Qaiser Mushtaq
Encyclopedia
Qaiser Mushtaq (D.Phil.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...

, ASA
Abdus Salam Award
The Abdus Salam Award , is a most prestigious award that is awarded annually to Pakistani nationals to the field of chemistry, mathematics, physics, biology. The award is awarded to the scientists who are resident in Pakistan, below 35 years of age on the 31st of December of the year for which the...

, KIA
Khwarizmi International Award
The Khwarizmi International Award is given annually by the Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology to individuals who have made outstanding achievements in research, innovation and invention, in fields related to science and technology....

), is a prominent Pakistani mathematician
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....

 and a renowned academic who has made numerous contribution in the field of Group theory
Group theory
In mathematics and abstract algebra, group theory studies the algebraic structures known as groups.The concept of a group is central to abstract algebra: other well-known algebraic structures, such as rings, fields, and vector spaces can all be seen as groups endowed with additional operations and...

 and Semigroup
Semigroup
In mathematics, a semigroup is an algebraic structure consisting of a set together with an associative binary operation. A semigroup generalizes a monoid in that there might not exist an identity element...

. He is a Professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

 of Mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...

, and Dean faculty of Natural sciences at the Quaid-i-Azam University
Quaid-i-Azam University
The Quaid-i-Azam University is a public, research university in Islamabad Capital Territory of Pakistan. It was initially founded as the "University of Islamabad" in July 1967...

 of Islamabad. Dr. Qaiser Mushtaq is one of the leading mathematicians and educationists in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

. Through his research and writings, he has exercised a profound influence on Mathematics in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

. Dr. Qaiser Mushtaq is an Honorary Full Professor at the Mathematics Division of the Institute for Basic Research
Institute for Basic Research
Institute for Basic Research is an international non-profit academic institution established in the United States in 1981 by Ruggero Santilli, who retains the role of president. His wife Carla and daughter Luisa are the only other directors of IBR.-History:Institute for Basic Research was...

, Florida, USA.

His outstanding research contributions in the fields of group theory
Group theory
In mathematics and abstract algebra, group theory studies the algebraic structures known as groups.The concept of a group is central to abstract algebra: other well-known algebraic structures, such as rings, fields, and vector spaces can all be seen as groups endowed with additional operations and...

 and LA-semigroup Theory have won him recognition at both national and international levels. In Professor Graham Higman
Graham Higman
Graham Higman FRS was a leading British mathematician. He is known for his contributions to group theory....

's words, "he has laid the foundation of coset diagrams for the modular group
Modular group
In mathematics, the modular group Γ is a fundamental object of study in number theory, geometry, algebra, and many other areas of advanced mathematics...

", to study the actions of groups on various spaces and projective lines over Galois fields. This work has been cited in the Encyclopedia of Design Theory.

Biography

Qaiser Mushtaq was born in Sheikhupura
Sheikhupura
Sheikhupura or Shekhupur , formerly Kot Dayal Das or Singhpuria or Virkgarh , is an industrial city in the province of Punjab slightly northwest to Lahore in Pakistan. It is known for its historical places, and is commonly known locally as Qila Shaikhupura, because of the fort in the city,...

, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

 to Pir Mushtaq Ali and Begum Saghira Akhter, and belongs to the Qureshi family of Gujranwala
Gujranwala
Gujranwala is a industrial city in the north-east of the Punjab province. It is the sixth largest city in Pakistan with a population of approximately 2,661,360 as on 24 June 2011...

. He is a descendant of Shah Jamal Nuri. Mushtaq married Aileen Qaiser, a senior journalist educated from the National University of Singapore
National University of Singapore
The National University of Singapore is Singapore's oldest university. It is the largest university in the country in terms of student enrollment and curriculum offered....

 and Wolfson College
Wolfson College, Oxford
Wolfson College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Located in north Oxford along the River Cherwell, Wolfson is an all-graduate college with over sixty governing body fellows, in addition to both research and junior research fellows. It caters to a wide range of...

, Oxford. They have two daughters, Shayyan Qaiser and Zara Qaiser.

He received primary education from the Convent of Jesus and Mary, Sialkot
Convent of Jesus and Mary, Sialkot
The Convent of Jesus and Mary, Sialkot was the first Catholic school in the Punjab and second in British India after Agra. It was established in 1856 opened at the request of the Archbishop of Agra. It was established by five nuns headed by Mother St. Gonzaga Bergonhoux.The school is located at...

