What His Life Continues to Mean

Not His Story Again — What It Means Now

His timeline lives on the Tribute page. His record lives on the Biography page. This page isn't either of those — it's about what his life continues to mean, to the people who are still here.

A Voice for Inclusion, Grounded in Lived Experience

Dr. Hussein's advocacy extended into rigorous, published scholarship. Working with the Washington University GRID Lab, he served on the Community Advisory Board for a doctoral dissertation on refugees with disabilities — ensuring the research stayed grounded in lived experience, not just theory. He co-authored Arab Refugees with Physical Disabilities: An Exploration of Barriers within the Resettlement Process (2024), work that continues to inform how researchers and advocates understand the barriers refugees with disabilities face.

He was candid about why he chose to tell his own story publicly:

"I believe in the power of stories… By sharing mine, I hope others can learn, grow, and find strength."

With Gratitude

Can You Open My Eyes? was written with his co-author, Monica Sakura Urso — her debut as a published author. Together, their book received the 2025 Best Indie Book Award for Book of the Year, and a second book was underway at the time of his passing.

His work was shaped by others who walked alongside him: Doctors Without Borders, where he went from patient to board member; the Steve Hicks School of Social Work at UT Austin, which established the Qusay Hussein Humanitarian Award in his name; the Washington University GRID Lab, where his contributions to disability research earned public thanks from the team he worked with; and Interfaith Action of Central Texas (iACT), where his own path came full circle — from a client of their refugee services in 2013, to keynote speaker at their 2014 Hope Awards, to a member of their Board of Directors starting in 2024.