Ahmed K. Elmagarmid

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Dr Ahmed K. Elmagarmid (born 1954) is a computer scientist, academic and executive. He is the founding executive director of Qatar Computing Research Institute, a national research institute under Hamad bin Khalifa University, a member of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development. Since his appointment in 2010, Elmagarmid has focused on large-scale computing challenges that address national priorities for growth and development of Qatar.^[1][2][3] The computer research community, especially the database research recognizes the important role he has played at international level by creating data-centric research institution like QCRI^[4] and building it into an internationally reputed research institute.

At QCRI, Elmagarmid started the Qatar Computing Research Institute-CSAIL research collaboration with MIT in 2012 with the objective of exchange of expertise between QCRI and MIT-CSAIL scientists and joint knowledge creation.^[5] Building up on the Artificial Intelligence (AI) expertise developed through this QCRI-CSAIL collaboration and various other AI projects at QCRI, he started a new center for AI within the institute.^[6] Under Elmagarmid's oversight and leadership, the Qatar Center for AI (QCAI) has produced a blueprint for the "National AI Strategy for Qatar".^[7] Realizing the potential of AI and data science to impact all aspects of life and society, Elmagarmid has been promoting the transformation of higher education towards more AI/data science based education.^[8]

Before joining the Qatar Foundation, Elmagarmid held a number of posts in academia and industry. He was an associate then a full Professor of Computer Science at Purdue University, where he was involved in teaching and research for 22 years, and a director of the Purdue Cyber Center.^[9]

He served as a Chief Scientist for Hewlett-Packard's office of Strategy and Technology. He also has worked with or consulted for Telcordia Technologies (formerly known as Bell Communications Research), Bellcore, IBM, CSC, Harris Corporation, D. H. Brown and Associates, MCC, Bell Northern Research, Molecular Design Labs, SOGEI (Italy) and UniSql.

Elmagarmid serves as the Vice Chair of the IT Executive Committee of Sidra Medical and Research Center and is on the board of directors at MEEZA. He is a member of the executive committee of Kasra (formerly MENAPOST) and Qatar National Library. He is a founding member of the Qatar Genome Project Committee as well as the Sidra External Scientific Advisory Council.^[10]

Elmagarmid is a recipient of the Presidential Young Investigator Award from US President Ronald Reagan. He is an IEEE Fellow, an ACM Fellow and an AAAS Fellow. The University of Dayton and Ohio State University have both named him among their distinguished alumni. He has chaired and served on several program committees and editorial boards.^[11]

He has also authored six books and more than 180 papers, and has run several well-funded research programs. ^[12]