Pervez Hoodbhoy

Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy (Urdu: پرویز امِیرعلی ہودبھائی; born 11 July 1950) is a Pakistani nuclear physicist and activist who serves as Zohra and ZZ Ahmed Foundation distinguished professor at the Forman Christian College and previously taught physics at the Quaid-e-Azam University.[4][5] Hoodbhoy is also a prominent activist in particular concerned with promotion of freedom of speech, secularism, scientific temper and education in Pakistan.[6][7]

Pervez Hoodbhoy
Born (1950-07-11) 11 July 1950
Karachi, Sindh Province, West 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
InfluencesAbdus Salam, Eqbal Ahmad, George Bernard Shaw,[2] Bertrand Russell[3]

Born and raised in Karachi, Hoodbhoy studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for nine years, where he received degrees in electrical engineering, mathematics and solid-state physics, eventually leading to a PhD in nuclear physics. In 1981, Hoodbhoy went on to conduct post-doctoral research at the University of Washington, before leaving to serve as a visiting professor at the Carnegie Mellon University in 1985. While still a professor at the Quaid-e-Azam University, Hoodbhoy worked as a guest scientist at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics from 1986 to 1994. He remained with the Quaid-e-Azam University until 2010, throughout which he held visiting professorships at MIT, University of Maryland and Stanford Linear Collider.[8]

In 2011, Hoodbhoy joined LUMS while also working as a researcher with Princeton University and as copa columnist with the Express Tribune. His contract with LUMS was terminated in 2013 which resulted in a controversy.[9] He is a sponsor of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, and a member of the monitoring panel on terrorism of the World Federation of Scientists.[10] Hoodbhoy has won several awards including the Abdus Salam Prize for Mathematics (1984);[11] the Kalinga Prize for the popularization of science (2003);[12] the Burton Award (2010)[13] from the American Physical Society. In 2011, he was included in the list of 100 most influential global thinkers by Foreign Policy.[14] In 2013, he was made a member of the UN Secretary General's Advisory Board on Disarmament.[15]

Hoodbhoy remains one of Pakistan's most prominent academics.[16] He is the author of Islam and Science: Religious Orthodoxy and the Battle for Rationality[17] He is the head of Mashal Books in Lahore, which claims to make "a major translation effort to produce books in Urdu that promote modern thought, human rights, and emancipation of women". Hoodbhoy has written for Project Syndicate, DAWN,[18][19] The New York Times and The Express Tribune.[20][21] Hoodbhoy is generally considered one of the most vocal, progressive and liberal members of the Pakistani intelligentsia.[22] His daughter, Alia Amirali, is also a well-known feminist and political activist.

Early life and education

Born and raised in Karachi, Sindh, Hoodbhoy passed the competitive O-Level and A-Level exams after attending the famed Karachi Grammar School.[23] After earning a scholarship, Hoodbhoy went to the United States to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).[24] While attending the MIT in Massachusetts, Hoodbhoy worked for a local Pakistani restaurant based in Massachusetts to support his studies and showed a great interest in electronics and mathematics.[25]

At MIT, Hoodbhoy graduated with double BSc in Electrical Engineering and mathematics in 1971, followed by MS in physics with a concentration in solid-state physics in 1973.[26] After graduation, Hoodbhoy joined the Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU) as a researcher and renewed his scholarship to resume his studies in the United States.[27]

Hoodbhoy continued his research in doctoral studies in physics at the MIT, and was awarded PhD in nuclear physics in 1978.[27] In the United States, his collaboration took place with the scientists who participated in well known Manhattan Project in the 1940s, who subsequently influenced in his philosophy.[27] Hoodbhoy remained a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Washington, for a short time.[26] In 1973, Hoodbhoy joined the Institute of Physics of the University of Engineering and Technology in Lahore.[26]

Career

Academia

Hoodbhoy focused his research career extensively on quantum field theory, particle phenomenology, and supersymmetry in the area of particle physics.[26] After receiving PhD from MIT, Hoodbhoy met Riazuddin and Abdus Salam– the prominent Pakistani physicists who were visiting the MIT to give lectures on particle physics. Subsequently, he joined the group of Pakistani physicists at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy.[28] At ICTP, Hoodbhoy collaborated with Pakistan's leading theoretical physicists who worked under Abdus Salam in the 1970s.[28]

