Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy (Urdu: ;;born 11 July 1950) is a Pakistani nuclear physicist and activist who serves as a professor at the Forman Christian College and previously taught physics at the Quaid-e-Azam University. Hoodbhoy is also a prominent activist in particular concerned with promotion of freedom of speech, secularism, scientific temper and education in Pakistan.
Born and raised in Karachi, Hoodbhoy studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for nine years, where he received degrees in electrical engineering, mathematics and solid-state physics, eventually leading to a PhD in nuclear physics. In 1981, Hoodbhoy went on to conduct post-doctoral research at the University of Washington, before leaving to serve as a visiting professor at the Carnegie Mellon University in 1985. While still a professor at the Quaid-e-Azam University, Hoodbhoy worked as a guest scientist at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics from 1986 to 1994. He remained with the Quaid-e-Azam University until 2010, throughout which he held visiting professorships at MIT, University of Maryland and Stanford Linear Collider.
In 2011, Hoodbhoy joined LUMS while also working as a researcher with Princeton University and as copa columnist with the Express Tribune. His contract with LUMS was terminated in 2013 which resulted in a controversy. He is a sponsor of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, and a member of the monitoring panel on terrorism of the World Federation of Scientists. Hoodbhoy has won several awards including the Abdus Salam Prize for Mathematics (1984); the Kalinga Prize for the popularization of science (2003); 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. In 2013, he was made a member of the UN Secretary General's advisory board on Disarmament.
He is the author of Islam and Science: Religious Orthodoxy and the Battle for Rationality. He is the head of Mashal Books in Lahore, which claims to make "a major translation effort to produce books in Urdu that promote modern thought, human rights, and emancipation of women". Hoodbhoy has written for Project Syndicate, DAWN, The New York Times and The Express Tribune. Hoodbhoy is generally considered one of the most vocal, progressive and liberal members of the Pakistani intelligentsia. His daughter, Alia Amirali, is also a well-known feminist and political activist.
Early and personal life
Hoodbhoy was born and raised in Karachi, Sindh, in a family belonging to the Ismaili Shia community. He has one older brother, and four sisters including famous reporter Nafisa Hoodbhoy. He has been married twice, first to Hajra Ahmed, niece of activist Eqbal Ahmad. Hoodbhoy and Hajra Ahmed have two daughters together, including Alia Amirali. They were divorced in the early 2010s. Hoodbhoy later married Sadia Manzoor, who is also, like him, a physics professor. They were married late in life and do not have children together.
Education
Hoodbhoy attended the Karachi Grammar School in Karachi for his initial schooling. After graduating, at the age of 19, Hoodbhoy went to the United States to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on a scholarship. While attending MIT, Hoodbhoy worked for a local Pakistani restaurant based in Massachusetts to support his studies and showed a great interest in electronics and mathematics.
At MIT, Hoodbhoy graduated with a double BSc in Electrical Engineering and Mathematics in 1971, followed by an MSc in physics with a concentration in solid-state physics in 1973. After graduation, Hoodbhoy joined the Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU) as a researcher and renewed his scholarship to resume his studies in the United States.
Hoodbhoy continued his research in doctoral studies in physics at MIT, and was awarded a PhD in nuclear physics in 1978. In the United States, his collaboration took place with the scientists who participated in the Manhattan Project in the 1940s, which set of experiences subsequently influenced in his philosophy. Hoodbhoy remained a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Washington for a short time. In 1973, Hoodbhoy joined the Institute of Physics of the University of Engineering and Technology in Lahore.