Dr. Ahmed El-Afandi, Professor of Political Science, joined the faculty of Winona State University in 1968. He teaches courses in comparative politics and research methodology. In addition to teaching the introduction to American Government course, he teaches courses on African politics, Middle Eastern politics, European politics, and third world politics. He has special interest in survey research and conducts annual surveys, in conjunction with his Political Analysis course, for use by different departments within the city government of the City of Winona. These surveys have been used as an assessment tool in the past few years by the respective departments. Changes have been implemented by those departments as a result of the surveys.

He has been the advisor for the Political Science Association and the local chapter of the National Political Science honor society, Pi Sigma Alpha (Rho Alpha). He also acts as the advisor to the Muslim Students Association at WSU. In addition, he is the President of the Islamic Center of Winona.

In addition to the academic activities on campus, Dr. El-Afandi is on the Board of Directors of the Upper Midwest Middle East Outreach and is an active member of the Midwest Political Science Association, the Minnesota Political Science Association, and many other professional organizations. He has given many papers in professional meetings dealing with a wide range of topics. He is the author of a comparative government text in Arabic, and editor, author and co-author of numerous works on local government, regional planning, and on environmental protection.

He is an active member of his community, serving on a Consolidation Commission to study the possibility of consolidation of two municipalities, on a Youth Task Force studying how to make the youth feel as active members of their community and to give them the opportunity to provide positive and constructive input in their community. He is a member and past President of the local Kiwanis Club and Chair of the Major Emphasis Committee which holds an annual Winter Clothing Drive for the needy.

He is in demand as a speaker to service organizations and in many community functions. He has also served on many panels and discussion groups. He has appeared on radio and television stations and has been interviewed by newspapers in Southern Minnesota and Western Wisconsin on many occasions.

Prior to joining the faculty of Winona State University, Dr. El-Afandi taught at Central Missouri State University and Lincoln University of Missouri. During his tenure at Winona State, he took time off to teach in Kuwait and in Saudi Arabia. While in Saudi Arabia, he also served as special advisor to the President of the University of Riyadh (King Saud) where he was instrumental in designing and implementing a K-12 English medium school for children of the expatriate faculty and others. He was also instrumental in providing the foundation for a branch campus of the university and in expanding the graduate program there.

Ahmed El-Afandi received his early education in Egypt and graduated from the University of Alexandria with a B. Com. Degree in 1958. He received an M. A. and a Ph. D. from the University of Missouri-Columbia. In addition, he attended the Universities of Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin for special seminars and workshops.