Mahfoud Ziyad obtained his PhD in 1976 from the University of Nancy, France. His work focused on the isomerisation of light alkenes using modified alumina as the catalyst. Calorimetric measurements confirmed the complexity of the chemical reaction that takes place at room temperature. After earning his PhD, he started his career at Mohammed V University in Rabat teaching chemical kinetics, thermodynamics and chemical engineering. He is Professor Emeritus and a resident member of the Hassan II Academy of Science and Technology. At the Faculty of Science in Rabat, he setup the first Moroccan laboratory in catalytic research. Principal topics explored were the investigation of dynamic systems which exhibit an oscillatory phenomenon. In addition, he also studied the dehydrogenation of alkanes using modified phosphates as the catalysts. In that perspective, he showed that the oxidation of butan-2-ol displays an oscillatory behavior over a palladium catalyst. That system can enter a chaotic regime under certain conditions. M. Ziyad published over 120 articles in international revues and supervised 24 PhD students in catalysis. From 1994-95, he was Research Director at the Institute of Research in Catalysis (CNRS) in Lyon. He has been also invited as guest researcher to several universities in Europe.