, and secondary education from Government Pilot Secondary School, Sialkot. Mushtaq studied for a certain period at Murray College
Murray College
Government Murray College Sialkot , formerly known as Scotch Mission College, is located in Sialkot in the Punjab province of Pakistan.-History:...

 till his family moved to Rawalpindi, where he studied at Gordon College (Pakistan). He did his M.Sc. and M.Phil. from Quaid-i-Azam University
Quaid-i-Azam University
The Quaid-i-Azam University is a public, research university in Islamabad Capital Territory of Pakistan. It was initially founded as the "University of Islamabad" in July 1967...

, Islamabad. He then joined Bahauddin Zakariya University
Bahauddin Zakariya University
Bahauddin Zakariya University is located in Multan, Punjab, Pakistan. It is the Largest university of South Punjab. Bahauddin Zakariya University was formerly known as Multan University. It was renamed in honor of Hazrat Baha-ud-din Zakariya...

, Multan, as a lecturer for a period of one year before returning to Quaid-i-Azam University in 1979. Later, in 1980, he received the prestigious Royal Scholarship to do his D.Phil. at Wolfson College, Oxford. He was a doctoral student of Professor Graham Higman
Graham Higman
Graham Higman FRS was a leading British mathematician. He is known for his contributions to group theory....

 and was awarded a doctorate in 1983 for a thesis entitled Coset Diagrams for the Modular Group. In 1990 he was at the Abdus Salam
Abdus Salam
Mohammad Abdus Salam, NI, SPk Mohammad Abdus Salam, NI, SPk Mohammad Abdus Salam, NI, SPk (Urdu: محمد عبد السلام, pronounced , (January 29, 1926– November 21, 1996) was a Pakistani theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate in Physics for his work on the electroweak unification of the...

 International Centre for Theoretical Physics
International Centre for Theoretical Physics
The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics was founded in 1964 by Pakistani scientist and Nobel Laureate Abdus Salam after consulting with Munir Ahmad Khan. It operates under a tripartite agreement among the Italian Government, UNESCO, and International Atomic Energy Agency...

, Trieste, Italy, as a visiting mathematician. He also worked as an associate professor at the Universiti Brunei Darussalam
Universiti Brunei Darussalam
University of Brunei Darussalam is Brunei's oldest university. It is the largest university in the country in terms of student enrollment and curriculum offered.-History:...

 from 1993 to 1999, after which he returned to Pakistan.

Qaiser Mushtaq is a Professor at Quaid-i-Azam University
Quaid-i-Azam University
The Quaid-i-Azam University is a public, research university in Islamabad Capital Territory of Pakistan. It was initially founded as the "University of Islamabad" in July 1967...

, and a former Syndicate Member, Quaid-i-Azam University
Quaid-i-Azam University
The Quaid-i-Azam University is a public, research university in Islamabad Capital Territory of Pakistan. It was initially founded as the "University of Islamabad" in July 1967...

, Islamabad. He is also an Honorary Full Professor at the Mathematics Division, Institute for Basic Research
Institute for Basic Research
Institute for Basic Research is an international non-profit academic institution established in the United States in 1981 by Ruggero Santilli, who retains the role of president. His wife Carla and daughter Luisa are the only other directors of IBR.-History:Institute for Basic Research was...

, Florida, USA.

Research in mathematics

He has parametrized actions of the modular group on projective lines over Galois fields. This method has proven to be so effective and rewarding, that its wide uses can be seen in Combinatorial Group Theory, Algebraic Number Theory
Algebraic number theory
Algebraic number theory is a major branch of number theory which studies algebraic structures related to algebraic integers. This is generally accomplished by considering a ring of algebraic integers O in an algebraic number field K/Q, and studying their algebraic properties such as factorization,...

, and Theory of Group Graphs. His graphical technique helped to solve George Abram Miller
George Abram Miller
George Abram Miller was an early group theorist whose many papers and texts were considered important by his contemporaries, but are now mostly considered only of historical importance...

’s problem (1901) on alternating groups as homomorphic images of the modular group
Modular group
In mathematics, the modular group Γ is a fundamental object of study in number theory, geometry, algebra, and many other areas of advanced mathematics...



He has also invented a new algebraic structure known as Locally Associative LA-semigroup, and has done some fundamental research on LA-semigroups producing some significant results in this theory. Consequently, a number of useful mathematical results have emerged which otherwise were applicable under restricted conditions only.

Mushtaq has collaborated in research with legends like the late Professor Graham Higman
Graham Higman
Graham Higman FRS was a leading British mathematician. He is known for his contributions to group theory....

