David Salehi

My name is David Salehi. I graduated in 2021 from Chapman University School of Pharmacy with a Master of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences. My undergraduate level was completed at the University of California, Davis and I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Chemistry major and Neuroscience minor. I am fortunate to be hired as a Chemical Handling and Documentation staff at Chapman University. My hobbies are hiking, reading, running, seeing friends, swimming, traveling, watching movies, and definitely browsing the web for memes.

Career

I received multiple job offers by applying and communicating with recruiters after graduation from Chapman and started working at Robinson Pharma, Inc. right after graduation. Later, I accepted a more suitable position at a startup pharmaceutical company through one of the faculties at Chapman University. Finally, I was fortunate to be hired as a Chemical Handling and Documentation staff at Chapman University last year. My colleagues are one of the most important factors in choosing the right job offer and I love working at Chapman University. My parents always encouraged me to value education immensely and that’s why I continued my education to the graduate level. Now, working for a university is the only right thing that I know in my heart to do.

Goal as CUSP Alumni Advisory Board

Chapman University is located in the middle of the pharmaceutical industry and has many healthcare-related opportunities. My goal is to keep alumni engaged in the school to strengthen the connections and bridges between the working environment and college.

Memories at CUSP

When I was a student at CUSP, the “eureka” moments of getting the expected data after many failed experiments in the laboratories were the most enjoyable times. After so much hard work and sleepless nights, achieving the data, which was predicted, creates an everlasting joy that fosters more learning and discovery. I also enjoyed a lot becoming skilled in working with different laboratory instruments and wet chemical synthesis to create my own compounds that nature never thought about. I was also the treasurer of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Sciences club at Chapman University and had a lot of fun events before the pandemic. As a student, another enjoyable part of my journey at Chapman was to receive Graduate Student Conference Travel Grants from Chapman University. Traveling for conferences to present my most recent discoveries in the laboratories is a delightful experience as I become part of the scientific society.

Messages to alumni and students

I would like to share a quote from Albert Einstein with my fellow alumni, “Once you stop learning, you start dying”. I hope we never stop learning. Thank you so much.

This interview has been edited for clarity.