Southeast Missouri State announces Zaki Ali as 2025 MLK Celebration Dinner keynote speaker

Southeast Missouri State University announced Monday, Oct. 28, that Zaki Ali will be the keynote speaker for the 2025 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Dinner.

The theme for the Thursday, Jan. 23, MLK dinner is “Against All Odds, Through Courage and Resilience”.

Ali, a 1987 SEMO graduate, struggled in his early academic career. He was placed in special education classes and scored a seven out of 36 on the ACT before he was found to be dyslexic. After his diagnosis, Ali studied at a community college in Utah before transferring to SEMO.

While at SEMO, Ali played football for the then-Indians under his high school coach Bob Smith. Three years after graduating, he received a master’s in human resources from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and began his career as a pharmaceutical representative for Eli Lilly and Company.

Ali worked for Eli Lilly for six years before tragedy struck again when his mother was wrongfully indicted, tried, convicted and sentenced to prison, which inspired him to pursue a law degree.

“I couldn’t change what happened to her,” Ali said in a news release from the university. “But the experience motivated me to pursue a law degree to help prevent such tragedies happening to others.”

He graduated from the Salmon P. Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University in 1998 and has spent the last 22 years practicing criminal defense, personal injury and immigration law.

Tickets and sponsorships for the MLK dinner are available at www.semo.edu/mlk. For more information, email mlkcommittee@semo.edu or call (573) 651-2626.