After ICTP work, Hoodbhoy returned to Pakistan to join Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU) where he began teaching and lecturing on physics. Eventually, he became chairman of Institute of Theoretical Physics (now department of physics). After spending more than 30 years at Qau, Hoodbhoy moved to Lahore where he joined the Lahore University of Management Sciences as a visiting professor, while remains a visiting scientist at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.[26] Controversy over his contract in LUMS sparked an academic debate when it was reported in the news media that Hoodbhoy's email to Vice-Chancellor of LUMS was made public.[29][30] Eventually, Hoodbhoy moved to Forman Christian College University permanently and joined the senior staff to instructed courses on physics.[4]

Prior to his return to Pakistan in 1976, the secretive development program on nuclear deterrence was near completion and Hoodbhoy was aware of the program.[31] Hoodbhoy maintains his close ties with Pakistan's vibrant nuclear society, and had collaborated with many of country's leading theoretical physicists throughout his career, mainly with Ishfaq Ahmad.[31] On several occasions, Hoodbhoy staunchly countered Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan's "father-of" claims, and roundly criticized his academic research on nuclear physics.[32] In the 1980s, he famously debated with Bashiruddin Mahmood on the topics of sunspots, life-after-death, and philosophy.[33]

In 1999, Hoodbhoy with Ishfaq Ahmad and Riazuddin, played a major and influential role in the establishment of National Center for Physics (NCP), becoming one of the earliest academic scientists who joined the NCP at its inception.

Hoodbhoy has roundly criticized the development on nuclear weapons, especially its extension to South Asia, mainly by India and Pakistan.[34] In 2011, Hoodbhoy held India responsible for Pakistan's symmetric nuclear weapons programme as part of Pakistan's self-credible deterrence.[34] According to Hoodbhoy, India's nuclear tests forced Pakistan to jump into the nuclear arena in 1974, and again in 1998, after war-threatening statements were made by Indian government to Pakistan; Pakistan equalised this magnitude over the nuclear edge that same month.[34] While believing that Pakistan's nuclear deterrence has protected the country from any foreign aggression and preventing from numerous war threatening situations with India, Hoodbhoy on the other hand has raised concerns about the security of nuclear arsenals on the possibility of radicals gaining control.[34]

Activism

Hoodbhoy is a prominent sponsor of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, representing the Pakistan's delegation.[35]

Apart from his specialist field of research, Hoodbhoy extensively writes and speaks on topics ranging from science in Islam to education and arms disarmament issues around the world.[36] He is author of Islam and Science: Religious Orthodoxy and the Battle for Rationality, that has been translated into five languages.[37] In this book, Hoodbhoy outlines the history of Pakistan, implications of theocracy and martial law in Pakistan, and the textbook revival in education system of Pakistan. His articles on various issues related to science and social issues are often published in international media. His publications are repeatedly published in both technical and non-technical papers.

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

Hoodbhoy widely writes about the role and modernisation of Pakistan military, particularly the defence budget spending by the Pakistan government on the military. In an interview on secularism, he mentioned that obsession with scientific-religious apophenia may have caused lack of scientific advancement among Muslims in recent years.[38] In 2003 he was one the signers of the Humanist Manifesto.[39] Hoodbhoy criticized the partition of India, calling it an "unspeakable tragedy" that "separated people who at one time could live together in peace".[40]

Hoodbhoy has criticized the Pakistan Higher Education Commission (HEC) for pursuing "a drive to achieve numbers rather than quality".[41] He believes that because of "policies that reward authors of research articles and PhD supervisors with cash and promotions", universities in Pakistan have "turned into factories producing junk papers and PhDs."[42] He has been a harsh critic on the performance of HEC since 2003 when it was led by Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman, and the issue has led to heated debates in Pakistan's news media.[43]

In 2009 Hoodbhoy came into conflict with Atta-ur-Rahman, an organic chemist, over the Higher Education Commission (HEC). In the United States, the journal Nature published an article on the successes and failures of the HEC.[44] Hoodbhoy wrote to complain about, among other things, the article's failure to mention (what Hoodbhoy called) "the billions wasted on mindless prestige mega-projects".[43] In the debate on HEC Adil Najam, Abdul Qadeer Khan, and Atta-ur-Rehman defended the HEC while agreeing with some of Hoodbhoy's criticism.[43]

Administrative competency of HEC was called into question by Hoodbhoy who describe the HEC's achievement "dismal".[45] Hoodbhoy supported his arguments against HEC's productivity, that in the case of UESTP-France convention in Karachi, out of an expected faculty strength of between 450 and 600, no French faculty or administrative staff actually arrived.[45] At the television debate, Hoodbhoy questioned the statistics used to support the positive appraisal of HEC's activities in a series of communications between Hoodbhoy and HEC chairman Atta-Ur-Rehman.[46][47] It was claimed by the latter that in mathematics, Pakistani authors received 20% more citations than the worldwide average. Hoodbhoy questioned this on several grounds including the number of self-citations these publications received and said that this was a crucial aspect that the HEC left out of its interpretation. Criticism was leveled by Hoodbhoy at the practice of hiring those foreign academics in local universities who were said to have difficulty in communicating and teaching, although they contributed to boosting the number of research publications originating from Pakistani universities.

