Luminaries of - GC University Lahore

Luminaries at GCU Lahore
GCU Prospectus 2014 197
Luminaries of
Government College University Lahore
Nobel Laureates
Our Past is as Dear to Us as Our Present
150 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE
198 GCU Prospectus 2014
Prof. Dr. Har Gobind Khorana
(January 9, 1922 - November 9, 2011)
The grandeur of Government College University
Lahore is not in its hallways and traditions alone
but it also extends to a great number of students,
who after passing through these portals of
knowledge have gone out into the world and have
made their alma mater proud. One such person is
Har Gobind Khorana, a student of this esteemed
institute.
Khorana is one of the few people to have received
the Nobel Prize. A poor albeit brilliant child of a
village taxation officer, Khorana was home
schooled by his father until high school, after which
he joined the Government College Lahore in
1943. He earned his BSc and then later his MSc
from the College. For his PhD he was accepted by
the University of Liverpool and later went on to do
his postdoctoral studies in Zurich. Khorana proved
to be an exceptionally gifted person. He joined the
teaching profession and taught in institutes like
Cambridge University, University of British
Columbia, Vancouver and the University of
Wisconsin-Madison. In 1970 Khorana became the
Alfred Sloan Professor of Biology and Chemistry at
the celebrated Massachusetts Institute of
150 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE
Nobel Laureates
Technology where he worked until his retirement.
Khorana is credited with receiving the Nobel Prize
for his work in Chemistry for his research that
helped show the internal working anatomy of a
cell's synthesis of proteins. Not only this but he
also received the National Medal of Science in
1966 and became a member of the Board of
Scientific Governors at The Scripps Research
Institute. In 2007 the Indo-US Science and
Technology Forum jointly started the Khorana
Program.
It is an honour worth mentioning that Khorana
went on to become one of the most influential
people in his field of study. Moreover, the training
and motivation that helped him throughout his life
started from this very College. Government
College University Lahore is proud of this
exceptional alumnus. There is always hope that a
new Har Gobind Khorana will one day again rise
from this institute and take it to new heights.
Nobel Laureates
GCU Prospectus 2014 199
Prof. Dr. Abdus Salam
(January 29, 1926 - November 21, 1996)
very own institution, Salam went back to
Cambridge
Being Underdeveloped Country Pakistan lags
behind the rest of the world, especially when it
comes to science. The lack of equipment and
research facilities make it difficult to conduct
research and experiments. Still it is heart-warming
to know that even with limited resources a
Pakistani scientist was able to achieve a miracle in
the field of Physics. The person being referred to is
none other than Prof. Dr. Abdus Salam. He is
credited with being the only Pakistani scientist to
receive a Nobel Prize. The only one for Pakistan,
but a second one for Government College
University Lahore. Prof. Dr. Salam owns a
distinctive space in the history of this great
institution.
where he was offered a lectureship. At the age of
31, he became Professor of Physics at Imperial
College London in 1957. For his numerous
contributions to the field of Physics, he received
many awards. More than 30 Academies/Societies
of the world made Professor Salam their fellow or
member including the Royal Society London.
More than 40 universities of the world awarded
him D.Sc. Honoris Causa. However the most
distinctive award was the Nobel Prize in 1979.
Born in the small town of Jhang, Salam showed
great promise since childhood. He was an
exceptionally bright student. He scored the
highest marks ever recorded in the history of the
matriculation system. Salam then joined
Government College where he stayed for 4 years.
During his final year, he published a research paper
which boldly challenged the theories of a
mathematician of the Sub-continent, Ramanujan.
He later studied in Cambridge University from
where he did his PhD in Theoretical Physics. After
staying in Pakistan and teaching Mathematics at his
It should be noted that Ravians are recognized by
not only their devotion to their work, but also to
humanity. Prof. Dr. Salam continued this tradition
by his humanitarian work. For his contributions
towards peace and promotion of International
Science Collaboration, he was presented with the
Atoms for Peace Medal and Award. The ICTP
(International Center for Theoretical Physics)
Trieste, Italy has preserved all his documents,
awards and personal collection of books in a
separate room called Salam's Room in the Library
of the Centre. The Government College
University has indeed been lucky to have Prof. Dr.
Salam as a student.
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200 GCU Prospectus 2014
Balraj Sahni
Luminaries at GCU Lahore
N M Rashid
Bano Qudsiya
Sufi Tabussam
Usman Peerzada
Dev Anand
Mehboo-ul-Haq
Faiz Ahmed Faiz
Majid Khan
Hadiqa Kiyani
Faryal Gohar
150 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE
Ali Zafar
Shafqat Amanat Ali
Aisam-ul-Haq
GCU Prospectus 2014 201
Institutional Heads
“Our Past is as Dear to Us as Our Present”
G. W. Leitner
1864-86
T. C. Lewis
1886-91
C. R. Stulpnagel
1891-92
W. Bell
1892-95
S. Robson
1898-12
Lt. Col. J. Stephenson
1912-19
A. S. Hemmy
1919-27
H. L. O. Garret
1927-36
H. B. Dunnicliff
1936-39
G. D. Sondhi
1939-45
E. Dickenson
1945-47
Ahmed Shah Bukhari
1947-50
U. Karamet
1950
Sirajuddin
1950-54
Qazi M. Aslam
1954
Kh. Manzoor Hussain
1954-58
Nazir Ahmed
1959-65
M. Rashid
1965-67
Ashfaq Ali Khan
1967-70
M. A. Khan
1970
M. Ajmal
1970-1972
M. S. Kaleem
1972-1974
Fiza-ur-Rehman Khan
1974-81
A. Majid Awan
1981-93
Prof. Dr. Khalid Aftab
1993-2011
Prof. Dr. M. Khaleeq-ur-Rahman
2011- to date
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202 GCU Prospectus 2014
150 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE