| Mazhar Mahmood Qurashi | |
|---|---|
| Born | 8 October 1925 Gujranwala, Punjab, British India (now Pakistan) |
| Died | 21 November 2011 (aged 86) Islamabad, Islamabad Capital Territory |
| Residence | Islamabad, Islamabad Capital Territory |
| Citizenship | Pakistan |
| Nationality | Pakistani |
| Fields | Physics |
| Institutions | Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) Pakistan Academy of Sciences (PAS) Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) Ministry of Defence of Pakistan (MDP) Quaid-i-Azam University (Qau) Institute of Physics (IP) Crystallographic Society of Pakistan (CSP) |
| Alma mater | University of Punjab University of Manchester |
| Doctoral advisor | Dr. Albert Beaumont Wood |
| Known for | his for work in physics, history, crystallographic, crystalline, and operational research and Scientometrics. |
| Notable awards | Sitara-i-Imtiaz (1991) President’s Medal for Technology (2007) |
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Notes
Note: He is the founder of Crystallographic Society of Pakistan. |
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Dr. Prof. Mazhar Mahmood Qurashi or M. M. Qureshi, was a Pakistani physicist and an Islamic scholar who was educated in Lahore and Manchester obtaining Ph.D in X-ray Crystallography in 1949. He was Post Doctoral Fellow in Physics Division with National Research Council of Canada from 1950-1952. From 1953 to 1963, he was with Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Karachi Laboratories and rose to the Head of Physics Division. From 1961-61 he was visiting scientist National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, Canada. He was elected a Fellow of Institute of Physics, London in 1961.
On the basis of his 50 research papers, the University of Manchester awarded him the D.Sc. degree in 1962. Dr. Qurashi set up and served as Chief Scientisit Defence Science (and Technology) Organization, and Scientific Advisor to the President from 1963 to 1968. He was Director of PCSIR Laboratories from 1968 to 1971.
He served as professor of physics at the Quaid-i-Azam University. He was an eminent science administrator and researcher in the field of classical physics.[1] Qurashi served as secretary general of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences and the past director general of Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) laboratories in Karachi as well as being a former Director of the National Science Council of Pakistan.
He has played pivotal role in establishing Islamic Lunar Calendar and remained member of Central Moonsighting Comittee of Pakistan for about three decades. He remained heavily engaged in the History and Philosophy of Science where he highlighted the role of Islam and Muslims in development of Science and inter-relatoinship between Islamic and Scientific principles. He remained part of the editorial board of Pakistan Journal of History and Philosophy of Science.
His unfinished papers include the followings:
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Qureshi, in his school days, has been a brilliant student. He completed his matriculation at an early age and also received an early admission to the University of the Punjab with an awarded scholarship. In 1942, he graduated and received B.Sc. with Honors in physics.[2] In 1944, he completed his Master's degree in physics. He served as an associate professor of physics at his alma mater for a from 1944 till 1947, then and flew to United Kingdom to pursue his doctorate in physics.[3] He was awarded Ph.D in physics under the supervision of Dr. Albert Beaumont Wood from University of Manchester in 1949; also awarded D.Sc. in physics in 1962, on the basis of 50 published papers.[4]
He has been associated with University of Islamabad (now Quaid-i-Azam University) since its establishment. In the past, he has served as the chairman of the physics department at the Quaid-i-Azam University. He has also served as a research scientist at the Institute of Physics and published numerous papers in physics. In July 1988, Qureshi founded the first new Crystallographic Society of Pakistan in which he also served as its new president.[5] Prof. Qurashi has authored over one hundred and ninety research papers on various topics such as physics, physical chemistry and Scientometrics, of which more than thirty have been published in British, Canadian and International Journals. He has published 14 Monographs in areas of physics, scientific and technological research in Pakistan as well as on History and Philosophy of Science. From the period of 1988 to 1992, he has served as the administrator of a research project on "Science and Technology in The Muslim Ummah", the research project that was financed and coordinated by Pakistan Academy of Sciences. He has also worked at the Ministry of Defence of Pakistan as a chief research scientist where he carried out his research in physics. He has been engaged in the research in physics with emphasis on study of atomic and moleculary arrangements in alloys and minerals.
Prof. Qurashi is a former member of the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Technological and Research Committee on Cotton as well as being a member of Pakistan team at the Defence Exercise UNISON in 1965. In 1981, dr. Qureshi was listed in the Biography in Who's Who in the World, Biography in Men of Achievement (1982), Who's Who of Intellectuals (1983), and 5,000 Personalities of the World, 1985.[6] He joined Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission in 2006. In 2007, President of Pakistan conferred dr. Mazhar Mehmood the President’s Medal for Technology for his work on corrosion-resistant nano-crystalline alloys.