Born in Zanzibar and educated in Tanzania, the UK and South Africa, Gharib Hamza Mohamed is a principal laboratory scientist at the State University of Zanzibar (SUZA), where he worked for 17 years.  Before joining SUZA, he spent seven years as a tutor at Nkrumah Teachers’ Training College. With a passion for teaching profession, and for education in general, Gharib has dedicated his time to the improvement of teaching and learning in physics, education, research and laboratory management and never tire of seeking new ways to inspire and galvanize his students. He always seeking to inspire and transform his students by example.

Among academic and administrative positions held, he was a Dean at the SUZA School of Continuing and Profession Education (SCOPE). During his tenure of this post, he coordinated the establishment of SUZA Secondary School and he concentrated on bringing quality to English language teaching through short courses as well as the introduction of a Chinese language teaching at SUZA. His 24-year professional journey has indeed been gratifying and fulfilling.

He was elected a chairperson of SUZA Administrative and Technical Staff Association in 2021, and appointed a member of the University Council as the Administrative and Technical Staff Association representative in the same year, where he serves as a chair of estate committee and member of ICT committee since 2024. He brings this experience to Council and seeks to represent the consensus views of non-academic staff in Council discussions, as well as his own insights gained from his current roles.  He is incredibly proud of his humility, strong work ethic and continued desire to make himself a better leader, through hard work and intellectual curiosity.

Gharib holds a Bachelor of Education in Science from the University of Dar es salaam, Master of Science in Radiation Detection and Instrumentation from the University of Surrey and a Doctorate in Physics from the University of Western Cape.