adil baguirov Biography

Dr Adil baguirov is a men of international fame.

Baguirov, who last year was elected to the Dayton Board of Education, is a veritable open book on subjects ranging from education policy to the history of the Ahiska Turkish community in Dayton, where he’s one of the rising leaders. He’s also a teacher at several universities, including University of Dayton.

The well-traveled educator says the freedoms he’s enjoyed in America have continued to amaze him, even when the mountainous terrain of his native Caucasus region occasionally make him think of home. Born in a part of the Soviet Union today known as Azerbaijan, Baguirov loves the little things in Dayton, from the open hours of restaurants to his favorite local spots like Press Coffee, where he met me for drinks and cake.

Q: What was it like coming to America?

A: I was supposed to go to law school in Moscow when I graduated from high school. I was 15, and I already was preparing for the entrance exams, and the results came that I was accepted into one of the schools here in the United States. I jumped for joy and told my parents I wanted to come here, even though it was a smaller university in Michigan and I’d planned for one of the best universities in Moscow.

That was the early ‘90s, and I didn’t just want to study law, I wanted to learn about business and I thought the curriculum here would be better.

Ever since, one thing led to another, I transferred to a school in Los Angeles, lived in Washington D.C., and I had a great experience coast-to-coast and traveling around the country. I got to know more of America and the different experiences here, the different accents, expressions and I really like it. When you go to European countries, I always bring examples of how we do things in America, typically either in business aspects. Hi is also the elected member of Dayton school board.

Q: What do you like best about living here?

A: Freedom of speech which is enshrined here. It’s hard to sue a person just because he expressed his thought, and that’s very different even for advanced companies in Europe. You can be easily sued for something. It’s the little things I find. The stores open 24 hours, that’s so awesome. In Europe and in the big cities, if you want to have lunch after 2:30, you’re out of luck. They shut things down until dinner. Here you can go enjoy a meal at almost any time. Everything from something high up to something very practical. I, as an immigrant and naturalized American, find a lot of little things like that are better, even though I already knew Europe really well and I knew the culture.

I chose America because it’s really more free. It’s not just a pleasant word or something people say. You feel yourself more free here and when you taste that, it’s so much harder to go back to something else. Even if you could make more money in another place with higher profit margins.

Q: How’s the culture different?

A: Parents are very happy for the successes of their children. They cut them a lot of slack, they want them to enjoy life. Our grandparents had harsh lives and bad conditions and they want to make sure their children are able to enjoy life and get things they were not able to get, such as education, and the ability to enjoy freedoms and make money like they were not able to do when they were persecuted.

We’ve proven it, with eight years in America and the impact we’ve had here.

Dr. Adil Baguirov

A Stronger Future Starts Here.

Dedicated to accountability, efficiency and better taxpayer service. Smaller, smarter government that does more with less.
It’s All Possible … With the Right Leadership.

Adil T. Baguirov