Pervez Hoodbhoy

Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy is a Pakistani nuclear physicist and author who serves as a prominent member of the country's intelligentsia. He is recognized for his vocal advocacy regarding secularism, freedom of speech, and scientific education. As a progressive thinker, he maintains a strong opposition to nuclear weapons.

Early life and education

Hoodbhoy was born on 11 July 1950 in Karachi, Sindh. He grew up within the Sindhi Khoja Ismaili Shia community. His maternal grandparents originated from the city of Jhirk near Hyderabad. He attended the Karachi Grammar School for his initial schooling before moving to the United States at age 19.

He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on a scholarship to pursue higher education. To fund his studies, he worked various odd jobs, including roles as a campus janitor and in restaurants. He completed a double major in Mathematics and Electric Engineering, followed by an MEng in Physics in 1973.

After his initial studies, he joined Islamabad University as a junior lecturer in October 1973. He returned to MIT to conduct research on nuclear structure theory under Professor John W. Negele. In 1978, he earned a doctorate in nuclear physics with a thesis titled "Time Dependent Correlations in Nuclear Dynamics".

Career

Hoodbhoy's professional research focuses on particle phenomenology, quantum chromodynamics, and the quark-gluon structure of nuclei. He has published various papers concerning skyrmion physics, Berry phases, and quantum Hall phenomena. His academic journey includes a post-doctoral research position at the University of Washington in 1981.

He served as a visiting professor at Carnegie Mellon University during a sabbatical year in 1986. While maintaining his role at Quaid-e-Azam University, he held visiting professorships at both MIT and the University of Maryland. He also worked as a guest scientist at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics.

His teaching career expanded to other institutions including LUMS and FCCU. From 2011 to 2013, he was a professor of physics at the Lahore University of Management Sciences. He later served as a distinguished professor at Forman Christian College-University until his contract ended in 2020. Hoodbhoy currently holds a position as an adjunct professor of physics at the University of New Brunswick in Canada.

Beyond academia, he has been active in publishing and social activism since 1989. He heads Mashal Books in Lahore, which focuses on translating works that promote human rights and women's emancipation. In 2021, he helped establish The Black Hole, a community space for science and art in Islamabad.

As an activist, he has criticized the politicization of Islam and the growth of religious extremism. He authored the book *Islam and Science: Religious Orthodoxy and the Battle for Rationality* to address the stagnation of scientific thought. His political philosophy was influenced by Noam Chomsky and his friendship with Eqbal Ahmad.

Personal life

Hoodbhoy has been married twice during his life. His first marriage was to Hajra Ahmed, who is the niece of activist Eqbal Ahmad. They have two daughters together, including the political activist Alia Amirali. The couple divorced in 2009.

He later married Sadia Manzoor, a fellow physics professor. This marriage occurred late in life and they do not have children together. He has one elder brother and three sisters, including the reporter Nafisa Hoodbhoy.

Awards and recognition

The physicist has received several prestigious honors throughout his career. He won the Abdus Salam Prize for Mathematics in 1984. In 2003, he was awarded the Kalinga Prize for the popularization of science.

His accolades include the TWAS-ROCASA prize and the Jean Meyer Award for global citizenship. The American Physical Society presented him with the Joseph A. Burton Forum Award in 2010. In 2011, *Foreign Policy* included him on a list of 100 influential global thinkers.

He served on the UN Secretary General's advisory board on Disarmament from 2013 to 2017. In 2019, he received an honorary doctorate of law from the University of British Columbia. Although the Pakistan government selected him for the Sitara-i-Imtiaz in 2001, Hoodbhoy turned down the award. He stated that non-scientists were not capable of judging scientific work.