Ghulam Murtaza (physicist)

Ghulam Murtaza
Born (1939-01-03) 3 January 1939
Amritsar, British Punjab, British Indian Empire (present-day India)
Citizenship Pakistani
Nationality Pakistan
Fields Plasma Physics
Institutions Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC)
Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO)
Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU)
Government College University (GCU)
Abdus Salam School of Mathematical Sciences
Doctoral advisor Abdus Salam
Known for Dynamical systems theory
Plasma stability
Magnetic confinement fusion
Theromonuclear fusion
Black hole thermodynamics
Notable awards Sitara-i-Imtiaz

Ghulam Murtaza, SI(C) PhD, DIC, DSc, FPAS (Urdu: غلام مرتضى) (born 3 January 1939), is a Pakistani plasma physicist and mathematician. He is the Professor of Theoretical and Plasma physics, and the director of the Physics research institute, known as the Abdus Salam Chair in Physics, at the Government College University.[1] Previously, Murtaza served as the Director of Center of Excellence for Solid State Physics at the Government College University from 2000 to 2006. Specialized in the Thermonuclear fusion, Murtaza is known for his contribution to the field of Theoretical and controlled solar plasmas.[2]

Early life and education

Murtaza was born in Amritsar, British Punjab, British Indian Empire, in 1939, where he received his elementary education from there.[2] After the partition of India in 1947, Murtaza along with his family member migrated to Pakistan.[2] His family settled in Lahore, West-Pakistan, where he completed his high school.[2] In 1954, he was admitted to Punjab University with a scholarship to study physics.[2] In 1958, he received his BSc in Physics, followed by MA in Mathematics from the Punjab University.[2] The same year, he joined Government College University as a professor of undergraduate courses in Mathematics. In 1963, he went to the United Kingdom for further higher studies with a Government scholarship.[2]

In Great Britain, he attended Imperial College London to continue his studies in advanced physics. During this period, world-renowned scientists such as Bertrand Russell, Albert Einstein, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Abdus Salam, and Wolfgang Pauli to name a few, were teaching at the Imperial College London. While at the Imperial College London, he met Doctor Abdus Salam in a Physics lecture in which he asked Salam to supervise his doctoral studies. In 1966, Murtaza did his PhD in Plasma Physics under the supervision of Salam.[3] In 1967, he also obtained a D.I.C degree in Science and came back to Pakistan where he joined Punjab University as an Associate Professor of Physics.[4]

Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission

Murtaza joined the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) in 1960 as a "Principle Science Officer" (PSO). He was upgraded to Scientific Officer (SO), later he was promoted to Senior Scientific Officer (SSO). However, in 1966, after his doctorate in physics, he was transferred to Nuclear Physics Division (NPD), where he along with his mentor, Salam and Dr. Naeem Ahmad Khan, had closely worked and produced numerous scientific papers and journals about their experiments and theories in theoretical physics. In 1969, Murtaza was sent to "Laser Group" headed by Dr. Shaukat Hameed Khan, where he and Khan produces numerous scientific papers and journals about their discoveries in Plasma Physics. He played an important role in setting up the Plasma physics lab at the PAEC. In 1969, dr. Murtaza left PAEC and joined Punjab University.

Academic career in universities of Pakistan

In 1962, after his MSc in Applied physics, Murtaza came back to Pakistan for a short time and joined Government College University of Lahore as a professor of Mathematics. In 1962, he resigned from his post and flew back to United Kingdom. In 1969, Murtaza joined newly founded research university, Quaid-i-Azam University's Institute of Physics as an associate professor of mathematics. In 1970, he became a distinguished professor of physics at the Quaid-i-Azam University while continued to teach mathematics at the institute. In 1990, he became a Chairman of Department of Physics and, in 1993, he was made Meritorious Professor of Mathematics at the Quaid-i-Azam University. He continued leading the Physics Department until 1997, when a well-known young and authentic nuclear physicist, dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy was named to be the head of the Physics Department.In March 1996, he was appointed as a Dean, Faculty of Natural Sciences at the Qaid-e-Azam University. In 2000, Murtaza moved to Lahore where he was appointed as a director of Center of Excellence for Solid State Physics, which is also known as the Dr. Abdus Salam Center in Solid-State Physics Lahore, also at the Government College University. He kept his position until 2006. There Murtaza became senior Professor of Mathematics while heading the Mathematics Department at the Government College University. In 2006, he joined the University's Physics Department and became a professor of Plasma Physics.[5] The same year, Murtaza became the director of the Abdus Salam Chair in Physics, where he launched research programmes in Physics, Electrical engineering, and Mathematics.[5]

Murtaza is a distinguished student of Pakistan's only Nobel laureate Abdus Salam. He is the recipient of a high civil award "Sitara-e-Imtiaz" which was awarded to him by the Prime Minister of Pakistan. In 1986, he was awarded a gold medal from the Pakistan Academy of Sciences. In 1991, he was elected fellow of Pakistan Academy of Sciences. He is a researcher in the field of Plasma Physics/Controlled Thermonuclear Fusion, Elementary Particle Physics and Solid State Physics. In October 2004, he was appointed director of the Abdus Salam National Center for Mathematics (ASNCM). In 2003, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Science (D.Sc.) from Higher Education Commission(HEC). Recently, he joined the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) where he was in charge of Astronomy and Astrophysics Laboratory. He also represented SUPARCO at the International Year of Astronomy.[6]

Awards and fellowships

Scientific papers and publications

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "Salam Professor: Professor G. Murtaza". GCU Salam Chair in Physics. d. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2011. Check date values in: |access-date=, |date= (help)
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (PAS), Pakistan Academy of Sciences. "Dr. Ghulam Murtaza". Pakistan Academy of Sciences.
  3. ↑ University Press (2000). "Salam Chair GC University Lahore pays tribute to Dr. Abdus Salam on his 13th death anniversary". GCU Library press. Government College University, Pakistan. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  4. ↑ Corier, CERN (8 April 2000). "Ghulam Murtaza". CERN.
  5. 1 2 "Dr. Ghulam Murtaza" (Pdf). Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation. |first1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
  6. ↑ "International Year of Astronomy – Pakistan". International Year of Astronomy 2009. 2009.
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