Hussein Ahmed Kamel

He was born in Cairo, Egypt, in June 1934. His childhood in Cairo and elsewhere in Egypt instilled a lifelong passion for learning and travel—especially in Germany and the rest of Europe. He was one of the top High School students in all of Egypt, which enabled him to study Aerospace Engineering at Cairo University, where he did well enough to get a government scholarship to graduate school at Imperial College in London.

He met the love of his life, Doris Fischer, in London. They bonded over their mutual appreciation for each other’s culture and language and continued to share this throughout their long and happy marriage.

Upon receiving his Ph.D. in the emerging field of Finite Elements Analysis, he followed his mentor, Dr. Argyris, to Stuttgart, (West) Germany, where they established an institute to develop computerized methods for performing the large-scale calculations required to predict the stresses of aircraft in flight and cargo ship hulls at sea. He and Doris were married in Stuttgart in 1964 and emigrated from Germany to take a faculty position at the University of Arizona in 1967. While at U of A, he taught, advised, and mentored countless students until his retirement in 1992. He and Doris went on to spend 3 years in the United Arab Emirates, where he helped to establish a graduate research program, and served as Dean of Graduate Studies. They returned to Tucson, where he continued to teach and mentor students as Professor Emeritus, while also becoming active in the Austrian Club, tutoring refugee students in Math, working post 9/11 to improve relations and understanding between the Islamic community and those of other faiths, and doorbelling for Gabrielle Giffords.

He spent many of his summers and sabbatical years consulting with Boeing, NASA, the American Bureau of Shipping, and the Army Corps of Engineers, to name just a few. He used these engagements to travel with his family around the US, Europe, Egypt, and the Middle East, providing his children with numerous formative experiences: summer weekends at Colonial Williamsburg, fall weekends at the Smithsonian Institution, the interior of the Great Pyramid of Khufu, living in Paris, and learning French at the Sorbonne and the Lycée Internationale.

He was extremely gregarious and made friends easily. He loved to debate the issues of the day with anyone who would dare engage him and was an avid reader of history and non-fiction in general. He was a proud Egyptian and faithful (if not always observant) follower of Islam. He had a remarkable (and occasionally dubious) ability to trace every invention, discovery, and philosophy in Western history back to its true origin in Ancient Egypt or elsewhere in the Arab world. He was one of the founding members of the Islamic Center of Tucson and helped secure funding to establish its first location in a house on the U of A campus.

He leaves behind his dear sister Heba, and his children Hakim, who resides in Seattle, and Hassan, who resides in Tucson, and who was instrumental in providing care and companionship to Hussein as he struggled with advanced Alzheimer’s disease in his last few years. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife Doris, his sister Soheir, and his brothers Bakr and Mahmoud.

He was laid to rest at East Lawn Palms Cemetery in Tucson on Monday, February 19, alongside his true love.

The family asks that donations to the Alzheimer’s Association be made in Hussein's honor, in lieu of flowers or other gifts. Donations can be made by phone at 866-232-8484, or online at https://alzfdn.org/donate/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiArrCvBhCNARIsAOkAGcX_T_54JSuTy4vEdasPm-gLtpoIxvf70NkCeymfxEGR5t91gaAtTiYaAgC9EALw_wcB