Ahmed Mohamed El Hassan
Who was Ahmed Mohamed El Hassan?
Sudanese professor of pathology
Biographical data adapted from Wikipedia’s article on Ahmed Mohamed El Hassan (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Biography
Ahmed Mohamed El Hassan (Arabic: أحمد محمد الحسن; 10 April 1930 – 10 November 2022) was a Sudanese professor of pathology, physician, politician, and writer, whose career spanned over fifty years. Born in Berber, Sudan, he became one of the country's top medical scientists, particularly known for his work in tropical and infectious diseases. He passed away in Khartoum on 10 November 2022 at the age of ninety-two.
El Hassan started his medical education at the University of Khartoum and then continued his studies in the UK at the University of London and the University of Edinburgh, earning a PhD in 1965. This strong background in clinical medicine and research set him up for a career that combined academic science, leadership, and public health. He became a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists in 1964 and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London in 1974, showing the respect he earned from his colleagues.
Returning to Sudan, El Hassan led the Department of Pathology at the University of Khartoum from 1966 to 1969 and was Dean of the Faculty of Medicine from 1969 to 1971. He briefly worked in government as head of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research from 1971 to 1972, showing his involvement with national policy. He later became president of the Medical Research Council from 1972 to 1977. During this time, he also helped establish the Department of Pathology at King Faisal University in Saudi Arabia and the Institute of Medical Laboratory Technology in Sudan.
El Hassan’s most lasting contribution was as Founding Director of the Institute of Endemic Diseases at the University of Khartoum, a role he held from 1993 to 2000. He also helped establish the Sudanese National Academy of Sciences from 2005 to 2011 and served as president of the Sudanese Cancer Society from 2008 to 2009. His research on diseases like leishmaniasis and schistosomiasis influenced both local public health practices and global understanding of tropical diseases.
In recognition of his work, El Hassan received many awards. The World Health Organization gave him the Dr A.T. Shousha Foundation Prize and Fellowship in 1987. The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene awarded him the Donald Mackay Medal in 1996, the same year he became a Fellow of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS). In 2017, he received the Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences. The Sudanese government gave him its highest orders of merit, and a tropical medicine center in Al Qadarif was named after him. He was also part of the Sudanese National Academy of Sciences.
Before Fame
Ahmed Mohamed El Hassan was born on April 10, 1930, in Berber, a city in northern Sudan along the Nile. He grew up during the last years of the Anglo-Egyptian rule, a time when access to higher education for Sudanese people was limited, and the medical field was mainly run by foreign-trained administrators. The University of Khartoum, which started as Gordon Memorial College in 1902 and became a university in 1956, was one of the few places where Sudanese could train to become doctors. El Hassan began his medical education there.
His choice to travel to the United Kingdom for further training made him one of the Sudanese intellectuals who sought advanced education abroad around the time of Sudanese independence in 1956. After completing his PhD at the University of Edinburgh in 1965 and becoming a fellow of two Royal Colleges, he was highly qualified at a time when Sudan was urgently developing its own academic and public health systems. His decision to return to Khartoum, instead of staying in Britain or looking for opportunities elsewhere, led to a career focused on building institutions in his home country.
Key Achievements
- Founded and directed the Institute of Endemic Diseases at the University of Khartoum (1993–2000), advancing research into tropical infectious diseases in Sudan
- Served as Founding Director of the Sudanese National Academy of Sciences (2005–2011), helping establish the country's premier scientific body
- Received the Donald Mackay Medal (1996) from the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and the WHO Shousha Prize (1987) for contributions to tropical medicine
- Elected Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists (1964) and Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London (1974), as well as TWAS Fellow (1996)
- Led Sudan's Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and the Medical Research Council, shaping national science and health policy in the 1970s
Did You Know?
- 01.The tropical medicine centre in Al Qadarif state, Sudan, was named after El Hassan in recognition of his research on diseases endemic to that region.
- 02.El Hassan completed his PhD at the University of Edinburgh in 1965, just nine years after Sudanese independence, when his country was actively constructing its national academic institutions.
- 03.He held Fellowship of the Royal College of Pathologists from 1964, a distinction conferred a full decade before he was also elected Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London in 1974.
- 04.El Hassan was a founding director of three separate institutions: the Institute of Endemic Diseases, the Sudanese National Academy of Sciences, and the Sudanese Cancer Society.
- 05.His 2017 Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences came thirty years after his 1987 WHO Shousha Prize, reflecting a career recognised internationally across multiple generations.
Awards & Honors
| Award | Year | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Donald Mackay Medal | 1996 | — |
| Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences | 2017 | — |
| Dr A.T. Shousha Foundation Prize and Fellowship | 1987 | — |
| TWAS fellow | 1996 | — |
| Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London | 1974 | — |
| Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists | 1964 | — |
| Member of the Sudanese National Academy of Sciences | — | — |