Pervez Hoodbhoy

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 member 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. Some senior journalists, political and army figures have leveled accusations of treason and unbelief against him but he has rebutted them. Instead he regards himself as a global citizen. His physics-math course lectures, as well as on popular science topics, are widely watched and available online.

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 at FCCU and LUMS.

Since 1989 Hoodbhoy has headed [https://mashalbooks.org 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 a member of the Permanent Monitoring Panel on Planetary Emergencies of the World Federation of Scientists, and a member of the Asia Pacific Leaders Network. 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, DAWN, [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/16/opinion/16iht-edhood.1.9260885.html The New York Times], [https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/2001/12/30/how-islam-lost-its-way-yesterdays-achievements-were-golden/d325ce2a-146f-4791-b5e7-8e662d991cbb Washington Post], Prospect magazine, and The Express Tribune. 

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

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. Provided by Wikipedia