Ahmed Ahmed, PhD.
PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (Aug. 12, 2025) – Prairie View A&M University professor Dr. Ahmed Ahmed still keeps the numerous thank-you emails and letters he receives from former students. One such message from a former graduate student, Kritika Singh, Class of 2022, captures heartfelt gratitude: “You not only made it fun to learn but also made it an exciting class to attend.”
Ahmed, an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science, was honored with the PVAMU Faculty Service Award, an achievement that reflects his dedication to education, research, and student mentorship.
Since joining PVAMU in 2017, Ahmed has played a dynamic role on campus as an educator, academic adviser, research supervisor, and committee member. He has published more than 50 peer-reviewed papers and secured millions in research funding, including a $300k award from the National Science Foundation in 2023 to enhance Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) research and education capabilities at PVAMU.
“Teaching is very important for students as it plays a pivotal role in shaping their future by providing them with the knowledge, skills, and guidance they need to thrive,” Ahmed said. “My teaching approach is to train students with real-world applications and strengthen their hands-on skills. This will help students meet the latest workforce requirements after graduation and enrich their learning environment.”
Ahmed is passionate about empowering students through both classroom instruction and extracurricular engagement. In 2021, he established a Special Interest Group for the IoT, which has drawn hundreds of students to participate in hands-on projects. He also incorporates live programming demonstrations in his graduate courses to teach programming from scratch and help students understand how different languages can be used to achieve the same outcomes.
PVAMU Faculty Award recipients with the University Provost and President
He prides himself on using history, real-life examples, and analogies to make computer science more relatable and accessible. “I believe PVAMU is a perfect place to succeed as a faculty. It provides enormous opportunities for me to build my career in teaching, research, and service,” he said. “As one of the best HBCUs in Texas, it helped me to secure several multi-millions of external research grants from federal funding agencies and industry.”
Ahmed’s global educational journey began in Cairo, Egypt, his hometown, where he earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in computer science from Cairo University. He was inspired by the Egyptian revolution during the Arab Spring in 2011 to pursue doctoral studies abroad and explore innovative teaching methods. “To explore a new horizon in research and learn about the state-of-the-art in delivering university-level classes,” he said.
In 2017, he completed his PhD at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, where he also gained experience as a teacher’s assistant and received further instructional training at the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning. Encouraged by a mentor in Cairo to further his academic journey in North America, Ahmed embraced the idea that teaching is a craft—one to be continually refined and mastered.
Ahmed remains committed to serving underrepresented students and inspiring them to innovate. His long-term vision is “to establish a path for sharing knowledge among peers and students,” stimulating their ideas and “ensuring that the field of computer science education grows and prospers.”
By Christine Won
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