Pervez Hoodbhoy
Hoodbhoy in October 2015
Born (1950-07-11) 11 July 1950
Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
NationalityPakistani
Alma materKarachi Grammar School (1955–1968)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(B.S Mathematics)
(B.S Electrical Engineering)
(M.S Solid State Physics)
(Ph.D Nuclear Physics)
Known forParton distribution functions, Field Theory, Phenomenology, supersymmetry and Abstract algebra
AwardsUNESCO Kalinga Prize (2003)
Fulbright Award (1998)
Faiz Ahmed Faiz Award (1990)
Abdus Salam Award (1984)
Bakers Award for Electronics (1968)
Associate of ICTP
"Book of the Year Award" by National Book council of Pakistan in 1993
ROCASA (2007) for enhancing the public understanding of Science by Academy of Sciences of the developing World, Trieste, Italy
Joseph A. Burton Forum Award (2010) by American Physical Society
Listed number 85 in Foreign Policy Magazine's list of Top 100 Global Thinkers[1]
Scientific career
FieldsNuclear physics
Quantum Chromodynamics
InstitutionsQuaid-e-Azam University
National Center for Physics
FC College University
Virtual University of Pakistan

Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy (Urdu: پرویز امِیرعلی ہودبھائی; Urdu pronunciation: [pərʋeːz əmiːɾəliː ɦuːd̪bʱaːiː]; born 11 July 1950) is a Pakistani nuclear physicist, author, media commentator, and social activist. He is generally considered one of the most vocal, progressive and liberal members of the Pakistani intelligentsia. Hoodbhoy is known for his opposition to nuclear weapons and vocal defence of secularism, freedom of speech, scientific temper and education in Pakistan.[2][3] Some senior journalists, political and army figures have leveled accusations[4] of treason and unbelief against him but he has rebutted them.[5] Instead he regards himself as a global citizen.[6] His physics-math course lectures, as well as on popular science topics, are widely watched and available online.[7][8]

Hoodbhoy taught physics at Quaid-e-Azam University (formerly Islamabad University) from 1973 to 2020 but in between also taught sociology in addition to physics and math[9] in Lahore as well as LUMS.[10] He was visiting professor at several US universities and laboratories and is currently (2021-2025) adjunct professor physics at the University of New Brunswick.

Since 1989 Hoodbhoy has headed Mashal Books in Lahore, a publishing house that claims to be a leading "translation effort to produce books in Urdu that promote modern thought, human rights, and emancipation of women". He initiated and co‐directed (1988-1990) the World Laboratory Project on Cosmology and High Energy Physics in Pakistan. Hoodbhoy is a sponsor of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists[11] a member of the Permanent Monitoring Panel on Planetary Emergencies of the World Federation of Scientists,[12] and a member of the Asia Pacific Leaders Network.[13] In 2021 he took the lead role in establishing The Black Hole, a community space in Islamabad for nurturing science, art, and culture. Hoodbhoy has written for Project Syndicate,[14] DAWN,[15] The New York Times,[16] Washington Post,[17] Prospect magazine,[18] and The Express Tribune.[19] 

Awards for Hoodbhoy include the Abdus Salam Prize[20] for Mathematics (1984); the Kalinga Prize for the popularization of science (2003);[21] the TWAS-ROCASA prize;[22] the Jean Meyer Award for global citizenship;[23] the Joseph A. Burton Forum Award (2010) from the American Physical Society.[24] In 2011, he was included in the list of 100 most influential global thinkers by Foreign Policy.[25] From 2013 to 2017 he was a member of the UN Secretary General's advisory board on Disarmament.[26] In 2019 he received the honorary doctorate of law from the University of British Columbia.[27]

On 14 April 2001, the Pakistan government announced that Hoodbhoy had been selected for receiving the Sitara-i-Imtiaz from then-president, General Pervez Musharraf. However Hoodbhoy turned down the award on grounds that bureaucrats and non-scientists were not capable judging scientific work or deciding on scientific awards.[28]

Early and personal life

Hoodbhoy was born and raised in Karachi, Sindh, in a family belonging to the Ismaili Shia community. He has one elder brother, and three sisters including infectious diseases specialist Dr. Naseem Salahuddin and reporter Nafisa Hoodbhoy. He has been married twice, first to Hajra Ahmed, niece of public intellectual and activist Eqbal Ahmad. Hoodbhoy and Hajra Ahmed have two daughters together, including Alia Amirali, a well-known feminist and political activist. They divorced in 2009 and Hoodbhoy later married Sadia Manzoor who is also, like him, a physics professor. They were married late in life and do not have children together.

