Atta-ur-Rahman (chemist)
Atta-ur-Rahman (Urdu: عطاالرحمان; b. 22 September 1942), is a Pakistani organic chemist is currently serving as Chairman of PM Task Force on Science and Technology. Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman FRS is heading the steering committee involved in the development of high quality foreign engineering universities in Pakistan one of which, the Pak Austrian University of Applied Science and Engineering has already begun operations in Haripur Hazara in collaboration with 3 Austrian and 5 Chinese Universities. He is also heading the Task Force established by the Ministry of Science and Technology on coronavirus that has  carried out a number of tasks including clinical trials on different medications, manufacture of ventilators, expansion of covid testing facilities, monitoring the genetic variations regularly that are occurring in coronavirus as it mutates and clinical trials on herbal drugs against coronavirus. As a result of these efforts ventilator production has begun in Pakistan After studying chemistry at the University of Karachi, Atta-ur-Rahman won a highly competitive Commonwealth scholarship to Kings College University of Cambridge where he received PhD in 1968. Later he was conferred an honorary degree of Doctor of Science ScD. in organic chemistry by the University  of Cambridge. He also has received honorary doctorates from University of Bradford, Coventry University and Asian Institute of Technology, with research focused on Bio-organic chemistry, Synthetic chemistry and Natural product chemistry. He started teaching as an associate professor in 1974 at the University of Karachi and worked as postdoctoral researcher at the University of Tübingen as part of the German Academic Exchange. He serves as the patron of International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences at the University of Karachi and Professor Emeritus at the Karachi University. This institution was selected as the UNESCO Center of Excellence in Chemical  Sciences in the Region in recognition of its outstanding research activities. Atta-ur-Rahman is an expert in the field of natural product chemistry, with over 1235 international publications in several fields of organic chemistry including 771 research publications, 45 international patents, 70 chapters in books and, 349 books published largely by major U.S. and European presses. He has authored 6 of these books, while the remainder are edited series, mainly published by Elsevier Science Publishers. His book on NMR spectroscopy published by Springer Verlag was translated into Japanese language and used for teaching courses on NMR spectroscopy in Japan . His book entitled "Stereoselective Synthesis in Organic Chemistry" published by Springer Verlag was described as a "monumental tome" by the Nobel Laureate Sir Derek Barton who wrote the Foreword to this book. At the young age of 29, while working independently as a Fellow at Kings College Cambridge University, Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman reinvestigated the earlier work of the Nobel Laureate Sir Robert Robinson and discovered that some of the earlier work on the chemistry of harmaline was incorrect. He is a highly productive scientist with h index 73, and citations 33,863. He served as the Editor in Chief of  several leading peer reviewed journals including Natural Product Letters published by Taylor and Francis, Current Medicinal Chemistry and Current Organic Chemistry. He has been a Fellow of the Royal Society since July 2006 and has served as the President of Pakistan Academy of Sciences. In recognition of his contributions in the field of organic chemistry, he has been conferred with four Government of Pakistan civil awards including Nishan-e-Imtiaz (2002), Hilal-i-Imtiaz (1998), Sitara-i-Imtiaz (1991) and Tamgha-e-Imtiaz (1983). He has also been conferred the high Civil Award of the Government of Austria "Grosse Goldene  Ehrenzeichen am Bande" (2007) in recognition of his eminent contributions to uplift higher education in Pakistan and the close linkages developed with Austria He was the first recipient of the Khwarizmi International Award and the first Muslim to receive the UNESCO Science Prize (1999). He was conferred the highest national award for foreigners, the Friendship Award, by the Government of China As of 28 March 2016, he co-chaired the United Nations Committee on Science, Technology and Innovation for the UNESCAP.<ref name="http://www.dawn.com/news/1244056"></ref> In a recent national ranking, the Pakistan Council for Science and Technology ranked him as the  top among chemistry professionals of Pakistan. He won the Chinese Academy of Sciences International Award for Scientific Cooperation with China. Professor Atta-ur-Rahman was conferred the highest award of China, the International Science and Technology Cooperation Award, by President Xi Jinping in January 2020 in recognition of his contributions to build a large number of international collaborations between China and Pakistan. Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman started the publication of a new journal, Natural Product Letters by Taylor and Francis, later renamed as Natural Product Research, as its Editor-in-Chief in 1992, and continued as its Editor for about  20 years. A special issue of the journal was published by Taylor and Francis in recognition of the monumental contributions of Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman to natural product chemistry on his 70th birthday. The US Publisher ARKAT USA published a special issue of the journal Arkivoc, Vol 2007, in honour of Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman FRS Similarly the international journal Molecules published by MDPI has decided to publish a special issue of the journal in honour of Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman. Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman is also the Founding Editor of the world's most comprehensive series of books on  natural product chemistry entitled "Studies in Natural Products Chemistry", 70 volumes of which have been published by Elsevier Science Publishers under his editorship over the last 35 years. Education. Atta-ur-Rahman was born on 22 September 1942 in Delhi, British India (today's Republic of India) into an Urdu-speaking academic family. His grandfather, Sir Abdur Rahman, was a vice-chancellor of the University of Delhi (1934–38) who briefly served as a judge at the Madras High Court. In 1946, Sir Abdur Rahman was appointed as vice-chancellor of the Punjab University in Lahore, eventually relocating his family there , a year before the Partition of India took place. Sir Abdur Rahman eventually became a Senior Justice at the Supreme Court of Pakistan in 1949. His father, Jamil-ur-Rahman, was a lawyer who established a cotton ginning textile industry in Okara, Punjab, Pakistan. After settling in Karachi in 1952, he passed the competitive O-Level and A-Level from the Karachi Grammar School and joined Karachi University. Attending Karachi University in 1960, Rahman graduated with a bachelor's degree (with honors) in chemistry in 1963. He obtained a Master of Science (MSc) in organic chemistry in 1964 with first  class and 1st position, and lectured at Karachi University for a year before receiving a Commonwealth Scholarship for doctoral studies in the United Kingdom. He joined King's College at the University of Cambridge and resumed research in natural products under John Harley-Mason. In 1968, Rahman received a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in organic chemistry; the subjects of his doctoral thesis were natural products and organic materials. He was elected as a fellow of Kings College, University of Cambridge in 1969 and continued his research at Cambridge University until 1973. Later in 2007, he was appointed as an honorary  life fellow of Kings College Cambridge. Rahman has received honorary degrees from various institutions including the Bradford University (in 2010); the Asian Institute of Technology (in 2010); and the Universiti Teknologi MARA (in 2011). Academic career. In 1964, Rahman joined the Karachi University as a lecturer in undergraduate chemistry. He remained associated with the Cambridge University between 1969–73, and is presently honorary Life Fellow at the King's College of the Cambridge University. In 1977, he became the deputy director of the Hussain Ebrahim Jamal Research Institute of Chemistry at University of Karachi; eventually he was ascended as the Director  in 1990. In 1979, Rahman did the post-doctoral research at the University of Tübingen. Upon returning to Pakistan, he joined Karachi University where he lectures and taught chemistry. He was appointed Professor Emeritus at University of Karachi for life. In 2008, Rahman was appointed as Patron-in-Chief of the International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS). In 2011, Rahman was made emeritus professor of chemistry at the University of Karachi. With more than 1,200 international publications, 6 authored and over 300 edited books, 764 research publications, 70 chapters in books and 45 international patents, he has the  distinction of being the only scientist to be elected Fellow of Royal Society (London) in 2006 in recognition of research contributions carried out within a country in the Islamic world. He is also the only scientist from the Muslim world to have been awarded the UNESCO Science Prize (1999). He was awarded an Honorary Life Fellowship by King's College, University of Cambridge in 2007, an honorary Doctorate of Science by Cambridge University 1987, a Doctorate of Education by Coventry University in 2007, a Doctorate of Science by Bradford University in 2010, a Doctor of Philosophy by Asian Institute of  Technology, Thailand in 2010 and honorary Doctor of Scıence by University of Technology MARA. Malaysıa. A number of other universities have also granted honorary doctorate degrees to Atta-ur-Rahman including Coventry University, Bradford University, University of Karachi, Sir Syed University and Gomal University. He was given the International Cooperation Award, the highest award of the Chinese Academy of Sciences for Institution Building, on 10 January 2014. Atta-ur-Rahman was elected as an "Academician" (Foreign member) of Chinese Academy of Sciences, thereby becoming the first scientist from the Muslim World to be so honoured. Achievements. Since the HEC's  reforms have been carried out in 2002, HEC has received praise from the international higher education observers. Atta-ur-Rahman, founding Chairman of HEC, has received number of prestigious international awards for the remarkable transformation of the higher education sector under his leadership. German academic, Wolfgang Voelter of University of Tübingen in Germany over viewed the performance of HEC under the leadership of Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman and described the reforms in HEC as "A miracle happened." After teaching and visiting in 15 universities of Pakistan, Voelter wrote that the "scenario of education, science and technology in Pakistan has changed  dramatically, as never before in the history of the country. The chairperson of the Senate Standing Committee on Education recently announced