Saad received his B.S. degree in mathematics from the University of Algiers, Algeria in 1970. He then joined University of Grenoble for the doctoral program and obtained a junior doctorate, Doctorat de troisieme cycle in 1974 and a higher doctorate, Doctorat d’Etat in 1983. During the course of his academic career, he has held various positions, including Research Scientist in the Computer Science Department at Yale University (1981–1983), Associate Professor in the University of Tizi-Ouzou in Algeria (1983–1984), Research Scientist at the Computer Science Department at Yale University (1984–1986), and Associate Professor in the Mathematics Department at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1986–1988). He also worked as a Senior Scientist in the Research Institute for Advanced Computer Science (RIACS) during 1980–1990.
Saad joined University of Minnesota as a Professor in the Department of Computer Science in 1990. At Minnesota, he held the position of Head of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering between January 1997 and June 2000. Currently, he is the I. T. Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at University of Minnesota.