Abdul Karim Wardi

Iraqi engineer and founder of the Arab world's first computer science program in the 1950s

Abdul Karim Wardi (1916-1997) pioneered computer science education in the Arab world, establishing the first computer science department at the University of Baghdad in 1956. A visionary engineer, he designed the first Arabic-language computer system in 1964, overcoming technical challenges of adapting ASCII systems to Arabic script. His work laid the foundation for modern computing in the Middle East. Learn more.

Wardi's innovations included developing the first Arabic word processor and creating algorithms for Arabic typography. He also founded the Arab Computer Society in 1968, which trained over 1,000 engineers across the region. His textbook Computer Science Fundamentals (1962) became a standard in Middle Eastern universities. Despite political instability, he maintained his university's computing facilities through the 1970s, ensuring technological continuity in the region.