Younis Abdullah Mukhtar was born in January 1941 in Sudan. He studied architecture at the University of Khartoum and is credited by alumni and Sudanese architectural sources with designing the Faculty of Architecture’s main building at the university as his 1966 graduation project, a design that was subsequently realised on campus followed by his later designs for the staff office buildings. Mukhtar later pursued postgraduate studies at the Architectural Association, completing the Department of Development and Tropical Studies’ Educational Building course in 1968. He subsequently undertook doctoral research at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, earning his PhD in 1976 for a study on the thermal performance of roofs in hot-dry climates. His research was later published in a 1978 issue of Overseas Buildings Notes, a series of technical publications from the UK's Building Research Establishment. In the following decades, Mukhtar combined practice and teaching with a continued emphasis on environmentally appropriate design. He consulted on major projects including university campus planning in the region – notably co-authoring a 1995 conference paper on the design of a new campus at King Abdulaziz University in Saudi Arabia. In 2010, he was appointed the founding Dean of the Faculty of Architecture at National Ribat University in and later served as Professor Emeritus. Mukhtar continued to publish research, including a 2020 paper on Sudanese roofing techniques, and remained active in public service. In the 2000s he was Deputy President of a breakaway faction of Sudan’s Umma Party, and in 2019 he was elected Chairman of that party’s Board of Trustees. Now in his mid-eighties, his contributions have made him a significant figure in shaping Sudan’s architectural education and institutional landscape.

 Sources:

• Architectural Association Student Register 1945–1972. AA Archives
• University of Newcastle. Library Catalogue Record: “An Investigation into the Thermal Performance of Roofs in Hot Dry Climates.” PhD thesis, Younis Abdalla Mukhtar, 1976.
• Mukhtar, Younis Abdalla. “Roofs in Northern Sudan—Their Thermal Performance and Methods of Improvement.” Architectural Science Review 23, no. 2 (1980): 51–54. Accessed June 24, 2025. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00038628.1980.9696441
• Mukhtar, Younis Abdalla. “Building Roofs in Sudan.” IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering 960, no. 3 (2020). Accessed June 24, 2025. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1757-899X/960/4/042069/pdf
• OMICS International. “Younis Abdullah Mukhtar.” National Ribat University Faculty Profile. Accessed June 30, 2025. https://biography.omicsonline.org/sudan/national-ribat-university/younis-abdullah-mukhtar-616547
• GOV.UK. “Younis Abdalla Mukhtar: Appointments.” Companies House. Accessed June 24, 2025. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/KXpBl9QSC4-YUID4qPXSlcNMdcE/appointments