Education

Hoodbhoy attended the Karachi Grammar School in Karachi for his initial schooling.[29] After graduating, at the age of 19, Hoodbhoy went to the United States to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on a scholarship.[30] During his undergraduate years he worked in restaurants, various odd jobs, and as a campus janitor to support his studies.

At MIT Hoodbhoy received three degrees simultaneously in 1973. These were a double BSc in electrical engineering and mathematics and a MSc in solid-state physics. Immediately thereafter he joined Islamabad University (later called Quaid-e-Azam University) as a junior lecturer in October 1973 where he taught physics for two years but was also heavily involved in left-wing political work. After two years of teaching and activism he returned to MIT to work on various problems of nuclear structure theory under the supervision of Prof. John W. Negele. He was awarded a doctorate in nuclear physics in 1978 with a thesis titled, “Time Dependent Correlations in Nuclear Dynamics”.[31]

Career

Professional

Hoodbhoy’s PhD research was in nuclear physics but much of his later work focused on the quark-gluon structure of nuclei, quantum chromodynamics, and particle phenomenology. In particular this included the spin structure of nuclei and quark-gluon components of the proton’s spin as measured in various hard processes. He has also published papers seeking to link ADS/CFT and extra space-time dimensions with certain nuclear phenomena. His other works touch on quantum hydrodynamics, Berry phases, skyrmion physics, and quantum Hall phenomena.

In 1981 Hoodbhoy accepted an offer for post-doctoral research at the University of Washington. In 1986 he spent his sabbatical year as visiting professor at Carnegie Mellon University. While still a professor at the Quaid-e-Azam University, he made several visits as a guest scientist to the International Centre for Theoretical Physics and also held short-term visiting professorships at MIT and University of Maryland. In 2010, upon reaching mandatory retirement at age 60, he started teaching in Lahore but continued to voluntarily teach advanced physics topics at QAU until 2020. Presently (2021-2025) he holds the position of adjunct professor of physics at the University of New Brunswick, Canada.

From 2011 to 2013 Hoodbhoy was at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) as professor of physics during which period he made summer visits as a researcher to Princeton University while also writing opinion editorial columns for the Express Tribune, Dawn as well as other newspapers. The sudden termination of his contract became a matter of public controversy.[32] He moved to the Forman Christian College-University (2013-2020) as distinguished professor of physics until his contract was abruptly cancelled as well after 8 years. Hoodbhoy contends that these terminations were due to extra-academic reasons.[33][34]

Social Activism

Hoodbhoy points to Noam Chomsky, whose courses and lectures he had attended as an undergraduate at MIT, as a major influence upon his political philosophy. So also was the scholar-activist and public intellectual, Eqbal Ahmad, which whom he developed a life-long friendship.[35] In the early 1970’s Hoodbhoy worked actively with People’s Labour Federation, a progressive trade union in Rawalpindi and was part of an independent Marxist group at Islamabad University headed by Professor Faheem Husain. With the advent of martial law in 1977 all union activity was banned and progressive activities forced underground.

Away from his specialized field of research, Hoodbhoy writes and speaks on a variety of topics and is a self-described liberal.[36] New Scientist wrote that he was “Pakistan’s Voice of Reason”[37] while Physics Today described him as fierce opponent of pseudoscience and a global citizen.[38] He has sharply criticized efforts to merge religion with science; the politicization of Islam and growth of religious extremism; Pakistan’s blasphemy law; military dictators and their surrogates in Pakistan; the subjugation of Pakistani women; the takeover of the educational process by religious forces; and opposed jihad for liberating Kashmir and fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan.  