the first 6 years of HEC under Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman as "Pakistan's golden period in higher education". Recently ThomsonReuters in an independent assessment of Pakistan's progress in international publications has acknowledged that in the last decade there has been a fourfold increase in international publications and a tenfold growth in highly cited papers, statistics that were better than the BRIC countries. American academic Fred M. F. Hayward has also praised the reform process undertaken by Pakistan , admitting that "since 2002, a number of extraordinary changes have taken place." Hayward pointed our that "over the last six years almost 4,000 scholars have participated in PhD programs in Pakistan in which more than 600 students have studied in foreign PhD programs." The HEC instituted major upgrades for scientific laboratories, rehabilitating existing educational facilities, expanding the research support, and overseeing the development of one of the best digital libraries in the region. "Seeking to meeting the international standard, a quality assurance and accreditation process was also established, of which, ≈95% of students sent abroad for training returned, an unusually  high result for a developing country in response to improved salaries and working conditions at universities as well as bonding and strict follow-up by the commission, Fulbright, and others." The HEC's reforms brought about by Rahman were also applauded by the United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development (UNCSTD) which reported that the "progress made was breath-taking and has put Pakistan ahead of comparable countries in numerous aspects." In limited time, the HEC established and provided free access to scientific literature by high-speed Internet for all universities, the upgrade of research equipment accessible across  the country, and the programme of establishing new universities of science and technology, including science parks attracted the foreign investors, prove the efficiency and the long-term benefits for the country enabled. The UNCSTD has closely monitored the development in Pakistan in the past years, coming to the unanimous conclusion that HEC's program initiated under the leadership of Rahman is a "best-practice" example for developing countries aiming at building their human resources and establishing an innovative, technology-based economy.". A number of institutions have been named after Rahman including the "Atta-ur-Rahman Institute of Natural Product Discovery  (RIND) at Malaysia's largest university, Universiti Teknologi Mara and the Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences at National University of Science & Technology in Islamabad. More recently, the leading Chinese University on Traditional Medicine in Changsha, Hunan has named a research institute in honour of Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman,(“Academician Professor Atta-ur-Rahman One Belt and One Road TCM Research Center”) in recognition of his eminent contributions to uplift science in Pakistan and to establish strong linkages with China. Rahman has won four international awards for the revolutionary changes in the higher education sector brought in the Higher Education 	Atta-ur-Rahman (chemist)
16708426	Commission of Pakistan. The Austrian government conferred its highest civil award (Grosse Goldene Ehrenzeischen am Bande") in recognition of his eminent contributions. Nature, a leading science journal, has also written a number of editorials and articles about the transformation brought about in Pakistan in the higher education sector under the HEC. In an article entitled "Pakistan Threat to Indian Science" published in the leading daily newspaper Hindustan Times, India, it has been reported that C. N. R. Rao, Chairman of the Indian Prime Minister's Scientific Advisory Council made a presentation to the Indian Prime Minister at the rapid progress  made by Pakistan in the higher education sector under the leadership of Rahman, Chairman, Higher Education Commission. It was reported that as result of the reforms brought about in Pakistan " Pakistan may soon join China in giving India serious competition in science". "Science is a lucrative profession in Pakistan. It has tripled the salaries of its scientists in the last few years.". Rahman was conferred the highest national Award of the Republic of China in September 2014 for his contributions to develop strong linkages between Pakistan and China in various fields of higher education, science and technology. In 2016 he  was elected as Academiciann (Foreign Member) of Chinese Academy of Sciences, thereby becoming the first scientist from the Islamic world to be bestowed this honour. The President of China Xi Jinping conferred the highest scientific award of China to Atta-ur-Rahman in the Great Peoples Hall in Beijing on 10 January 2020. He became the first scientist of the Muslim world to receive this award. In 1987, Cambridge University also conferred him with the Doctor of Science (Sc.D.) for his contribution for the advancement of the chemical sciences. In 2007, Coventry University bestowed him with the Doctor of  Education (Ed.D.) in recognition of his services to help improve science education in Pakistan. HAARP Research. In 2010, Atta ur-Rahman published his views that the United States government had financed a science research project, the HAARP program, in Alaska that could affect the weather. Since 2003, Rahman quoted the European Union resolution condemning USA for research on altering weather patterns through HAARP as well as the 12 international patents