[1] He is the editor of Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies, and brother of Abdi Ismail Samatar, chair of the geography department at the University of Minnesota.

[2] Ahmed Ismail Samatar was born and raised in the Gabiley District, situated in Somaliland.

Samatar began his early traditional Islamic schooling (mal'amad qur'an) while he was young.

Additionally, Samatar is the founding editor-in-chief of Bildhaan, one of the international journals of Somali Studies.

His current research is on two tracks: a collaborative two volumes on leadership and the Somali experience; and globalization and the rise of Islamic consciousness.

Since 1994, Samatar has been teaching at Macalester College, where he is the James Wallace Professor and retired Dean of the Institute for Global Citizenship.