Mohamed Kassas, emeritus professor of Botany, University of Cairo, was bom on July 6, 1921, obtaneid his B. Sc. (Hons.) in 1994 and M. Sc. in 1947 from the University of Cairo, and Ph. D. in 1950 from the University of Cambridge (U.K.)
In Egypt, he is member of the Egyptian Academy of Science and the institut d'Egypte. Internationally, the is past Presidente (1978-1984) of the World Conservation Union (UCN), fellow of the Indian Academy of Science, the World Academy of Art and Science, and member of the Clube of Rome.
His principal research interests during the last 60 years are in plant ecology, especiallu ind arid land. He and his students plant life in the deserts and coastal lands of Egypt, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq, and contributed to the basic understanding of the ecology and conservation of the desert vegetation. He was among the pioneers who warned the qorld against hazards of desetification an contributed to the UNESCO Arid Lands Researc Programe (1950-1960) including the ecological maps of the Mediterranean Basin) and to the scientific preparation for the United Nations Enviroment Programme (UNNEP) between 1973 and 1992. Ne is on the editorial boards of several international journal in fields of ecology and environmental sciences.
Professor Kassa received the folowing national honours: The First Order of Sciences and Arts (1959), The Order of the Republic (1978) The First Order of Merit (1981), The State Scienze Prize (1982), was appointed member of the Shura Council (second house of the Egyptian Parliament), (1981-2001), and Honorary Doctorate, University Assiut, Egypt (1994), International honours include: Golden Order of Education (Sudan, 1978), United Nations Prize for Enviroment (1978), the Arab League Educational, cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) Gold Medal (1978), Commander in the Order of the Golden Ark (the Netherlands, 1981) Honorary Doctorate from the Swedish Agricultural University, Upssala (1985), Commander: The Swedish Royal Order of the Polar Star (1998), and the Zayed (UAE) International Prize Environment (2001), Honorary Doctorate, University of Khartoum (Sudan), 2003.
