Sadly, we have disowned one of our very brilliant minds.
PESHAWAR: His name is synonymous with one thing in Pakistan — the Nobel Prize; because, to date, he is the only Pakistani who has received this award, which is undoubtedly the world’s most coveted honour.
Dr Abdus Salam was born in Jhang and had an illustrious academic career which took him from his parental town to Government College in Lahore and then to the Cambridge University where he completed his PhD. He came back to Pakistan after completing his PhD and taught at Government College, where he later headed the mathematics department. Dr Abdus Salam went on to establish a world class institute in Theoretical Physics in Italy where he kept a special place for students from developing countries with limited resources. This institute is still functioning as a premier research body in physics.
Dr Abdus Salam’s work with Professors Weinberg and Glashow earned him the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1979. During the award ceremony, Dr Abdus Salam, being the true Pakistani that he was, proudly wore his national dress. Dr Abdus Salam was a remarkable scientist whose other achievements include being an influential academician at institutes such as Imperial College London. He also won awards such as the Royal Medal, Hopkins Prize, Maxwell Prize and the Einstein award by Unesco. Sadly, we have disowned one of our very brilliant minds.
M Asadullah
Published in The Express Tribune, February 8th, 2014.
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