Fellow

Dr. Ismail Serageldin

(Foreign Fellow, )

Dr. Ismail Serageldin was born in Egypt in 1944.

He obtained B.Sc. (Hons.) in 1964 from the University of Cairo. Later he received M.R.P. in 1968 and Ph.D. in 1972 from Harvard University, USA. In recognision of his contribution in Science, development and social sciences, he had been decorated with honorary degrees of Doctor of Sociology (University of Bukharest, Rumania); Doctor of Agricultural Sciences, University of Melbourne, Australia; Doctor of Science (Indian Agricultural Research Institute); Doctor of International Affairs (American University, U.S.A.); Doctor of Science (Punjab Agricultural University, India); Doctor of Science (Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Science University, India) and Doctor of Natural Resource Management (Ohio State University, U.S.A.; Hallmarks of Dr. Serageldin's professional efforts in 34-year career concentrated mainly in the mobilization of science for the cause of sustainable development. He had been a strong promoter of innovation and a passionate spokeman for the poor.

He is the founding Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA), a Library of Alexandria, inaugurated in 2002. Currently, he is Emeritus Librarian, and member of the Board of Trustees of the Library of Alexandria. He serves as Chair or Member of a number of advisory committees for academic, research, scientific and international institutions and civil society efforts, including as co-Chair of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center (NGIC), and serves on the Advisory Committee of the World Social Science.

As Chairman of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), Dr. Serageldin oversaw the acheivements of 16 International Agricultural Research Institutes that are widely acknowledged as Centres of Scientific Excellence. His main interest centered around genetic mapping, molecular markers and biotechnology to accelerate the breeding process. He had also worked closely with the Third World Science Foundation of North America, The World Academy of Sciences, Italy, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the Union of concerned Scientists and others to explore the ways of cooperation to help build science capacity in developing countries. Dr. Serageldin had been the key person for the creation of a Global Water Partnership (G.W.P) and was selected as its first Chairman. He had also been one of the founding members of the Board of Governors of the World Water Council. He was the Founder Chairman of the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP). He had been especially effective in mobilizing resources for scientific educational and cultural programmes. He was able to raise the funding of CGIAR by World Bank and U.S. Government from 220 million dollar in 1994 to 340 million in 1998.

Since obtaining Ph.D. on the contribution of education to development, he had maintained an active interest in connection with education and public policy. More notably, he mounted one of the largest research efforts on education, human resources and labour migration in the Middle East and North Africa Region with particular emphasis on labour migration.

His publications include over 35 books and monographs; 200 articles, book chapters and technical papers on various topics. He is trilingual (Arabic, French and English). Dr. Serageldin is a Foreign Fellow of Bangladesh Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Serageldin is an internationally reputed author on a remarkably wide range of subjects, including economic development, human resources, environment, architecture, urbanism, the Arab world, Islam etc.

Address: The Institute of Ismaili Studies, Aga Khan Centre,10 Handyside St, King's Cross, N1C 4DN, United Kingdom.