Noah Samara

Noah A. Samara is an Ethiopian-born lawyer better known for being the founder and Chief Executive Officer of WorldSpace,the world's first to launch satellite radio. He also played a pivotal role in the foundation of XM Satellite Radio. He claimed in many instances that the driving motive for the foundation of WorldSpace is to give millions of people in Asia and Africa access to information, so as to facilitate the curbing of the spread of disease in those regions, particularly AIDS. Samara's effort to launch a third satellite over Latin America got him embroiled in a bitter fight with the U. S. Department of Defense and Boeing, which use the L-band for communication during flight tests.

Personal life
Noah Samara was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to a Sudanese father and an Ethiopian mother. He left his home country and went to the United States at the age of 17 in search of better education. Samara received his bachelor’s degree in English from East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania in 1978, a master’s degree in international business from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and a doctor of jurisprudence from Georgetown University Law School. He is an attorney that has specialized in international communications satellite laws.

Earlier career
Before the foundation of WorldSpace, Samara was involved in the development of both geostationary and low earth orbit (LEO) satellite systems since the mid-1980s. Samara's early career was in satellite telecommunications, first with Geostar Corporation and later with the Washington law firm of Venable, Baetjer, Howard & Civiletti.

WorldSpace
Samara, at the age of 34, became the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of the internationally known company,WorldSpace Corporation. Samara once told the graduates of East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania at a commencement ceremony:

In the mid-1980s, I read something that changed my life. It was an article in the Washington Post about AIDS in Africa and how it was spreading because millions of people had no information or the wrong information.It became clear to me that people weren’t simply dying of disease; they were dying of ignorance.Something had to be done. I came up with the idea of launching a satellite over Africa that would broadcast digital radio across the continent to inexpensive portable receivers. n 1990, I quit my job and devoted my body, mind and spirit to a quest that required securing international regulatory approval from 127 countries, designing a new communications system, building and launching satellites, establishing a corporation, hiring staff and raising capital to pay for it all. We needed around $1.5 billion to make it happen.

Quotes - At the end of the day, life is somewhat digital. You have either done something, or you have not.

This biography was found on Wikipedia.