Research

Hoodbhoy has made important contributions in physics, particularly in particle physics. Many of Hoodbhoy's recorded lectures on physics are available online.[48] 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.[49] 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.[50]

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. His refusal prompted the Friday Times to interview him.

I am reasonably [satisfied] with my (scientific) work... I do not think it is earth-shaking or... that it deserves any kind of [award]. On the other hand, receiving an [award] – even if it is a high national award – would give me absolutely no sense of achievement or satisfaction... because it carries no credibility or prestige in professional circles. Such things do not indicate that you have done good work in your field. Therefore I decided to refuse the award.

— Pervez Hoodbhoy, issued the statement on The Friday Times, 2001, [51]

Filmography

He produced a 13-part documentary series in Urdu for Pakistan Television on critical issues in education, and two series aimed at popularising science. In 2004, he made a documentary film 'Crossing the Lines: Kashmir, Pakistan, India' along with Dr. Zia Mian.[52] These documentaries carry heavy emphasis on the issues of education, public health and scientific revolution in Pakistan.

In his documentaries, Dr. Hoodbhoy has heavily criticised Pakistan and India's nuclear weapons program. He also pointed out the seriousness of the Talibanization in Pakistan and its immediate effects on South Asia. His documentaries also point out that American and NATO forces in Afghanistan didn't help the Afghan people's life and there was no reform in Afghanistan's social and public sector and, instead, the insurgency and corruption grew, which also destabilised Pakistan's western front.[37]

  • Crossing the Lines: Kashmir, Pakistan, India (2004)
  • The Bell Tolls for Planet Earth (2003)
  • Pakistan and India Under the Nuclear Shadow (2001)

Publications

Books
  • Education and the State: Fifty Years Of Pakistan Oxford University Press, 1998. ISBN 978-0-19-577825-0
  • Islam and Science: Religious Orthodoxy and the Battle for Rationality Zed Books, London, 1992. ISBN 978-1-85649-025-2, (Translations in Arabic, Indonesian, Malaysian, Turkish, Japanese, and Urdu)
  • (Co-Edited with A. Ali), Proceedings of the School on Fundamental Physics and Cosmology World Scientific, Singapore, 1991.
  • (With A. H. Nayyar), "Rewriting the History of Pakistan", in Islam, Politics and the State: The Pakistan Experience, Ed. Mohammad Asghar Khan, Zed Books, London, 1986. ISBN 978-0-86232-471-1

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
  • Salam-The first Nobel laureate (NETFLIX) 2018