Provoked by General Zia-ul-Haq’s extreme measures to create a new Islamic science, Hoodbhoy authored Islam and Science: Religious Orthodoxy and the Battle for Rationality with a preface by physics Nobel Laureate, Abdus Salam.[39]  This was subsequently translated into 8 languages. The book contends that the rise of Muslim science owed to Muslim openness in an earlier phase of Islam but subsequent closing of the Muslim mind led to the demise of all intellectual production.[40] Hoodbhoy has continued to insist that attitudinal reasons, not paucity of resources, are responsible for the stagnation of the sciences in Islam.[41] Salam and Hoodbhoy jointly authored an essay in 1984 that critiqued Eurocentric claims to developing science.[42]

Salam, an Ahmadi, is reviled in Pakistan for his religious beliefs. In his defence, Hoodbhoy has taken to the media repeatedly.[43] He also features prominently in the video documentary “Salam – the first ****** Nobel Laureate”[44] and is among the notable signatories of the Humanist Manifesto.[45]

In 1996 Hoodbhoy, together with his colleague A.H Nayyar, successfully stopped the sale of Quaid-e-Azam University’s land to politicians and professors, invoking a strong counter-reaction.[46] However, his subsequent attempts to preserve the land from politicians failed.[47] He has been the leading critic of Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission whose policies, he contends, have incentivized academic corruption[48] and created a professor mafia.[49]

Though I know that it is not welcome in my country and people who deviate from the notion that it is an Islamic state, are looked upon disapprovingly, I strongly feel that's what we need to head towards.

Talking to the Hyderabad Literary Festival

Anti-nuclear Activism

While at MIT Hoodbhoy studied under physicists such as Victor Weisskopf, Philip Morrison, and Bernard Feld from the 1940’s Manhattan Project. Their influence helped turn him into becoming the leading voice against the development of nuclear weapons both by India and Pakistan.[50] In 1996, at the behest of Dr. A.Q. Khan, his activism led to his name being placed on the Exit Control List.[51] In 2013 he was the major contributor and editor of Confronting The Bomb – Pakistani And Indian Scientists Speak Out. He is a member of the International Panel on Fissile Materials, based at Princeton University.

Research

Hoodbhoy has made important contributions in physics, particularly in particle physics. Many of Hoodbhoy's recorded lectures on physics are available online.[52] At National Center for Physics, Hoodbhoy conducted research on different aspects of particle physics, and pioneered studies in modern physics and its extension to mathematical and nuclear physics. In 2006, Hoodbhoy published a brief mathematical description of Generalized Parton Distributions. In 2007, Hoodbhoy re-published the work of Jens Lyng Peterson the Maldacena conjecture (a conjectured equivalence between a string theory and gravity defined on one space, and a quantum field theory without gravity defined by one or less dimension) where he contributed mathematically to the theory.[53] In the same year, he re-published the work of Edward Witten on Anti-de Sitter space and its extension to the field of Holography. While the paper was published experimentally in 1998 by Witten, Hoodbhoy provided the brief mathematical proofs and description to understand, logically, the subject of Sitter space— a scalar curvature in general theory of relativity.[54]

On 14 April 2001, it was announced that Dr. Hoodbhoy would be receiving Sitara-i-Imtiaz from the former President, General (retired) Pervez Musharraf which he refused to accept. He said that it would give him no satisfaction. He further added that the award does not imply that you have done good work in your field.[55]

Filmography

From 1991 to 2004 Hoodbhoy hosted and authored three major 13-part documentary series in Urdu on Pakistan Television on popular science and education. To date these have been the only science documentaries produced by PTV.  In 2003 he was the recipient of UNESCO’s 2003 Kalinga Prize for the popularization of science.[56]

