Iqbal Hussain Qureshi

Iqbal Hussain Qureshi (Urdu: اقبال حسين قریشی) (27 September 1937 – 8 December 2012) , best known as I.H. Qureshi, was a Pakistani nuclear chemist and an Emeritus professor of chemistry at the University of Karachi.

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 was a child prodigy, being accepted at the Sindh University in his teenage years to study chemistry. 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. 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. 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.

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. 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). By 1977, he discovered the technique for balancing the nuclear Q-value and energy balance in a boosted fission weapon. 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. Key and fundamental research on understanding neutron flux was carried out by Qureshi, for which he managed to secure patents from the IAEA.

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.

At PNRA, Qureshi served as the chief scientific officer and adviser to the government on nuclear policy issues. 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. 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.