Iqbal Hussain Qureshi

{{Infobox scientist

| name =Iqbal Hussain Qureshi

| native_name =

| native_name_lang =

| image =

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_date ={{Birth date|df=yes|1937|09|27}}

| birth_place =Ajmer, Rajasthan, British India
{{small|(Present-day, in Rajasthan in India)}}

| death_date ={{Death date and age|df=yes|2012|12|8|1937|09|27}}

| death_place =Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan

| resting_place =Gizri Cemetery

| resting_place_coordinates =

| other_names =

| citizenship =Pakistan

| nationality =Pakistani

| fields =Nuclear chemistry

| workplaces =Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC)
Institute of Applied Sciences
Nuclear Regulatory Authority
National Bureau of Standards

| alma_mater =Sindh University
University of Michigan
University of Tokyo

| thesis_title =Radiochemical separations by Amalgam exchange

| thesis_url =https://www.osti.gov/biblio/4657106-radiochemical-separations-amalgam-exchange

| thesis_year =1963

| doctoral_advisor = Takashi Mukaibo

| academic_advisors = W. W. Meinke

| doctoral_students =

| notable_students =

| known_for =Pakistan's nuclear deterrence program
Radiochemistry and isotope separation

| author_abbrev_bot =

| author_abbrev_zoo =

| influences =

| influenced =

| awards =Sitara-i-Imtiaz (1992)
Khwarizmi Award (1997)

| signature =

| signature_alt =

| website = [http://paspk.org/wp-content/uploads/proceedings/50,%20No.1/384d3fd0Obituary%20Dr.%20Iqbal%20H.%20Qureshi.pdf Eulogy by N.M. Butt]

| footnotes =

| spouse =

| children =

}}

Iqbal Hussain Qureshi (Urdu:اقبال حسين قریشی) 27 September 1937 – 8 December 2012) {{small|SI, FPAS}},{{cite news|title=Deceased Fellows|url=http://paspk.org/pages.php?id=26&page=4|access-date=15 December 2013|newspaper=Pakistan Academy of Sciences|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20131215064650/http://paspk.org/pages.php?id=26&page=4|archive-date=15 December 2013}} best known as I.H. Qureshi, was a Pakistani nuclear chemist and an Emeritus professor of chemistry at the University of Karachi. Qureshi was the principal contributor of scientific understanding of various chemical elements: bismuth, cobalt, strontium, thallium, tritium, iron, rubidium, and zinc.{{rp|1–68}}{{cite book |last1=Qureshi |first1=Iqbal Hessain |title=Radiochemical Separation by Amalgam Exchange |date=1963 |publisher=United States Atomic Energy Commission, Technical Information Service Extension |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PXCXk2cEC48C |access-date=11 May 2020 |language=en}}{{cite web |title=Search for All Records {{!}} OSTI.GOV |url=https://www.osti.gov/search/author:%22Qureshi,%20I.H.%22 |website=www.osti.gov |access-date=11 May 2020}}

His career was mostly spent with the Government of Pakistan after leaving his research work at the national laboratories, and advising the government on nuclear policy issues. He pushed his influential role at the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (PNRA) and the peaceful applications of nuclear science. He spent many years as an educator and research scientist at the Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences in Nilore before taking a professorship at the Karachi University.

Biography

Iqbal Hussain Qureshi was born on 27 September 1937 in Ajmer, Rajasthan in India where he received his early education. Following the Partition of India in 1947, his family emigrated to Pakistan and settled in Hyderabad, Sindh, where he matriculated from a public high school.{{cite web|last=Butt|first=Noor M.|title=Obituary: Dr. Iqbal Hussain Qureshi|url=http://www.paspk.org/proceedings/50,%20No.1/384d3fd0Obituary%20Dr.%20Iqbal%20H.%20Qureshi.pdf|publisher=N.M. Butt, Pakistan Academy of Sciences|access-date=15 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150620130135/http://www.paspk.org/proceedings/50,%20No.1/384d3fd0Obituary%20Dr.%20Iqbal%20H.%20Qureshi.pdf|archive-date=20 June 2015|url-status=dead}} He was a child prodigy, being accepted at the Sindh University in his teenage years to study chemistry.{{rp|88–89}}{{Citation | last =Staff | title =Biographical Encyclopedia of Pakistan | place =Islamabad | publisher =National Archives of Pakistan | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=zWxmAAAAMAAJ&q=iqbal+hussain+qureshi+chemistry | id =zWxmAAAAMAAJ | year = 1970}} In 1956, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in chemistry from the Sindh University and was noted in newspapers for his top standing in his class, winning the silver medallion with his degree.{{rp|89}} He continued his studies at the Sindh University, and graduated in 1958 with a Master of Science (MSc) in chemistry with Gold medallion.{{rp|88}}

