Sponsored: 10 Most Famous Arab American Scientists

posted on: Apr 29, 2021

Numerous fields, including businesses, sports, fine arts and entertainment, are marked with contributions of outstanding Arab American individuals. And science is no exception. Have a look at the list of the most successful Arab American scientists below.

Elias James Corey

E.J. Corey was born to Lebanese Greek Orthodox Christian immigrants. He earned both a bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. at MIT. Elias James Corey started working as a professor of chemistry at the age of 27 and then in 1959, he moved to Harvard University. He chose to work in organic chemistry as he believes that it has a unique “intrinsic beauty” and is “greatly relevant to human health”. Among Corey’s numerous awards, Corey got the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, the National Medal of Science, and the Priestley Medal. What’s more, he has been an advisor to the Pfizer company for more than 50 years.

Michael Ellis DeBakey (1908-2008)

Michael Ellis DeBakey was an outstanding vascular and cardiac surgeon, medical educator and scientist. He also worked as the chancellor emeritus of Baylor College of Medicine, was the director of the Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center, and a senior attending surgeon at Methodist Hospital in Houston. Can you just imagine that his career span was 75 years? Among his surgical innovations, you can see carotid endarterectomy, artificial hearts, and ventricular assist devices. Some of DeBakey’s honors are the National Medal of Science, the Congressional Gold Medal, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. 

Ahmed Hassan Zewail (1946-2016)

Ahmed Hassan Zewail was an Egyptian-American Chemistry scientist. He is widely known in the scientific world as the “father of femtochemistry”, the study of chemical reactions across femtoseconds, so he was awarded the Nobel Prize in for his achievements in this field. Zewail completed a PhD program at the University of California, Berkeley and was awarded a faculty appointment at the California Institute of Technology. Zewail worked as the Linus Pauling Chair Professor and was the director of the Physical Biology Center for Ultrafast Science.

Huda Yahya Zoghbi

Huda Yahya Zoghbi is a geneticist, a professor at the College of Medicine, and the director of the Duncan Neurological Research Institute. Thanks to her work, it became possible to define the genetic mechanisms that are responsible for various neurological disorders, including Rett syndrome and Spinocerebellar ataxia type 1. Basically, her scientific discoveries opened new ways of thinking about Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, autism, and intellectual disability. Her novel approach can result in more efficient disease treatments and therapeutics.

Omar M. Yaghi

Omar M. Yaghi is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of California and the Founding Director of the Berkeley Global Science Institute. Also, he is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences. Yaghi was a pioneer in reticular chemistry, a field devoted to bonding molecular building blocks, and in molecular weaving. In fact, he synthesized the very first material woven at both the atomic and molecular levels. Yaghi was honored by the Solid State Chemistry Award , the Newcomb Cleveland Prize of the American Association, and many other prestigious awards.

Farouk El-Baz

Farouk El-Baz is a space scientist and highly professional geologist. As he worked with NASA on the scientific exploration of the Moon and was a leading geologist on the Apollo program, El-Baz was responsible for identifying landing sites for Apollo as well as training astronauts in lunar photography and observations. His work is so important that it’s often described by professional essay writers for hire in different scientific journals. Currently, El-Baz is a Research Professor at Boston University, an Adjunct Professor of Geology at the Ain Shams University in Cairo, and the Director of the Center for Remote Sensing.

Anthony Atala

Anthony Atala is a bioengineer, urologist, and pediatric surgeon, whose work focuses on regenerative medicine aiming to refurbish damaged tissues using the body’s own cells. Dr. Atala is famous for creating the first 3D bioprinters and for being one of the leading figures in the field of organ printing. In collaboration with his team, Atala created the first lab-grown organ to be implanted, which is a bladder. For his scientific contributions, Atala received a lot of awards, including the World Technology Award in Health and Medicine, the Samuel D. Gross Prize, and the Barringer Medal.

Mounir Laroussi

Mounir Laroussi is highly respected for his work in plasma science. Actually, he is more focused on cold plasmas and their biomedical applications. His best-known invention is the Plasma Pencil, a device that can generate long plumes of low-temperature plasmas. Being a subject of wide media coverage, this tool is expected to be used in various biomedical applications. Some of his awards include the IEEE Millennium Medal, Excellence in Research Award from the Batten College of Engineering and Technology, and Research Achievement Award from Old Dominion University.

Yasmine Belkaid

Yasmine Belkaid, best known for studying host-microbe interactions in tissues and immune regulation to microbes, is a senior investigator at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and the director of the NIAID Microbiome program. Her research focuses on investigating the role of microbiota in promoting immunity against infection. Some of Belkaid’s awards are the Gold Medal by the International Union of Biochemistry and the Molecular Biology and Sanofi-Pasteur International Mid-career Award.

Mostafa A. El-Sayed

Being a chemical physicist, Mostafa A. El-Sayed is famous for the spectroscopy rule named after him. He is also a nanoscience researcher, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a US National Medal of Science Laureate, and former editor-in-chief of the Journal of Physical Chemistry. Together with his research group, El-Sayed contributed to numerous crucial areas of physical and materials chemistry. Now, he studies the use of steady-state and ultrafast laser spectroscopy and works on the development of some innovative techniques, including magnetophotonic selection, phosphorescence microwave double resonance spectroscopy, and picosecond Raman spectroscopy.

Author’s BIO

Joshua Robinson is a scientist and academic writer. Joshua works at one of the leading assignment services in the United States and helps students complete their college writing projects. Joshua enjoys his work as his expertise helps young people reach high academic results. He works as a guest contributor for Arab America, but is not an official member of Arab America’s writing team.

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