Prominent refugee: "Calculus"

Wednesday 12 January 2011

Philip Emeagwali aka Calculus

Profession: Computer Scientist
Country of origin: Nigeria
Country of asylum: USA
Date of Birth: 23/08/1954

     Called the Bill Gates of Africa this "father of the internet" is a computing superbrain that spent years of his childhood in a refugee camp and now he is one of the greatest minds of the information Age.

     Since early age he proved to be extraordinary with maths, and in the 5th grade his teacher allowed him to take over the class.
     Later on his life, a fight between the government and the ethnic Ibo population lead the country to a civil war, and Philip spent most of the war period in a refugee camp.
     In 1974 Philip went to USA on a scholarship with 140 dolars in his pocket. Fifteen years later he graduated in maths, civil, coastal and marine engineering and computer science.

• Awarded with the Computing Nobel Prize (1989)
• Solved one of the USA top 10 most difficult computing problems ever.
• His contribution is used to maximize the oil extraction (between others).

    When Emeagwali was asked what qualities he would like to pass on to his son, he replied, "I want him to be inspired by the fact that I was a high school dropout and an ex-refugee who overcame racism and made scientific contributions that benefited mankind."

      His own website: emeagwali.com


     Miguel Pedro 12ºA