THE WIDER CHRONICLE | COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
October 14, 2026 · This week’s feature
A community’s story is told through more than political headlines. It is also found in the people who build careers, write books, and keep difficult questions in public view. For our first Community Spotlight, The Wider Chronicle features Dr. Mohamud Ali Geeldoon, whose professional and literary work is published under the name Mohamoud Gaildon.
A career in medical physics
Gaildon is a Somali-American medical physicist whose published biographies describe a career spanning several American hospitals. His Salon author biography lists work at Memorial Sloan-Kettering, Beth Israel, and Mount Sinai in New York City. His professional profile identifies a specialty in radiotherapy physics, while a 2025 author biography describes him as a senior medical physicist with OSF HealthCare in Illinois.
His experience has also included radiation safety responsibilities. A Carleton University event announcement from 2015 identified him as a medical physicist and radiation safety officer at St. Vincent Hospital in Green Bay, Wisconsin. That is a documented earlier appointment, rather than a claim about his current position.
Bringing overlooked stories into literature
Alongside his scientific career, Gaildon is the author of The Yibir of Las Burgabo. Carleton University’s Institute of African Studies and the Sahan Literary Forum hosted him for a discussion of the novel in Ottawa on May 23, 2015. The university described the book as a story about the Yibir, a Somali minority community, with themes of dignity, rejection, and survival.
That literary work gives readers another way to encounter Somali experiences: through people’s lives and the question of belonging. Its place in a university literary program also illustrates how Somali storytelling can reach audiences beyond the community itself. For readers discovering Gaildon through his public commentary, the novel offers a different starting point.
A public voice beyond his profession
Gaildon also writes commentary on Somali affairs. His published contributions address questions of politics, sovereignty, and the country’s future. Those writings are his personal views; this profile recognizes his work across science and literature without presenting his political positions as those of his employer or this publication.
Why we are sharing his story
Community Spotlight introduces readers to the varied lives behind Somali achievement in America. Gaildon’s documented work connects a scientific profession, a published novel, and participation in public debate. It is a fitting starting point for a series that will include students, artists, business owners, professionals, and volunteers from communities across the United States.
This profile is based on published sources, rather than an interview. Historical appointments are identified by date.
Sources and further reading
- Salon: Mohamoud Gaildon author biography
- Carleton University: Journeys of Survival, Resilience and Belonging (2015)
- Mohamoud Gaildon: professional profile
- WardheerNews: commentary and author biography (2025)
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