Teaching assistant positions spark passion for new lecturer

Omar Ibrahim

Omar Ibrahim joins the computer science department this fall as a lecturer.

Raised in eastern Washington, Ibrahim received his master’s degree in computer science with a focus on computer science education, and his undergraduate degree in computer science with a minor in informatics. He earned both degrees at the University of Washington in Seattle.

“I was a teaching assistant for a lot of classes as an undergraduate,” Ibrahim said. “I discovered that I had a really strong passion for teaching.”

His thesis focused on techniques for teaching mathematical proof writing, a skill that combines both creative problem-solving and formal writing. During graduate school, Ibrahim taught several small courses in a department of several thousand students.

“I have a lot of experience teaching at scale, and I look forward to using that experience at UIC,” Ibrahim said. “I really like Chicago so far, and I think UIC will be a good fit for me.”

This fall, he will be teaching CS 301, Languages and Automata.

Outside the classroom, Ibrahim likes to cook and longboard.