Sanjar Guiess Umarov was born April 7, 1956 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Dr. Umarov was born into a large, extended family of intellectuals and artists that included his father, Dr. Guiess Ekub Umarov, a worldclass physicist and his mother, Nabira Shamsieva, a university English language instructor. Dr. Umarov was the middle child of five; he has two older brothers and two younger sisters. While growing up, Dr. Umarov’s family life was characterized by a deep respect for both scientific investigation and creative endeavors. The family’s respect for education and the children’s intellectual capacity are demonstrated by the fact that all of the Umarov children completed higher university degrees and three of the five children earned PhDs. Dr. Umarov’s career in higher education began when he received a degree from Tashkent Univesity of Irrigation and Mechanization of Agriculture in electrical engineering. Prior to defending his doctoral dissertation on Applying Solar Energy in Tashkent Polytechnic Institute in 1982, Dr. Umarov practiced with Intercontinental ballistic missile technician Chair at the Bauman’s Technical University in Moscow. Upon completing his PhD studies, Dr. Umarov taught physics and electrical engineering at Algeria University in Biskra, Algeria. All lectures and instruction were delivered in French, thereby cementing Dr. Umarov’s life-long love of French culture and cuisine. Another notable academic achievement of Dr. Umarov's was his participation in the establishment of Uzbekistan first business school, with Uzbek financial community in 1989. The leading Moscow and European professors for Business School were invited.

Upon returning from Algeria to Tashkent in 1988, Dr. Umarov sensed new opportunities opening up in the Soviet Union for entrepreneurship. After learning of the easy availability of mobile telephone communications in the west, Dr. Umarov saw the potential wide applicability of mobile telephony in the Soviet Union and aggressively pursued its implementation in Uzbekistan. The result of his endeavors was the creation in February 1991 in Tashkent Soviet Union’s first mobile telephone company, Uzdunrobita, with International Communication Group, Inc. as US investors. The success of his first business project lead Dr. Umarov to become a catalyst for the formation of a series of businesses in all the major sectors of Uzbekistan’s economy, including agriculture, oil & gas and international trade. Notable examples include the establishment of the International Economic Agricultural Association “UzAgroTradeInvest” in 1992, an enterprise formed to assist collective farms in attracting foreign investment in fruit processing capacity and facilitating the export of processed fruit. Subsequently, Dr. Umarov played an instrumental role in developing a program for the creation of a network of 3 private cotton gins in Uzbekistan. In 1996, the World Bank incorporated this program as part of its investment in the development of private cotton ginning enterprises in Uzbekistan.

In addition to telecommunications and agricultural projects, Dr. Umarov also has a successful track record in attracting foreign investment into Uzbekistan’s oil and gas sector. In 1996, Dr. Umarov brought US capital to Uzbekistan to invest in Neftegaztrans, a logistics company created with Uzbekneftegaz to work in freight forwarding petroleum products for export and the import logistics of capital equipment necessary for the construction of the Bukhara refinery and the Shurtan chemical processing complex.

September 11, 2001 was a day that changed all our lives. Uzbekistan became a strategic ally of the US and the War on Terror. And, central to winning the war in Afghanistan was the ready availability of jet fuel necessary to support Coalition military operations in Afghanistan. In late 2001, the US Department of Defense requested Dr. Umarov to provide assistance in the procurement and delivery of jet fuel in Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan. In recognition of his early and crucial role in support of the Coalition, Dr. Umarov received a letter of appreciation from DoD officially recognizing his assistance and support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Uzbekistan is rich in natural gas resources but is rapidly running out of crude oil reserves. Currently, Dr. Umarov business energies are focused on facilitating the construction in Uzbekistan state of the art, gas-to-liquids (GTL) gas processing facility that will significantly reduce Uzbekistan’s dependence on imported crude oil. Over the next 3 years, over $7 billion dollars has been earmarked by major oil and gas companies for the construction of similar plants in the Middle East. Dr. Umarov has been working closely with Uzbekneftegaz and Ecoil Technologies, Inc., on an expected $1 billion foreign direct investment in the development of GTL in Uzbekistan. Unlike most large projects in Uzbekistan, Dr. Umarov’s GTL plant will not require a guarantee from the Government of Uzbekistan.

Dr.Umarov married. He has 3 sons and 2 daughters, granddaughter. His wife – Indira Niyazov is PhD in Art.

Hobby: chess, beginning golf player.