Outstanding Arabs: Farouk El-Baz

From the Boston University Website...

Dr. Farouk El-Baz is Research Professor and Director of the Center for Remote Sensing at Boston University, Boston MA, U.S.A. He is Adjunct Professor of Geology at the Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt. He is also a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Geological Society of America Foundation, Boulder CO.

He was born on 1 January 1938 in the Nile Delta town of Zagazig. Twenty years later, he 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. In 1989, he received an Honorary Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) degree from the New England College, Henniker NH.

From 1967 to 1972, Dr. El-Baz participated in the Apollo Program as Supervisor of Lunar Science Planning at Bellcomm Inc., a division of AT&T that conducted systems analysis for NASA Headquarters in Washington DC. During these six years, he was Secretary of the Landing Site Selection Committee for the Apollo missions to the Moon, Principal Investigator of Visual Observations and Photography, and Chairman of the Astronaut Training Group. His outstanding teaching abilities were confirmed by the Apollo astronauts. While circling the Moon for the first time during Apollo mission 15, Alfred Worden said, "After the King's [Farouk's nickname] training, I feel like I've been here before."

Surrounded by Apollo Command Module Pilots (from left): Michael Collins (Apollo 11), Richard Gordon (Apollo 12), Stuart Roosa (Apollo 14), and Alfred Worden (Apollo 15) at a 1994 "Salute to Apollo" in Oshkosh, Wisconsin

During the Apollo years, Dr. El-Baz joined NASA officials in briefing members of the press on the results of the lunar missions. His appeal rested in a unique ability to simplify complex issues in clear, succinct and easily understood words. His remarks on the scientific accomplishments were regularly quoted by the media during the Apollo missions.

In Episode 10 ("Galileo Was Right") of the TV series "From the Earth to the Moon," produced by Tom Hanks for HBO, his role in the training of the Apollo astronauts was featured in a segment entitled: "The Brain of Farouk El-Baz." In his honor, the popular television program "Star Trek: The Next Generation" featured a shuttle craft named "El-Baz."

Star Trek's shuttle "El-Baz"

In 1973, NASA selected him as Principal Investigator of the Earth Observations and Photography Experiment on the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP), the first joint American-Soviet space mission of July 1975. Emphasis was placed on photographing arid environments, particularly the Great Sahara of North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, in addition to other features of the Earth and its oceans. Emphasizing the study of the origin and evolution of arid landscapes, he collected field data during visits to every major desert in the world. One of his significant journeys took place, soon after the United States and China had normalized relations in 1979, when he coordinated the first visit by American scientists to deserts in northwestern China. The six-week journey was chronicled in National Geographic and the Explorers Journal. His research on the origin and evolution of the desert resulted in his election as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Dr. El-Baz served his native land as Science Advisor to the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat from 1978 to 1981. Because of population growth and the attendant food requirements, Sadat believed that Egyptians should not continue to be confined within the Nile Valley and must reclaim more land from the desert.

First meeting with the late Anwar Sadat, President of Egypt, in 1974

His desert research, spanning over 25 years, helped in dispelling the public misconception that deserts were man-made and explained how arid lands originated and evolved in response to global climatic variations. His research methods are now commonly replicated in desert studies throughout the world.

Throughout his career, Dr. El-Baz has succeeded in conveying the excitement of scientific research and the importance of using advanced technology. One of his efforts resolved the 1995 controversy about the crowd size in Washington DC's "Million Man March". He estimated the number of participants in the march using the same computer techniques applied to counting sand dunes in the desert.

The Boston University "Million Man March" counting team

He is an accomplished author or editor of twelve books, including Say it in Arabic, The Moon as Viewed by Lunar Orbiter, Apollo Over the Moon, Egypt as Seen by Landsat, Deserts and Arid Lands, The Gulf War and the Environment, and Atlas of the State of Kuwait from Satellite Images. He has contributed over 200 scientific papers to professional journals, supervised numerous graduate students, and lectured in academic institutions and research centers worldwide.

In 1999, the Geological Society of America (GSA) established the "Farouk El-Baz Award for Desert Research," an annual award aimed at encouraging excellence in arid land studies.