Notes
  1. , Curriculum vitae of Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 31 December 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Dr. Sohail Interview, Retrieved 29 March 2012
  3. Dr. K. Sohail (February 2000). "How Difficult it is to Help People Change their Thinking – Interview with Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy". Archived from the original on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 31 December 2013. Pervez: "I started reading the plays of Bernard Shaw and later on, the works of Bertrand Russell. That had such an impact on me that it bowled me over and by the time I was 15, I was lost, lost to "all good things"."
  4. FCC University. "Faculty of Physics at FCC University". fccollege.edu.pk. Forman College University Press. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  5. "Dr Hoodbhoy at FCC". The Nation. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  6. Diplomat, Muhammad Akbar Notezai, The. "Interview: Pervez Hoodbhoy". The Diplomat. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
  7. "How to spot the crackpot — pseudoscience in Pakistan".
  8. "Curriculum vitae for Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy" (PDF).
  9. "The Pervez Hoodbhoy-LUMS dispute – The Express Tribune". 30 October 2012. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  10. "PMP – Terrorism". www.federationofscientists.org. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
  11. "About Pervez Hoodbhoy". Retrieved 27 May 2015.
  12. "Kalinga award for Dr Hoodbhoy". Retrieved 27 May 2015.
  13. "Prize Recipient". www.aps.org. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
  14. "The FP Top 100 Global Thinkers". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
  15. "Secretary-General Appoints Replacements for Outgoing Members of Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases". www.un.org. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
  16. Hoodbhoy, Pervez (23 January 2016). "Back from the enemy country". DAWN.COM.
  17. Hoodbhoy, Pervez (1 January 1991). Islam and Science: Religious Orthodoxy and the Battle for Rationality. Zed Books. ISBN 9781856490245.
  18. Hoodbhoy, Pervez (21 April 2018). "What India owes to Nehru". DAWN.COM.
  19. Hoodbhoy, Pervez (27 July 2019). "Pakistan's slice of the moon". DAWN.COM.
  20. "Pervez Hoodbhoy – Project Syndicate". www.project-syndicate.org. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  21. Hoodbhoy, Pervez (21 April 2015). "Pakistan, the Saudis' Indispensable Nuclear Partner". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  22. "Calling Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy 'jahil' can only happen in Pakistan". Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  23. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 31 December 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  24. "A Day with Geo: Interview with Pervez Hoodbhoy". Islamabad. 28 April 2011. 30:00 minutes in. Geo News. Missing or empty |series= (help)
  25. http://www.newslinemagazine.com/2012/08/interview-dr-pervez-hoodbhoy/
  26. "Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy". Global Zero. Global Zero. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
  27. Parvez Hood Bhoy (2010). ADGKS Parvez Hood Bhoy 187605 C1.mp4 (Television Production). Geo TV.
  28. Hoodbhoy, Pervez. "Fascinating encounters: Prof Abdus Salam". Hoodbhoy. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
  29. Shaukat, Aroosa (25 October 2012). "LUMS vs Hoodbhoy: I'm losing job for 'ideological reasons', says professor". Express Tribune, 2012. Express Tribune. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  30. Haider, Ejaz (30 October 2012). "The Pervez Hoodbhoy-LUMS dispute". Express Tribune. Express Tribune. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  31. Hoodbhoy, Pervez (30 November 2013). "The Man Who Designed Pakistan's Bomb". Special biographical article in the honor of Dr. Riazuddin. Islamabad, Pakistan: Newsweek, 2013. Newsweek. p. 5. Archived from the original on 30 November 2013. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  32. Khan, Feroz Hassan (2012). Eating grass : the making of the Pakistani bomb. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0804776004.
  33. Bergen, Peter L. (2011). "§Quixotic Quest". The longest war : the enduring conflict between America and al-Qaeda (1st Free Press trade paperback edition) New York: Free Press. ISBN 0743278941.
  34. Hoodbhoy, Pervez Amerali (23 January 2011). "Pakistan's nuclear bayonet". The Herald. Archived from the original on 18 February 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  35. CGPACS (2006) 15th Annual Margolis Lecture with Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy. The Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies. University of California, Irvine. 12 May. Retrieved on 22 May 2008
  36. Hoodbhoy (1998) Talk by Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy on nuclear tests in the Indian subcontinent. The Alliance, Pakistan Students Society at MIT, and the MIT Program in Science, Technology, and Society. 12 May. Retrieved on 22 May 2008
  37. (FPS), Fulbright Scholar Program (2007). "U.S. and Non U.S. Scholar: Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy". Global Zero. Fulbright Program. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
  38. Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy: "Islam and Science Have Parted Ways"; Interview in Middle East Quarterly; Winter 2010, pp. 69–74, Retrieved 2 March 2012
  39. "Notable Signers". Humanism and Its Aspirations. American Humanist Association. Archived from the original on 5 October 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  40. "Pak was born in a state of confusion: Hoodbhoy". The Times of India. 10 January 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  41. Shehzad, Rizwan (23 December 2012). "Hoodbhoy feels restructuring better than saving old HEC". Tribune.com.pk. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  42. Hoodbhoy, Pervez (29 November 2014). "Misjudging universities". Dawn. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  43. Najam, Adil (9 September 2009). "Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy Responds to Nature Article on Pakistan's Higher Education Reform". Pakistaniaat. Pakistaniaat. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2015.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  44. Najam, Adil. "Pakistan in Higher Education". Pakistaniat, 2009. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  45. Hassan, Shazia (12 December 2012). "HEC lost track by focusing on quantity rather than quality'". Dawn newspapers, 2012. Dawn newspapers, 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  46. "HEC's performance by Atta ur Rehman". Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  47. Hoodbhoy. "The HEC Controvery [sic]- Separating Fact and fiction". Vimeo.
  48. "General Physics Lectures In English".
  49. 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.
  50. 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.
  51. Hoodbhoy, Pervez (23 April 2001). "Refusing The Sitara-I-Imtiaz". Archived from the original on 21 November 2010.
  52. CGPACS (2006) Crossing the Lines: Kashmir, Pakistan, India

Further reading
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