Following the nuclear tests of India and Pakistan, Hoodbhoy hosted and produced a 30-minute documentary “Pakistan and India Under the Nuclear Shadow” (2001). With help from Zia Mian, this was followed by a longer documentary on the Kashmir dispute in 2004. It has been the only documentary produced in Pakistan so far that considers the narratives of all three protagonists and is titled, “Crossing the Lines: Kashmir, Pakistan, India”.[57]

Publications

Books

  • Pakistan: Origins, Identity and Future, published by Routledge (London, New York), 2023.
  • Confronting the Bomb – Pakistani and Indian Scientists Speak Out, (edited) Oxford University Press, 2013.
  • Education and the State – Fifty Years of Pakistan, (edited) Oxford University Press, 1998.
  • Islam & Science: Religious Orthodoxy and the Battle for Rationality, published by ZED Books, London, in 1991 with translations in Turkish, Malaysian, Indonesian, Arabic, Spanish, Sindhi, and Urdu.
  • Proceedings of School on Fundamental Physics and Cosmology, co-edited with A. Ali, World Scientific, Singapore, 1991.

Scientific papers and articles

Appearances in TV shows

  • Raaste Ilm ke (Pathways to Knowledge) on PTV, 1988
  • Asrar-e-Jahan (Mysteries of the Universe) on PTV, 1995
  • Bazm-e-Kainat (Gathering of all Creation) on PTV, 2003
  • Alif on Geo TV. Debate with Jawed Ghamidi, 2006
  • Aik Din Geo Kay Saath on Geo TV, February 2010
  • Capital Talk on Geo TV, 29 August 2012
  • Among the Believers (Netflix), 2015
  • Salam-The first Nobel laureate (Netflix) 2018

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ , Curriculum vitae of Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy
  2. ↑ Notezai, Muhammad Akbar. "Interview: Pervez Hoodbhoy". thediplomat.com. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  3. ↑ "Calling Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy 'jahil' can only happen in Pakistan". The Express Tribune. 30 October 2013. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  4. ↑ Story of Pervez Hoodbhoy - Episode 1 - Lt Gen (R) Amjad Shoaib, retrieved 6 December 2023
  5. ↑ No, Gen. Shoaib, I'm Not A Traitor – Part One, retrieved 6 December 2023
  6. ↑ "In Islamic Pakistan, physicist and global citizen Pervez Hoodbhoy takes advantage of a January media spotlight". pubs.aip.org. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  7. ↑ "Physics/Math Tutorials by Pervez Hoodbhoy – The Black Hole". Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  8. ↑ "Physics Math Tutorials".
  9. ↑ "Physics". web.archive.org. 13 February 2015. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  10. ↑ "LUMS SSE | VPDT". www.shoaworks.com. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  11. ↑ "BoS - Pervez Hoodbhoy". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  12. ↑ "International Seminar on Nuclear War and Planetary Emergencies, 46th session [electronic resource] : the role of science in the third millennium..., "E. Majorana" Centre for Scientific Culture, Erice, Italy, 19-24 August 2013 in SearchWorks catalog". searchworks.stanford.edu. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  13. ↑ "Member (Pervez HOODBHOY) | Asia-Pacific Leadership Network". www.apln.network. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  14. ↑ "Pervez Hoodbhoy". Project Syndicate. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  15. ↑ "News stories for Pervez Hoodbhoy - DAWN.COM". www.dawn.com. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  16. ↑ Hoodbhoy, Pervez (21 April 2015). "Opinion | Pakistan, the Saudis' Indispensable Nuclear Partner". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  17. ↑ Hoodbhoy, Pervez Amir Ali (30 December 2001). "How Islam Lost Its Way: Yesterday's Achievements Were Golden". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  18. ↑ "Pervez Hoodbhoy - Prospect Magazine". www.prospectmagazine.co.uk. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  19. ↑ "Pervez Hoodbhoy, Author at The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  20. ↑ "Abdus Salam Award". www.scientificlib.com. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  21. ↑ "Pervez Hoodbhoy", Wikipedia, 30 October 2023, retrieved 6 December 2023
  22. ↑ Sciences (TWAS), The World Academy of (17 December 2023). "TWAS Regional Awards". TWAS. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  23. ↑ "Mayer Award Recipients | Tufts Global Leadership". www.tuftsgloballeadership.org. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  24. ↑ "Prize Recipient". www.aps.org. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  25. ↑ Staff, F. P. (18 December 2023). "The FP Top 100 Global Thinkers". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  26. ↑ "Secretary-General Appoints Replacements for Outgoing Members of Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters | UN Press". press.un.org. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  27. ↑ "Pervez Hoodbhoy's Citation | Graduation at UBC". graduation.ubc.ca. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  28. ↑ "'Deterrence will not always work'". Frontline. 7 June 2002. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  29. ↑ "Pervez". Archived from the original on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
  30. ↑ "Pervez Hoodbhoy: Aik Din Geo Kay Sath".
  31. ↑ "CV of Pervez Hoodbhoy".
  32. ↑ "Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy fired from LUMS".
  33. ↑ "Hoodbhoy resigns from FC College after administration terms contract 'non-renewable'". The Express Tribune. 3 July 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  34. ↑ Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy - Why I Resigned from Forman Christian College, retrieved 22 December 2023
  35. ↑ Hoodbhoy, Pervez; Said, Edward W. "Confronting Empire". haymarketbooks.org. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  36. ↑ Notezai, Muhammad Akbar. "Interview: Pervez Hoodbhoy". thediplomat.com. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  37. ↑ "Interview: Pakistan's voice of reason".
  38. ↑ "In Islamic Pakistan, physicist and global citizen Pervez Hoodbhoy takes advantage of a January media spotlight".
  39. ↑ bloomsbury.com. "Islam and Science". Bloomsbury. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  40. ↑ Quarterly, Middle East; Pp. 69-74 (1 January 2010). "Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy: "Islam and Science Have Parted Ways"". Middle East Quarterly.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  41. ↑ "Science and the Islamic world—The quest for rapprochement".
  42. ↑ "Book Preface by Abdus Salam and Hoodbhoy" (PDF).
  43. ↑ Hoodbhoy, Pervez (7 November 2020). "Salam's face blackened". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  44. ↑ Kamalakar, Anand (6 January 2018), Salam - The First ****** Nobel Laureate (Documentary), retrieved 22 December 2023
  45. ↑ "Notable Signers". web.archive.org. 5 October 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  46. ↑ "A state and its death sentences". Himal Southasian. 1 July 1996. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  47. ↑ Hoodbhoy, Pervez (29 December 2018). "QAU's land is PTI's litmus test". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  48. ↑ Hoodbhoy, Pervez (29 November 2014). "Misjudging universities". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  49. ↑ Hoodbhoy, Pervez (1 July 2017). "Pakistan's professor mafia". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  50. ↑ "Margolis Lecture - Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy". www.socsci.uci.edu. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  51. ↑ "A Hero's Meltdown".
  52. ↑ "General Physics Lectures In English".
  53. ↑ Peterson, Jens Lyng; Dr. Prof. Pervez Hoodbhoy (28–31 December 2009). Introduction to Maldacena conjecture (PDF). Islamabad, Islamabad Capital Territory: Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy of National Center for Physics; Second National Winter Meeting on Particles and Fields and Jens Lyng Peterson. p. 41. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
  54. ↑ Witten, Dr. Prof. Edward; Dr. Prof. Pervez Hoodbhoy (28–31 December 2009). Anti de Sitter Space and Holography (PDF). Islamabad, Islamabad Capital Territory: Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy of National Center for Physics; Second National Winter Meeting on Particles and Fields and Edward Witten (1998). p. 41. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
  55. ↑ Hoodbhoy, Pervez (23 April 2001). "Refusing The Sitara-I-Imtiaz". Archived from the original on 21 November 2010.
  56. ↑ "Category:Kalinga Prize recipients", Wikipedia, 6 July 2019, retrieved 22 December 2023
  57. ↑ "Margolis Lecture - Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy". www.socsci.uci.edu. Retrieved 22 December 2023.

Further reading

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