Riazuddin (10 November 1930 – 9 September 2013) was a Pakistani theoretical physicist, specialising in high-energy physics and nuclear physics. He is considered one of the early pioneers of Pakistan's nuclear weapons development and atomic deterrence development. Starting his scientific research in 1958, he served as the director of the Theoretical Physics Group (TPG) of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) from 1974 until 1984. Riazuddin was a pupil of Abdus Salam, a Nobel laureate in Physics. Riazuddin carried out his research at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), PAEC, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and Daresbury Laboratory where he published papers in mathematics and physics. Riazuddin also played an important role in education in Pakistan, contributing to the rise of science in Pakistan. Riazuddin authored several scientific books on particle physics and quantum mechanics. Later in his life, he joined the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) as a visiting professor of theoretical physics.
Biography
Early years Riazuddin was born in 1930 into a Punjabi family in Ludhiana, British Punjab. After the Partition of India, his family migrated to Pakistan in 1947 and settled in Lahore. He is the twin brother of physicist Fayyazuddin. At age 17, Riazuddin attended Punjab University, and took his BSc (Hons) in mathematics under the supervision of Abdus Salam in 1951. Riazuddin also studied under the supervision of Abdus Salam at the Postgraduate level at Cambridge University. As a student of mathematics, he learned the advanced course on quantum mechanics under Abdus Salam, as he had made the course of quantum mechanics outside the regular curriculum. In 1951, Salam funded his scholarship, and helped him gain admission to the graduate school of Punjab University. In 1953, Salam supervised his MSc in applied mathematics where his master's dissertation dealt with fundamental concepts of mathematical physics. By the time he published his thesis in 1953, he received a Gold medal from the Punjab University for post-graduate contributions to physics and mathematics. With the help of Salam, Riazuddin went to the United Kingdom on a scholarship and attended University of Cambridge. At Cambridge, he was awarded his PhD in Theoretical physics in 1959. Riazuddin's dissertation was written on "Charge Radius of Pion" which also covered many issues relevant to the field of quantum theory. Riazuddin returned to Pakistan where he joined Punjab University as an associate professor. In 1968, Riazuddin was awarded the Gold Medal in Physical Sciences for scientists under 40 years of age by the Pakistan Academy of Sciences.
Academic career Riazuddin had joined Punjab University in 1959 as an associate professor of mathematics. Four years later, he travelled to the United States for a fellowship awarded by Norman March and Michael Duff. He became a research associate professor at the University of Rochester where he stayed until 1965. The same year, he joined the University of Pennsylvania where he taught physics until 1966. Later, he went to Chicago, Illinois where he joined his brother Fayyazuddin, and theoretical physicists Faheem Hussain and Peter Rottoli. Riazuddin joined University of Chicago's Enrico Fermi Institute where they created the "Relativity Group". In 1968, Riazuddin returned to Pakistan on the request of Salam, and joined Quaid-i-Azam University's Institute of Physics. He was the founding director of the Institute of Physics (IP) where he engaged in research on string theory, the theory of relativity, particle physics and nuclear physics. Later, the scientists of the Relativity Group at the Enrico Fermi Institute returned to Pakistan on the request of Salam. In 1970, he returned to the United States, where he became professor of mathematics at the University of Maryland. Riazuddin left the United States for Italy as Salam asked him to join the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in 1970. He was joined there by other students of Salam, and they created a theoretical physics group at the ICTP. In 1971, Riazuddin traveled to the United Kingdom to join the Daresbury Nuclear Physics Laboratory, where he was joined by Michael Duff. At Daresbury, he became senior research associate. There, Riazuddin gained expertise and specialised in nuclear physics. At Daresbury, he trained British scientists in the field of nuclear physics. In 1981, he became visiting professor of physics and mathematics at the University of Iowa and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, now Virginia Tech. In 1982, Riazuddin came back to Pakistan, where he joined Quaid-e-Azam University as a professor of theoretical physics. In 1982, Riazuddin also went to Saudi Arabia, where he joined King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals and became chairman of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics and also taught physics at the Department of Physics. In 1983, Riazuddin, along with Asghar Qadir, went to Trieste, Italy, to join the International Centre for Theoretical Physics. Both scientists joined Salam, and they continued research in their fields. In 1998, Riazuddin left King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals and returned to Pakistan to rejoin PAEC.
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