The Faculty of Mathematical Sciences and Informatics

The story so far

1902
Gordon Memorial College opens
On 8 November 1902, Gordon Memorial College opens in Khartoum, in the red-brick building that is now the university's main library.
Under construction, 1901J. B. Christopherson · public domain
1939
A School of Science
The college adds higher schools, among them Science and Engineering. Mathematics is taught within Science.
Gordon College, 1936Matson Photo Service, Library of Congress · public domain
1952
A mathematics department
The British geometer Daniel Pedoe becomes head of mathematics in Khartoum, for about seven years. He writes The Gentle Art of Mathematics and Circles here.
1956
Independence, and a university
Sudan becomes independent on 1 January 1956. On 24 July, University College Khartoum becomes the University of Khartoum.
Ismail al-Azhari raises the flag, 1 January 1956Sudan Films Unit · public domain
1965–68
A school of its own
Back from Leeds and Oxford, Mohamed El-Amin El-Tom helps establish the School of Mathematical Sciences, مدرسة العلوم الرياضية.
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The year it opened
Which year did the school take its first students, who was its first dean, and why did mathematics leave the Faculty of Science?
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1978
Khartoum hosts the world
From 6 to 9 March, the school hosts the International Conference on Developing Mathematics in Third World Countries, chaired by El-Tom.
1982–86
Deans who went on to lead science
Ibrahim Eltayeb is dean from 1982 to 1984, then Mohamed H. A. Hassan from 1985 to 1986. Hassan had already founded TWAS, the World Academy of Sciences.
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Computing arrives
Joint degrees in mathematics and computer science came first, then a Computer Science department, then Information Technology. When did each begin?
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“and Informatics”
The School became the Faculty of Mathematical Sciences, and later the Faculty of Mathematical Sciences and Informatics. When did the names change?
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2023
The war
War reaches Khartoum in April. The campus is occupied and damaged, and students and staff scatter across Sudan and the world. Teaching moves online.
2024
Exams again, wherever we are
In April 2024 the faculty is among the first eleven to hold exams again, at centres in Riyadh, Cairo, Kassala and Atbara. The 2023 and 2024 intakes now study together as one class.

People who built it

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Mohamed El-Amin El-Tom

محمد الأمين أحمد التوم

1962–1968

Helped establish the School of Mathematical Sciences

Co-founded the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, and became Sudan's Minister of Education in 2019.

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Ibrahim Eltayeb

إبراهيم عبد الرزاق الطيب

Dean, 1982–1984

Lecturer from 1972, professor from 1980

Studies the Earth's deep interior. TWAS Prize in Mathematics, 1995; Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Mohamed H. A. Hassan

محمد حاج علي حاج الحسن

Dean, 1985–1986

Professor of mathematics

Founding director of TWAS, president of the African Academy of Sciences, Foreign Member of the Royal Society.

Daniel Pedoe

دانيال بيدو

1952–c. 1959

Head of mathematics, before the school existed

A geometer whose books are still read; he went on to Singapore and Minnesota.

Who else belongs here? We're still missing the first dean and most of the deans since. Tell us

What you can study

Five departments: Pure Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science and Information Technology. Students graduate in one of these programmes.