmad says. Through networking at Ross, Ahmad secured summer internships at both Deloitte and Plante Moran, two of the nation’s largest accounting firms. 

In addition to his accounting internships, Ahmad found opportunity through Accounting Club. Elected president his senior year, Ahmad says that he’s, “extremely involved in the club; it’s a way for me to express my interest in accounting and show Ross students who are considering finance or consulting the benefits of accounting.” Ahmad has made increasing awareness of the accounting field a goal for his term as club president. 

Ahmad’s active involvement on campus helped earn him a spot in the Carson Scholars Program, an initiative founded by David Carson, BBA ‘55, that gives students an opportunity to see business and public policy in action. Following the program’s winter term course, students spent a week on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., where they heard from lobbyists and lawmakers, including past and present politicians and senior government officials. Over the course of the week, Ahmad and his class of Carson Scholars were provided up-close insight into how the worlds of business and public policy work together.

“It’s a unique experience simply because you don’t have this kind of exposure when you’re in a business law class, but hearing from these lobbyists and politicians allows you to connect what you heard in class to real-life situations,” Ahmad says. For their final project, students assessed a recent policy and made a case as to whether they would support or oppose it, using factual documentation to support their stance. 

In addition to traveling with the Carson Scholars Program, one of the highlights of Ahmad’s time at Ross is the Ross Integrative Semester. Viewed as one of the most active and challenging semesters of the Ross curriculum (students take all Ross courses the first semester of their junior year), Ahmad says he found the semester incredibly rewarding. 

“After you complete the Ross Integrative Semester, you realize one of the biggest skills you gain is time management and working with peers. We had five classes, all of which required group projects and being understanding toward each other’s schedules. It was eye-opening to see that I could fit so much in in just one semester; it gave me a valuable skill set that I feel like other schools might not offer to students.”

While Ross is a cornerstone of Ahmad’s college experience, he has stayed involved with activities across the larger U-M campus, including intramural basketball and the Lebanese Student Association. And, as a coordinator at the East Quad Dining Hall, Ahmad even finds time to get back in touch with his culinary roots. You can catch Ahmad preparing his speciality — omelettes — most Monday mornings. 

After graduation, Ahmad will intern at General Motors and return to Michigan Ross in the fall to pursue a Master’s in Accounting.