|
|
  | | Farouk El-Baz (NAE) |
NAKFI Alumni and Leaders
NAKFI Steering Committee on
Imaging Science Chair
Farouk El-Baz (NAE)
Research Professor and Director
Center for Remote Sensing
Boston University
The National Academies Keck Futures Initiative (NAKFI) is pleased to announce that National Academy of Engineering Member Dr. Farouk El-Baz has accepted the appointment as chair of the NAKFI Steering Committee on Imaging Science. Dr. El-Baz will work with the committee to plan the 2010 Conference on Imaging Science, and to award $1 million in Futures Grants – on a competitive basis – to conference attendees.
Dr. El-Baz is Director of the Center for Remote Sensing and Research Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Boston University, Boston, MA, U.S.A. As a veteran of NASA’s Apollo program of lunar exploration, he served (in 1967-1972) as secretary of the lunar landing site selection committee and chairman of astronaut training in visual observations and photography. Upon conclusion of the Apollo program, he established and directed the Center for Earth and Planetary Studies at the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. In 1982, he served as Vice President for Science and Technology of Itek Optical Systems in Lexington, MA, until he joined Boston University in 1986. He is a member of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS), African Academy of Sciences, Arab Academy of Sciences, Islamic World Academy of Science, and Royal Moroccan Academy of Science and Technology. He is the recipient of NASA’s Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal, Egypt’s Order of Merit – First Class, the Human Needs Award of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), the Award for Public Understanding of Science and Technology of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and the World Water Masters Award of the International Desalination Association (IDA). He is also a Member of the Board of Directors of the U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation (CRDF).
Born in 1938 in the Nile Delta town of Zagazig, Dr. El-Baz received a B.Sc. in chemistry and geology from Ain Shams University, followed by a scholarship for graduate study. In 1961, he received a M.S. degree in geology from the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy; his performance won him membership in the honorary society of Sigma Xi. In 1964 he received a Ph.D. in geology from the University of Missouri after conducting research in 1962-1963 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge MA. He is the recipient of honorary doctoral degrees in science or engineering from the New England College, Henniker, NH (1989), Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt (2002), American University of Cairo, Egypt (2004), University of Missouri, Rolla, MO (2004), and the American University of Beirut, Lebanon (2008).
|
|
|
