Obituaries

Naziruddin Ali passes

By Dr. Azher Qauder

CHICAGO, IL–Br. Naziruddin Ali passed away Dec 1, 2006 in Chicago, leaving behind a grief-struck community of family and friends. He had a life-long association with ISNA and its predecessor MSA. Many of us knew him as the quiet and unassuming general manager of the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT), where he supervised and monitored the financial world of ISNA and its many affiliated institutions spread across the country. He was a founding member of MSA, served as chair of some of the early conventions and rose to be the President of the Association before taking the responsibility of NAIT.

A man driven with missionary zeal, he quit his engineering career early on to dedicate his life to Islam in America. A tireless worker, a sincere friend, and a person of impeccable integrity, his word was dependable, his promise was always kept. He spoke little, smiled a lot, remained humble inspite of his numerous accomplishments. A man of deep convictions, he lived a disciplined life, making no compromises in matters of faith. He showed us to show gratitude in abundance and in scarcity. He lived modestly, practiced moderation, taught us to live with dignity and grace, enduring pain and persevering with patience.

We will miss him at the Juma prayers at MECCA where he was regularly present. We will miss him at the Ramadan etekaf in MCC where he was always to be seen. We will miss him at the ISNA conventions where he was always everywhere.

As we bid him farewell we salute him for his many successes in life, for his many contributions to our community and for the many sacrifices he made to secure the faith we love in this land we now call our home. May Allah grant him a place in Paradise and may He give to his family and loved ones, patience to bear the loss.

Computer graphics expert Prof.Alameldin passes away

FRESNO, CA–Tarek Alameldin, a California State University, Fresno professor of computer science who was internationally recognized for his expertise in computer graphics, died Nov. 6 in his Fresno home, the university announced Thursday. He was 43. The cause of death was not made public.

Mr. Alameldin, who joined the Fresno State faculty in 1990, also was assistant to the dean for research and development in the College of Science and Mathematics. The College of Science and Mathematics will host a memorial service at a date to be announced.

“Tarek was a faculty member of great vision and imagination, always looking for new opportunities for his students,” says Walter Read, chairman of Computer Science Department. “He was a good colleague and a good friend and will be missed.”

Mr. Alameldin began his research and teaching career in 1983. While at Texas A&M, he had the distinction of being a founding faculty member in the first-of-its-kind Ph.D. program in scientific visualization.

He was active in developing computer science related grants in applied parallel processing, scientific visualization, facial modeling and animation. At Fresno State, he successfully received grants from the National Science Foundation for research on scientific visualization and virtual design environment. He also applied to numerous grants with U.S. Department of Education-FIPSE, the Army Research Office and private corporations.

He also was published in many peer-reviewed publications.

Before coming to Fresno State, he taught at Widener University, the University of Pennsylvania and Texas A&M. He was a NASA Research Fellow in the 1995-96 academic year.

He was born in Cairo, Egypt, and did his undergraduate work there in computer engineering. He did his doctoral work at Penn, where he worked under Norman Badler, the leading American researcher in computer graphics.

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