Muhammad Umar Memon


Muhammad Umar Memon Professor Emeritus of Urdu Literature and Arabic Studies,, Memon was an accomplished scholar, translator, Urdu Short Story writer, and the editor of The Annual of Urdu Studies.

Memon retired from the University of Wisconsin after 38 years of service but remained active as a scholar: besides working on translation of Urdu works into English, he served on the editorial board of and was also an advisor to the Urdu Project.

Biography

Memon was born in Aligarh, India in 1939. In 1954, his family moved to Karachi, Pakistan where he earned his bachelor's and master's degrees. After his graduation, he taught at Sachal Sarmast College and Sind University. In 1964 he won a Fulbright scholarship to the United States. This move enabled him to earn a master's degree from Harvard University and eventually a doctorate in Islamic Studies from UCLA. Memon joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1970 and retired from there after 38 years of service. At UW he taught Urdu, Islamic Studies as well courses in Arabic and Persian.

Scholarly and creative work

While a complete list of his scholarly and creative works can be found on his website, some major works are listed below: