Dr. Abdus Salams 84th birth anniversary today

Pakistan

Dr. Abdus Salams 84th birth anniversary today

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29 January,2010 07:39 am

Pakistans only Nobel prize winner Dr. Abdus Salams 84th birth anniversary is being celebrated today.Dr. Abdus Salam was born in Jhang, a small town in Pakistan, in 1926. His father was an official in the Department of Education in a poor farming district. His family has a long tradition of piety and learning.When he cycled home from Lahore, at the age of 14, after gaining the highest marks ever recorded for the Matriculation Examination at the University of the Punjab, the whole town turned out to welcome him. He won a scholarship to Government College University, University of the Punjab, and took his MA in 1946. Dr. Abdus Salam returned to Pakistan in 1951 to teach mathematics at Government College, Lahore, and in 1952 became head of the Mathematics Department of the Punjab University. In 1954 Salam left his native country for a lectureship at Cambridge, and since then has visited Pakistan as adviser on science policy. His work for Pakistan has, however, been far-reaching and influential. He was a member of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, a member of the Scientific Commission of Pakistan and was Chief Scientific Adviser to the President from 1961 to 1974. Since 1957 he has been Professor of Theoretical Physics at Imperial College, London, and since 1964 has combined this position with that of Director of the ICTP, Trieste. In 1979 Pakistani government awarded him with Nishan-e-Imtiaz; where as he was also awarded Sitar-e-Pakistan in 1959. Pakistani government has also issued a postage stamp of 2 rupee in the memory of Dr. Abdus Salam.