Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Majid Ighbariya (1958-2002),
information systems scientist. His full name is Majid Hardan Igbaria, an Arab
of 48. He was a professor at Tel Aviv University. He was born to poor parents
in the village of Muawiyah, near the city of Umm al-Fahm, Palestine, on
February 16, 1958 AD, and died on August 3, 2002 AD. During his short life,
when he died at the age of 44, he obtained two professorship degrees and made
research achievements in the field of information systems that made him one of
the most prominent researchers in this field at all, in addition to obtaining a
number of his research papers awards for the best research paper in their
fields. Starting in 2004, the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) has
named the Best Research Paper Award in the field of information systems after
his name.
his life and attributes
His mother died in 1967 AD, and
although he was not the eldest brother in his family, he assumed the
responsibility of supporting his brothers, so he went out to work in
construction, and his age was not more than 14 years old. This is to contribute
to spending on his five brothers and seven sisters.
His brother, Hatem Ighbariya, or Abu
Alou, described him as being kind and sympathetic to his brothers and sisters,
and that he was a role model for everyone.
His teacher and friend, Dr. Hatem
Mahamid, described him as a genius in school, and he was long silent and
calm-tempered, and would not speak unless someone asked him.
He was described by his peers and
acquaintances as very humble about his scientific achievements, tall, simple
and gentle.
His friends and colleagues said
about him that he loved football from a young age, and he used to play it with his
schoolmates in his village Muawiya, and that when he broke his leg, he
continued to follow the game; His American friends also confirmed his love for
the American football game after he traveled to study in America, where one of
his fellow American professors says: “I have been interested in the game of
football for thirty years, watching the matches and knowing all the teams, the
most famous players, all the laws related to the game and the arrangement of
teams in the league regulations. As for Majid, after only three months of
living in America, he knew all this information and much more than me.”
Says his friend, Dr. Hatem Mahameed,
on the authority of Professor Majid Abu Alou, that he was conservative and keen
to establish prayer in the mosque at all times, and that he used to advise his
family and relatives to pray as his last will in his life.
He got married in 1999 AD, and he
has one son, whom he called “Muhammad.” He treated his wife well and shared
with her the burdens of the house and the upbringing of their young son. His
friend, Dr. Hatem Mahamid, before his death, said that he was very kind and
tender towards his son, and that he did not bother his wife to carry their
crying son when she was busy managing the house.
His close friend and lawyer, Hussein
Abu Hussein, described his will as iron and that it helped him fight his
illness with strength and stamina in the last days of his life. Also, the
doctors were surprised at how he used to get up every time from the surgery
that was performed on him, and then return to his teaching work directly. As he
was always an optimistic person, he did not complain about his illness or say a
word.
His knowledge and work
After he finished his high school
studies, he was forced, due to his difficult economic conditions, to drop out
of school to work in the field of construction. Then he returned to study in
1978 AD to complete his academic career at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
He holds a Bachelor's degree with
distinction from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, majoring in Statistics and
Economics.
A year after obtaining his
bachelor's degree, he was appointed as a teaching assistant at the same
university he graduated from.
He completed his studies at the
Hebrew University to obtain a Master's degree in Business Administration.
At the age of twenty-four, he
received a scholarship from Tel Aviv University to obtain a Ph.D. in
information systems.
After obtaining a Ph.D. from Tel
Aviv University, he was invited as a visiting professor to lecture at the University
of Hawaii in the United States, then as a lecturer at the University of
Brussels in Philadelphia for four years, and in those years he spent as a
lecturer in American universities he was awarded the title of Professor.
After Prof. Majid Ighbariya obtained
his Ph.D. with honors in a short period of time, his star began to shine, so he
contracted with an American research company and moved between American
universities working as a teacher and scientific researcher.
Professor Majed Ighbariya was ranked
internationally as the first researcher in the year 1997 AD in the field of
information systems.
Professor Majed Ighbaria chaired 17
international conferences on information systems, which helped spread his name
globally.
Obtained a number of first positions
in the fields of scientific research since 1991 AD; His research has been
monitored in international studies.
Since 1996, he has moved between the
Israeli Tel Aviv University and the American Claremont University.
In 1998, he joined the academic
staff of Tel Aviv University, and is considered the only Arab who has obtained
the status of a member of the scientific staff of Tel Aviv University, which is
entitled to approve doctoral theses.
He headed some departments in the
Faculty of Management at Tel Aviv University, the most recent of which was the
head of the Information Systems Department
He occupied the first position as
the most published researcher in the field of information systems in the period
from 1981 AD to 1991 AD.
He was reclassified again to be the
most productive researcher in his field for the period from 1991 to 1997, and
the difference always seemed great between Professor Majed Igbaria and the
researchers who followed him.
In the recent study conducted by the
AIS Journal of Information Systems, entitled “An Evaluation of Research
Productivity in the Academic Field of Information Technology,” the number of
his published researches reached 23, with an evaluation score of 10.58, while
the number of researches that followed him directly reached 13 published
researches, with an evaluation score of 6.5.
Majed was classified according to
the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth and many magazines as one of the 10 most
influential personalities in the world.
his illness
In October of the year 1996 AD,
Professor Majed Ighbariya was taken to the hospital because he felt pain in his
legs, and it was then revealed that he had health problems in his back.
Through examinations and x-rays, it
was found that there were cancerous tumors in his spine, as a result of which,
after two weeks, he underwent surgery. Then the doctor told him that he would
live for three months at most.
Three weeks after his surgery, he
returned to teaching, and then had to return to Palestine for another operation
at Ichilov Hospital.
He underwent seven surgeries since
1996, which did not prevent him from completing his teaching career.
Two months before his admission to
the hospital in Claremont on July 18, 2002, his health began to deteriorate, and
he was placed in a sick bed with the help of artificial respirators and a lot
of narcotic drugs, until he passed away on August 3, 2002.
source
Achievements and Awards
- Years in active
: From
To