Prof. Dr. Hafez Shams Al-Din Abdel-Wahab Othman is a Professor of Minerals and Rocks Department of Geology - Faculty of Science - Ain Shams University, Member of Academy of the Arabic Language in Cairo.

Prof. Dr. Hafez Shams Al-Din is a scholar of Ain Shams University. Born in October 1, 1943, Sherbin, Dakahlia, holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and Geology with honors from the Faculty of Science, Assiut University in 1964, a master's degree in geology - metallurgy and geochemistry - Faculty of Science - Assiut University 1968, a Ph.D. in Science - Rock and Minerals - University of London - England 1971. In addition, he holds a postgraduate degree and a diploma in Advanced Geology from the Royal College of Science, Medicine and Technology - University of London – England and a fellowship from the School of Environmental Studies, University of Pennsylvania, USA.

Career progression

Prof. Dr. Hafez was a professor of geochemistry and mineralogy of rocks at the Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University. He was then head of the Department of Natural and Biological Sciences at the Institute of Environmental Studies and Research, Ain Shams University, and Head of Geology Division, Faculty of Education, Banha University.
Shams Al-Din has many experiences and membership committees, where he was appointed an expert to cultural policies and cultural diversity in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), chosen as an expert Arabic Language Academy in 1987. He was elected as a member of the Egyptian Academy of Sciences (Lifetime Membership). He was elected as a member of the Arabic Language Academy, as a Rapporteur of the Scientific Culture Committee of the Supreme Council of Culture to date, Chairman of the Non-Cultural Heritage Committee, Member of the Youth Committee of the National Commission for UNESCO. He was a member of the Geological Society of America, member of the British Geological Society, member of the National Committee for History and Philosophy of Science, Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, Member of the Board of Directors of the Egyptian Society for the Arabization of Science.He is a member of the Writers Union Association.
Professor Hafez was the editor of the MAP for Man and the Biosphere, which was published by UNESCO. He participated in the editing of many encyclopedias (Knowledge Circuits) in Jordan, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

The first Arabic encyclopedia

In Egypt, Dr. Hafez was the editor of the first Arabic encyclopedia of the Arab world, and was the editor of the Egyptian Encyclopedia of the famous Egyptians of the 19th and 20th Centuries, published by the University of Alexandria.
Hafiz is the arbitrator of the State Encouragement Awards in Basic Sciences, the State Awards in Environmental Sciences and the Simplification of Science at the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology. He is the arbitrator of the State Awards in Educational Technology and the State Prizes in Scientific Culture and Child Culture at the Supreme Council of Culture.
Dr. Hafez Shams Al-Din reviewed and modified the geology and environmental sciences curriculum in the government book for high school students commissioned by the Minister of Education. He also put the geology and environment exam for secondary school students in Arabic and English for many years.

Awards

Dr. Hafez won many awards, in 2013; he won the State Prize from the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology for Simplifying Science. In 2015, he won the State Encouragement Prize in Scientific Culture from the Supreme Council of Culture. In 1997 he received the Best Research Award in Earth Sciences from the University of Pennsylvania, in 2006 won the award of the best translated scientific book from Egypt.
He has several posts in the supervision of scientific letters and arbitration, where he supervised 12 doctoral dissertations in the fields of sedimentary rocks, radioactive metals, water geology, geochemistry, rocks, environmental sciences, archeology and technology of metal applications in industry and economics. He also supervised 14 master's degrees, and PhD in various Egyptian and Arab universities.
Dr. Hafez is also a lecturer in several international scientific journals specialized in geology and environmental sciences. He participated in the arbitration of promotion committees for the degree of professor of geology at the universities of Egypt, Iraq, Algeria, Libya and Saudi Arabia.

Research projects and conferences

Dr. Hafez Shams Al-Din contributed to scientific publishing, conferences and research projects. He published more than 45 scientific researches in various geological fields. He participated in many local, regional and international conferences as well as many research projects. He wrote biographies of some of Egypt's leading scientists, where it was published in the first volume of "Scientists of Egypt" in 2016 issued by the Egyptian Union of Scientists.

National projects

He has contributed to national projects, setting standards for the faculties of science in Egypt (the Supreme Council of Universities), developing science curricula in secondary education (Ministry of Education), planning and active participation in non-cultural heritage projects (National Commission for UNESCO). He also contributed to outstanding efforts in the exploration studies inside the Great Pyramid, the restoration of the Sphinx, the monastery of the Royal Monastery (Queen Hatshepsut), the Nefertiti cemetery in Luxor, and the exploration of the second sun boats next to the Great Pyramid, where he was a member of the Standing Committee of Egyptian Antiquities for five years.
Dr. Hafez has also worked as a senior advisor to an international mineral wealth company for the exploration, exploration and exploitation of non-metallic minerals such as glass sands and gypsum, as well as rocks used in the cement, ceramics and metal industry industries.
Among his books and translations are "Simplification of Geology", "Tsunami", "Thermal Earth Energy" and "Scientific Thinking and Knowledge Industry".
From his translations of William Maitus's "The Simple in Geology" to Peter Westbrook, he conducted scientific scrutiny and linguistic revision from French to Arabic for five large parts of the Encyclopedia of Egypt, written by French campaign scientists and published by the General Book Authority.