Ismail Poonawala

{{Short description|Indian professor of Arabic (born 1937)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}

Ismail Kurban Husein Poonawala (born January 7, 1937){{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tt8jAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Poonawala,+Ismail+Kurbanhusein%22 |title = Who's who in California|last1 = Armstrong|first1 = Alice Catt|year = 1994| publisher=Who's Who Historical Society | isbn=9781880142066 }} is an Indian professor of Arabic at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures (NELC) of over 30 years. Poonawala was born in 1937 in Godhra, India. He is a specialist in Ismaili studies.

Professor Poonawala's formal education includes M.A.s from University of Mumbai and Cairo along with a Ph.D. from UCLA.{{Cite web |url=http://www.nelc.ucla.edu/people/faculty/poonawal/ |title=Ismail K. Poonawala - UCLA Near Eastern Languages & Cultures Department |access-date=26 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100707002155/http://www.nelc.ucla.edu/people/faculty/poonawal/ |archive-date=7 July 2010 |url-status=dead }}