obtained in the field by the US-supported HAARP initiative in Alaska. Rahman has been in conflict with Pervez Hoodbhoy, a nuclear physicist, who has criticised Rahman on his  tenure as Chairman of the Higher Education Commission. This sparked off a debate when Pervez Hoodbhoy lamented decline of academic standards in Pakistan. The views of Hoodbhoy have been criticised and rejected by some others, including by some international observers, such as Fred Hayward (US consultant to USAID), Wolfgang Voelter (University of Tübingen) and Michael Rode (Innsbruck University, Chairman of UN Commission on Science, Technology & Development), who have praised the reforms of the higher education sector in Pakistan under the leadership of the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan by Atta-ur-Rahman. A number of major international prizes and awards  have also been won by Atta-ur-Rahman in recognition of these contributions. Atta-ur-Rahman has subsequently clarified that he did not state that HAARP could cause earthquakes but he did refer to the European Union resolution that condemned the US-funded research on HAARP which could potentially alter weather patterns and on which 12 US patents had been obtained Government work and political advocacy. After securing the fellowship of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences, Rahman had been affiliated with the Pakistan government regarding education and science affairs. From 1996 till 2012, Rahman served in the board of directors  of the Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation, representing Pakistan's delegation. In 1997, Rahman served as the Coordinator General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation's (OIC) Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH) that comprised 57 Ministers of Science and Technology from 57 OIC member countries. In 1999, he joined the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoSci) as its minister, assisting in drafting the official science policy of the country. In 2002, he was appointed as minister of the Ministry of Education (MoEd) as well as becoming the chairman of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) until resigning in  2008. Prof. Rahman introduced many reforms during his tenure as Founding Chairman Higher Education Commission to improve quality of teaching and research in the higher education sector. The reforms carried out in science and higher education under the leadership of Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman when he was the Federal Minister of science & technology and later chairman of Higher Education Commission with status of Federal Minister during 2000 to 2008 have been applauded by many international experts and he was called "a force of nature" in an article published in Nature. As a result of the many reforms, 4 Pakistani Universities  became ranked among the top 300, 400 and 500 universities of the world under the Times Higher Education rankings of 2008. The emphasis was placed on quality rather than numbers during this period. The quality measures introduced included:1) All PhD thesis were evaluated by eminent foreign scientists,2) Some 11,000 students were sent abroad to leading universities for PhD level training and absorbed on their return, 3) Appointments at faculty positions were linked to international stature of the applicants as judged from their international publications, patents and citations, and (4) Quality Enhancement Cells were established in all universities for the first  time in the history of the country. In an analysis of scientific research productivity of Pakistan, in comparison to Brazil, Russia, India and China, Thomson Reuters has applauded the developments that have taken place as a result of the reforms introduced by Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman FRS, since Pakistan has emerged as the country with the highest increase in the percentage of highly cited papers in comparison to the "BRIC" countries. To facilitate distance education and to promote information technology, a number of facilitating measures were taken by Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman . .As of 2020, Pakistan has 85% teledensity with  183 million cellular, 98 million 3G/4G and 101 million broadband subscribers, due to the foundations laid by Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman of the IT and telecom industry during 2000-2008. Rahman served as the president of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences for two non-consecutive terms; first from 2003 until 2006, and from 2010 until 2015 for a second term. In 2012, Rahman used this position on providing guidance on science and technology affairs to the Pakistan government on multiple occasions. Rahman bitterly criticized the alleged hydrogen powered vehicle invented by Agha Waqar Ahmad. In a nationwide televised debate  with Abdul Qadeer Khan, Samar Mubarakmand, and Pervez Hoodbhoy, he notable argued against it and proved that such invention was in a violation of the second law of thermodynamics as well as law of conservation energy. In 2016 Prof. Rahman was appointed as Co-Chairman of a United Nations Committee on Science, Technology and Innovation covering the member countries of UNESCAP. Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman has been appointed as the Chairman of two steerin Committees formed to establish the Pakistan Austrian Engineering University (Fachhochschule) in Haripur, Hazara, and the Pakistan Italian Engineering University in Lahore. Prof. Rahman is also the  Chairman of the Search Committee for appointment of Vice Chancellors in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan and some 20 Vice Chancellors have been appointed by the Search Committee under his Chairmanship. Rahman is also the former vice-president of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), which he secured in 2010. The Austrian government also honoured him with its highest civil award ("Das Große Goldene Ehrenzeichen am Bande", 2007) in recognition of his eminent contributions. In recognition of the contributions of Rahman, a number of institutions have been named after him within and outside Pakistan. These include a research Center  at the Hunan University of Chinese Medicine in Changsha, Hunan China. They also include a natural product chemistry institute (Atta-ur-Rahman Research Institute of Natural Product Discovery, RiND) at the University of Technology Mara in Malaysia, Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences at National University of Science & Technology in Islamabad, and Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman Building at the International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi The Academy of Sciences in the Developing World (TWAS) based in Trieste, Italy has introduced a Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman Prize in Chemistry to a scientist from the developing world  each year. The Prize carries a cash award of $5,000 and a Certificate. Rahman has established a research center for Genomics research at the University of Karachi named after his father Jamil-ur-Rahman from a personal donation. The Center has been named as the "Jamil-ur-Rahman Center for Genomics Research" and has the state of the art facilities for gene sequencing, the only such facility in Pakistan Honours and awards. Rahman is the most decorated scientist of Pakistan having won four civil awards from successive governments including the highest national Civil Award of Nishan-i-Imtiaz in  2002. Rahman was elected as Fellow of Royal Society (London) in July 2006 thereby becoming one of the 4 scientists from the Muslim world to have ever won this honor in the last 350 years when the Royal Society was established, and the only scıentıst to be so recognısed for researches carrıed out wıthın an Islamıc country. His citation on election to the Royal Society reads "Atta-ur-Rahman has discovered a large number of natural products, many of which have exhibited exciting biological activities. He has developed biomimetic synthetic approaches to the anti-cancer alkaloids of Catharanthus roseus. He  has also developed new methods for determination of absolute configurations of several classes of organic compounds by circular dichroism studies. These contributions are embodied in 800 research papers in leading international journal,37 international patents and 59 chapters in books. He has also written/edited 221 books published by major international companies. Atta-ur-Rahman has played a pivotal role in the establishment of a world-class Centre of natural product chemistry, a challenging task in a developing country. As Federal Minister for Science & Technology for the last 4 years, he has brought about revolutionary changes in the science & technology and  higher education sectors in Pakistan, acknowledged in an editorial in "Nature". As head of a Committee of 57 Ministers of Science (COMSTECH), he has contributed to the uplifting of science in a large number of countries in Africa, Middle East and Central & South Asia." He is also the only scientist from the Muslim world to have been conferred the UNESCO Science Prize in 1999. He has been conferred honorary doctorate degrees by many universities including the degree of Doctor of Science (Sc.D.) by the Cambridge University (UK) (1987) and an Honorary degree of Doctor of Education by Coventry University  UK in November 2007. He was elected Honorary Life Fellow of King's College, Cambridge University, UK in 2007. Rahman was conferred the TWAS Prize for Institution Building in Durban, South Africa in October 2009 in recognition of his contributions bringing about revolutionary changes in the higher education sector in Pakistan. He was awarded the Engro Excellence Award in Science & Technology 2011 with a prize of Rs. 5 million (US$59,000) for meritorious contributions. He proceeded to use the money, in addition to funds from his private finances, to establish a research center on Genomics in Karachi University named after  his father Jamil-ur-Rahman, and to start a TWAS Prize in Chemistry for deserving young researchers from developing countries that has been instituted by TWAS, The World Academy of Sciences, Trieste, Italy. He received the highest national award for foreigners, the "Friendship Award" by the government of China in 2014 He is President of Network of Academies of Sciences of Islamic Countries (NASIC) and the former Vice-President (Central & South Asia) of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS) Council, and Foreign Fellow of Korean Academy of Sciences. Rahman was the President of the Pakistan Academy of  Sciences (2003–06), and was again elected President of Pakistan Academy of Sciences in January 2011. He has been appointed as Co-Chairman of Science, Technology and Innovation Committee of United Nations Economic Social Commission for Asia and Pacific. Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman was inducted as Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences on 28 May 2018, a unique honour for a scientist from the Muslim world. National awards. In recognition of his eminent contributions in the field of organic chemistry, he has been conferred with many civil awards, including: