Prof. Naeem Ahmad Khan

Dr Khan was born on April 12, 1928 in Hoshiarpur (East Punjab). His academic qualification comprise BA (Hons) form St. Stephen’s College, Delhi (1946); MA, Sind University (1950); MSc, Karachi University (1955); and PhD, University of Manchester (1958). He worked as a post-doctoral Fellow at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment, Harwell, England (1961-1962) and was a Research Fellow at the Bartol Research Foundation of the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, USA (1964-1965).

He joined India Meteorological Department in 1946 and then opted to serve Pakistan and was transferred to Pakistan Meteorological Department. In 1961, he joined the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission as Senior Scientific Officer, and was promoted to Principal Scientific Officer in 1967, Chief Scientific Officer in 1970 and Chief Scientist in December 1986. Dr Khan was appointed as Head, Nuclear Physics Division at the Atomic Energy Center, Lahore (1965), and was promoted to Director of the Center in 1967. In 1969, he joined the Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (PINSTECH), as Director. In 1970, he joined the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), Karachi, as Director of Training and International Affairs, and then as Secretary. After serving for some time as Director Researcher at PAEC Headquarters, he returned to PINSTECH again as Director (1977).

In 1984, he was appointed Chairman, Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR), and in 1989, he was appointed Advisor (Technical) (COMSTECH), where he served for seven years.

Dr Khan served in more than 30 Committees, Boards, Councils and Planning Commissions of the Government, Universities, Foundations, and Organisations. These include: the Atomic Energy Council; the National Economic Board; the Boards of Karachi University, Quaid-I-Azam University (Islamabad) and Bahauddin Zakaria University (Bahawalpur); and the Board of Governors of the Hydrocarbon Development Institute. He is a Fellow of the Physical Society, London (1958), the Institute of Physics, London (1968), and Pakistan Academy of Sciences (1986) where he served as Treasurer for two terms and Vice-President for one term of two years. The PAS awarded him its Open Gold for Physics in 1992 in recognition of his contribution to the subject.

Dr Khan has more than 103 scientific publications, 69 scientific reports and 28 general articles, to his credit. He participated in 75 conferences and seminars and presented 37 papers. Besides teaching Meteorology at the PAF College, Risalpur, Dr Khan taught post-graduate courses in Physics at Karachi and Punjab Universities. Five PAEC Scientists earned their PhDs from the University of Punjab under his supervision. Prof. Khan is a Founding Fellow of the Islamic Academy of Sciences (1986).