Portrait of Ahmed Zewail

Birthday profile

Ahmed Zewail

Ahmed Zewail, Egyptian-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2016)

Born
February 26, 1946
Died
August 2, 2016
Zodiac sign
Pisces
Birth year
1946

About Ahmed Zewail

Ahmed Hassan Zewail (Arabic: أَحْمَد حَسَن زُوَيْل; February 26, 1946 – August 2, 2016) was an Egyptian-American chemist, known as the "father of femtochemistry". He was awarded the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on femtochemistry and became the first Egyptian and Arab to win a Nobel Prize in a scientific field, and the first African to win a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He was a professor of chemistry and physics at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), where he was the first Caltech faculty member to be named the Linus Pauling Chair of Chemical Physics and was the director of the Physical Biology Center for Ultrafast Science and Technology. == Early life and education == Ahmed Hassan Zewail was born on February 26, 1946, in Damanhur, Egypt, and was raised in Desouk. He received bachelor's and master's degrees in chemistry from Alexandria University before moving to the United States to complete his PhD at the University of Pennsylvania under the supervision of Robin M. Hochstrasser. == Career == After completing his PhD, Zewail did postdoctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley, supervised by Charles B. Harris. Following this, he was awarded a faculty appointment at the California Institute of Technology in 1976, and eventually became the first Linus Pauling Chair in Chemical Physics there. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States on March 5, 1982. Zewail was the director of the Physical Biology Center for Ultrafast Science and Technology at the California Institute of Technology. Zewail was nominated and participated in President Barack Obama's Presidential Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), an advisory group of the nation's leading scientists and engineers to advise the President and Vice President and formulate policy in the areas of science, technology, and innovation.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Career and life highlights

Ahmed Zewail timeline

  1. Following this, he was awarded a faculty appointment at the California Institute of Technology in 1976, and eventually became the first Linus Pauling Chair in Chemical Physics there.
  2. In 1999, Zewail became the first Egyptian to receive a science Nobel Prize when he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
  3. He was awarded the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on femtochemistry and became the first Egyptian and Arab to win a Nobel Prize in a scientific field, and also the first African to win a Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

The world when Ahmed Zewail was born

Ahmed Zewail was born in 1946. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1946

  • #1 song"The Christmas Song" – Nat King Cole
  • Top movieThe Best Years of Our Lives
  • Best-selling bookThe King's General – Daphne du Maurier

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentFirst NBA (BAA) season begins
  • Top headlineUnited Nations General Assembly holds its first session
  • Technology milestoneENIAC — first general-purpose electronic computer
  • Defining fadBaby boom begins
  • Notable inventionTupperware
  • World population2.43 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderHarry S. Truman
  • Sports championSt. Louis Cardinals (World Series)
  • U.S. population141.4M

1946 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Ahmed Zewail's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19462026
Gas$0.21$3.45/gal
Average home$6,600$435,000
Average income$4,300$67,500
Minimum wage$0.40$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.35$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population141.4M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Library of Congress, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.