After earning a scholarship from the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) in 1960, Qureshi went to the United States to attend the University of Michigan and graduated in 1962 with an MSc in nuclear chemistry.{{rp|97}}{{cite book |last1=Michigan |first1=University of |title=Commencement Programs |date=1962 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nT-fAAAAMAAJ&q=qureshi |access-date=11 May 2020 |language=en-us |format=googlebooks |chapter={{small|Master of Science}}}} He went to Japan for his doctoral studies, attending the University of Tokyo where in 1963 he defended his thesis, "Radiochemical separations by Amalgam exchange", which contained fundamental work on chemical amalgam applications in radiochemistry.{{Citation | title =Nuclear Science Abstracts | place =Ann Arbor, Michigan | publisher =University of Michigan at Ann Arbor | series =1 | volume =17 | year =1963 | pages =4552 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=ukohAAAAMAAJ&q=iqbal+hussain+qureshi+ | id =ukohAAAAMAAJ }} In 1994, his biography was written and published by the University of Michigan in American Men & Women of Science: A Biographical Directory of Today's Leaders in Physical, Biological, and Related Sciences journal.{{rp|12}}{{cite book |last1=Kalte |first1=Pamela M. |last2=Nemeh |first2=Katherine H. |last3=Schusterbauer |first3=Noah |title=American Men & Women of Science: A Biographical Directory of Today's Leaders in Physical, Biological, and Related Sciences |date=2005 |publisher=Thomson Gale |isbn=978-0-7876-7398-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tf09BCmodB0C&q=iqbal+hussain+qureshi+PhD+tokyo+1963 |language=en}}

In 1967, Qureshi returned to the United States and briefly worked for the US National Bureau of Standards as a postdoctoral researcher before leaving for Denmark in 1969.{{rp|210}}{{cite book |last1=Sciences |first1=Pakistan Academy of |title=Proceedings of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences |date=1995 |publisher=Pakistan Academy of Sciences. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XbLaAAAAMAAJ&q=iqbal+hussain+qureshi+Denmark |language=en}}{{rp|96}} In Denmark, he received training in the areas of uranium and plutonium isotope separation, which was vital when he returned to Pakistan in 1971 with his expertise and knowledge.

=Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission=

In 1960, Qureshi found employment with the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), and was posted to the Atomic Energy Center in Lahore where his interest built in radiochemistry.{{rp|96}}{{cite web |title=Eulogy by Dr. NM Butt |url=http://paspk.org/wp-content/uploads/proceedings/50,%20No.1/384d3fd0Obituary%20Dr.%20Iqbal%20H.%20Qureshi.pdf |publisher=Eulogy by Dr. NM Butt |access-date=12 May 2020}} Upon returning to Pakistan from Denmark in 1971, he joined the Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (the national lab) in Nilore, working at the Nuclear Chemistry Division (NCD).{{rp|96}}

As early as 1972, Qureshi joined the team of scientists that began working on the equation of state of the radioactive decay element plutonium, while he established the computerized radiation detection chemical analysis laboratories at the Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology in 1973.{{rp|96}} In 1974, Qureshi and his team was instrumental at the national laboratory when he was the first to confirm the detection of radiation emissions coming from Rajasthan in India. Hence, by using neutron activation analysis, confirming Pokhran-I the first Indian nuclear test, which India later announced was indeed conducted at the Pokhran Test Range.{{rp|96}} Notably, he led the team that balanced the chemical equation required for the exothermic chemical reaction in fission devices.{{rp|57–58}}{{cite book|last=Rehman|first=Shahidur|title=Long Road to Chagai|year=1999|publisher=Printwise Publications|location=Islamabad}} By 1977, he discovered the technique for balancing the nuclear Q-value and energy balance in a boosted fission weapon.Dr. Iqbal Hussain Qureshi (I. H. Qureshi) was one of the leading scientists who were involved in the development of a nuclear weapon in the early 1970s. Qureshi had led NCD in the physio-chemical development of fissionable materials in the device. Qureshi had discovered the Lithium-6+Hydrogen-2→Helium+22.4 MeV equation for balancing the Q-value and energy balance in a fission device.

Eventually, Qureshi headed the Nuclear Chemistry Division (NCD) at the Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology which was responsible for the multi-stage chemical process that separated, concentrated and isolated plutonium from uranium.{{cite book|last=Khan|first=Feroz Hassan|title=Eating grass the making of the Pakistani bomb|year=2012|publisher=Stanford Security Studies, an imprint of Stanford University Press|location=Stanford, California|isbn=978-0804784801}} At NCD, he also played a supervisory role in developing the Analytical Chemistry Group comprising modern and state of the art analytical chemistry laboratories such as the Analytical Chemistry Laboratory, Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy lab, Emission Spectrography lab, Chromatography lab, Electrochemical Analysis lab and radioisotope production labs.{{rp|96}} The Analytical Chemistry Laboratory was later certified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and oversaw the successful commissioning of the PARR-III reactor that went 'phase critical' {{clarify |date=May 2020}} in 1973.{{rp|96}}

