Dr. Farouk El-Baz is is a research professor and director of the Center for Remote Sensing at Boston University in Massachusetts. He is an adjunct professor of geology at the Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt. Dr. El-Baz had previously served on the CRDF Global Advisory Council.

Throughout his career, Dr. El-Baz has succeeded in conveying the excitement of scientific research and the importance of using advanced technology. One of his efforts resolved the 1995 controversy about the crowd size in Washington DC's "Million Man March". He estimated the number of participants in the march using the same computer techniques applied to counting sand dunes in the desert. His findings alleviated shortages of ground water in areas of dire need. This won him the M.T. Halbouty Human Needs Award of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG). He was also appointed Senior Advisor to the World Bank/UN World Commission on Water for the 21st Century.

Dr. El-Baz is well known as a pioneer in the application of space-borne data to ground-water exploration. He utilizes satellite images to identify fracture zones, and radar data to reveal sand-buried courses of former rivers. He successfully applied these methods in the arid lands of Egypt, Somalia, Sudan and Oman.

Dr. El-Baz received a B.Sc. in chemistry and geology from Ain Shams University, followed by a scholarship for graduate study. In 1961, he received a M.S. degree in geology from the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy; his performance won him membership in the honorary society of Sigma Xi. In 1964 he received a Ph.D. in geology from the University of Missouri after conducting research in 1962-1963 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge MA. In 1989, he received an Honorary Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) degree from the New England College, Henniker NH.

Dr. El-Baz is an accomplished author or editor of 12 books, including Say it in Arabic, The Moon as Viewed by Lunar Orbiter, Apollo Over the Moon, Egypt as Seen by Landsat, Deserts and Arid Lands, The Gulf War and the Environment, and Atlas of the State of Kuwait from Satellite Images. He has contributed over 200 scientific papers to professional journals, supervised numerous graduate students, and lectured in academic institutions and research centers worldwide.

He has won numerous honors and awards, including NASA's Apollo Achievement Award, Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal, and Special Recognition Award; the University of Missouri Alumni Achievement Award for Extraordinary Scientific Accomplishments; the Certificate of Merit of the World Aerospace Education Organization; the Golden Door Award of the International Institute of Boston; the Award for Public understanding of Science and Technology of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Arab Republic of Egypt Order of Merit - First Class. He also serves as President of the Arab Society for Desert Research. He is also a member of the board of trustees of the Geological Society of America Foundation, Boulder CO.