GCUF vice chancellor dies in road accident
PHOTO: FILE
The Vice Chancellor of the Government College University of Faisalabad, Prof. Dr. Shahid Kamal, died in a road accident near the Sahianwala Interchange (Motorway M-4) on Monday.
According to the Motorway Police, Prof. Kamal had been on his way to Faisalabad from Lahore when the tyre of his car got burst.
As the car began to waver at a slower speed, an oil tanker smashed into the rear of his car.
Consequently, Prof. Kamal and the driver of the vehicle suffered critical injuries.
A rescue team shifted them to the Allied Hospital where the VC died of his injuries. The driver managed to survive and was currently under treatment.
Prof. Dr. Shahid Kamal would be buried at a graveyard in Lahore.
A spokesperson for the university, Dr Imran Muslim, said that the academic activities in the university would remain suspended until March 15.
The faculty and students had expressed their heartfelt sorrow over the demise of the head of the university.
Prof. Dr. Shahid Kamal had joined the Government College University Faisalabad in the capacity of the vice chancellor on July 24, 2019.
He was an internationally acknowledged academic in the field of statistics. He earned his PhD in applied biostatistics from the University of Exeter in Devon, UK, and had teaching, research and administrative experience spanning more than 30 years encompassing applied biostatistics, design and analysis of experiments, regression and econometrics, business statistics, computer applications and programming and in other diverse fields of statistical applications.
He had also served as dean, director and professor at the University of the Punjab, Lahore, where he initiated many master degree programmes.
He developed many institutes and centres, including the Operation Research Centre and the Statistical Databank.
He was the author of two books and also contributed a great number of research articles to reputable national and international journals.
The Vice Chancellor of the University of Sargodha (UoS), Prof. Dr. Qaiser Abbas, had expressed grief and sorrow over the death of Prof. Kamal.
In a press statement on Monday, the UoS VC said that Prof Dr Shahid Kamal was a great teacher, researcher and administrator as well as a sophisticated, competent and great personality.
His death was a great loss to the academic circles, and the void created by his demise would never be filled.
He prayed that may Allah Almighty rest the departed soul in eternal peace and grant patience to the bereaved family.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 14th, 2023.