Qureshi engaged in research about copper-nickel alloys after introducing the lattice dynamical method to evaluate the Cu₂₉/Ni₂₈ alloys.{{cite journal|last=Qureshi|first=Iqbal Hussain|author2=Naeem Ahmad Khan|title=Pakistan Research Reactor and its utilization|journal=IAEA Seminar on Effective Use and Management of Research Reactor|date=11 November 1983|volume=1|issue=1|url=http://www.iaea.org/inis/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/18/042/18042468.pdf|access-date=15 December 2013}} Key and fundamental research on understanding neutron flux was carried out by Qureshi, for which he managed to secure patents from the IAEA. After the conclusion of the Pakistan's clandestine atomic bomb projects, he was appointed chief technical officer at the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) in 1991; though he was more eager to return to academia.

Throughout his time at PAEC, Qureshi earned several scientific honors, including the Gold Medal and a Fellowship of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences in 1994. He was a recipient of the Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence) from the Government of Pakistan in 1992. In 1997, from the Iranian Government, he received the Khwarizmi International Award for advancing and understanding the "Nuclear analytical techniques development and application in Pakistan".{{cite web|last=IROST|title=Khwarizmi International Award 10th Session – 1997|url=http://www.irost.org/kia/content/khwarizmi-international-award-10th-session-1997|work=Khwarizmi International Award Committee|publisher=IROST|access-date=15 December 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215095928/http://www.irost.org/kia/content/khwarizmi-international-award-10th-session-1997|archive-date=15 December 2013}}

=Academia and government work=

In 1996, Qureshi retired from PAEC as Chief Scientific Officer and was made scientist emeritus, which allowed him to continue research at PINSTECH before moving to Karachi. He took up the professorship of chemistry at the Karachi University and headed the nuclear chemistry section at the H.E.J. Research Institute of Chemistry. During this time, he authored several articles and published books on nuclear chemistry. He retained his position till 2001 when he joined the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority (PNRA).{{cite journal |last =(NTI) |first=Nuclear Threat Initiative |author-link=Nuclear Threat Initiative |title=Pakistan is safe from hazards of radioactive rays: experts |newspaper=The Daily Times |publisher=Jang News Group |date=4 March 2008 |page=7 |volume=43 |url=https://www.nti.org/media/pdfs/pakistan_nuclear.pdf |access-date=31 May 2020 |format= summary, PDF |via=nti.org}} ([http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\03\04\story_4-3-2008_pg7_43 Original news link])

At PNRA, Qureshi served as the chief scientific officer and adviser to the government on nuclear policy issues.{{cite news|last=Staff agencies |title=Pakistan is safe from radioactive effects |url=http://www.app.com.pk/en_/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30674&Itemid=2|access-date=15 December 2013|newspaper=Associate Press of Pakistan|date=4 March 2008|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215103750/http://www.app.com.pk/en_/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30674&Itemid=2|archive-date=15 December 2013}} His contribution and policy efforts led to the physical security of the commercial nuclear power infrastructure in the country and helped launched the nuclear awareness campaign following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011.{{cite news|title=NTI Pakistan nuclear awareness|url=http://www.nti.org/media/pdfs/pakistan_nuclear.pdf?_=1316466791|access-date=15 December 2013|newspaper=Nuclear Threat Initiatives}} He served until 2009 when he decided to accept the professorship of chemistry at the Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences. In December 2012 Qureshi had a sudden breathing problem and died. He is buried in Karachi, Sindh.

=Personal life and interests=

In Pakistan's academia and nuclear society, Qureshi was well known for his interests in classical music theory and love of playing the guitar and sitar, which he played on several occasions. He also had an interest in American poetry, which he often quoted among his peers while working on the bomb program, and played tennis avidly during his later life. He was married twice; his first wife died in the 1980s and he later remarried. He had two sons, one a neurosurgeon while the other is a computer scientist.

References

External links

[http://pakteahouse.net/2013/04/12/pakistan%E2%80%99s-nuclear-program-and-environmental-safety/ Pakistan's nuclear and environment safety issues] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170823044908/http://pakteahouse.net/2013/04/12/pakistan%e2%80%99s-nuclear-program-and-environmental-safety/ |date=23 August 2017 }}
[https://archive.today/20131215064650/http://paspk.org/pages.php?id=26&page=4 Pakistan Academy of Sciences]

Category:1937 births

Category:2012 deaths

Category:People from Ajmer

Category:Muhajir people

Category:Pakistani people of Rajasthani descent

Category:University of Sindh alumni

Category:University of Michigan alumni

Category:University of Tokyo alumni

Category:Pakistani chemists

Category:Pakistani scientists

Category:Nuclear chemists

Category:Radiochemistry