 (Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

) and the late Professor Gian-Carlo Rota
Gian-Carlo Rota
Gian-Carlo Rota was an Italian-born American mathematician and philosopher.-Life:Rota was born in Vigevano, Italy...

 (MIT). He has been an invited speaker at Oxford University, MSRI Berkeley, Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...

 and Southampton University; and an invited speaker at several international conferences.

He has supervised, as a sole supervisor, the highest number of M.Phil. and Ph.D. students in Pure Mathematics in Pakistan (see the Mathematics Genealogy Project
Mathematics Genealogy Project
The Mathematics Genealogy Project is a web-based database for the academic genealogy of mathematicians. As of September, 2010, it contained information on approximately 145,000 mathematical scientists who contribute to "research-level mathematics"...

). As a result, he has established a research group in Pakistan, the largest of its kind, which is producing high level original research in mathematics.

Research papers

Professor Mushtaq has over a hundred research papers to his credit. He has written and edited several books, some of which are, Mathematics: The Islamic Legacy (which received a prize from the National Book Council of Pakistan), published by UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

 and other international publishers; A Course in Group Theory, and Discrete Lectures in Mathematics. He has also written books on topics other than mathematics. They are, Focus on Pakistan, and Pakistan: An Introduction. He was also an invited writer for the monumental book, comprising six volumes, entitled the History of Civilizations of Central Asia, published by UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

 (translated into several foreign languages).

He is also famous for his analytical writings and research articles on history, mathematics, science, education, and philosophy. He has been an active opposer of the use of impact factors and citation counts of the Higher Education Commission
Higher Education Commission
The Higher Education Commission , formerly the University Grant Commission, is the primary regulator of higher education in Pakistan. It also facilitated the development of higher educational system in Pakistan. Its main purpose was to upgrade universities in Pakistan to be centres of education,...

. He led the movement against its use which he believed has damaged the growth of mathematics in Pakistan. One of his essays has been published by the American Mathematical Society
American Mathematical Society
The American Mathematical Society is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, which it does with various publications and conferences as well as annual monetary awards and prizes to mathematicians.The society is one of the...

 which won appreciation and support by many mathematicians from all over the world. The International Mathematical Union has included it in its report on the use of impact factors. Professor Mushtaq also founded the well known mathematical quarterly, PakMS Newsletter, in Pakistan.

Journals and bulletins


He is an editor of the Asian-European Journal of Mathematics (World Scientific
World Scientific
World Scientific Publishing is a publisher of scientific, technical, and medical books and journals. The company was founded in 1981 and now employs more than 200 staff at its headquarters in Singapore, with offices worldwide in New Jersey, California, London, New Delhi, Tianjin, Sydney, Hong...

). He is an associate editor of the Bulletin of the Southeast Asian Mathematical Society (Springer-Verlag). Additionally, he is an editor of the Quasigroups and Related Systems (Maldova Academy of Sciences) and the Bulletin of the Malaysian Mathematical Society, an advisory editor of the Journal of Interdisciplinary Mathematics, an associate editor of the journal Advances in Algebra and Analysis, a reviewer for the Mathematical Reviews of the American Mathematical Society
American Mathematical Society
The American Mathematical Society is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, which it does with various publications and conferences as well as annual monetary awards and prizes to mathematicians.The society is one of the...

 (USA) and the Zentrablatt fur Mathematik (Springer-Verlag, Germany).

Honours and awards

He was an overseas scholar of the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 in 1980 and a senior Fulbright Scholar in 1990. Professor Mushtaq was elected an Associate Member of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics
International Centre for Theoretical Physics
The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics was founded in 1964 by Pakistani scientist and Nobel Laureate Abdus Salam after consulting with Munir Ahmad Khan. It operates under a tripartite agreement among the Italian Government, UNESCO, and International Atomic Energy Agency...

, Trieste, Italy in 1991.

Professor Mushtaq's international recognition is evident by the numerous citations of his research work and several international and national awards for his contribution in mathematics. He has been awarded the several awards due to his contribution to mathematical sciences
Mathematical sciences
Mathematical sciences is a broad term that refers to those academic disciplines that are primarily mathematical in nature but may not be universally considered subfields of mathematics proper...

.
  • Chowla Medal (1977)
  • Salam Prize in Mathematics
    Abdus Salam Award
    The Abdus Salam Award , is a most prestigious award that is awarded annually to Pakistani nationals to the field of chemistry, mathematics, physics, biology. The award is awarded to the scientists who are resident in Pakistan, below 35 years of age on the 31st of December of the year for which the...

     (1987)
  • Mathematician of the Year Award (1987) by the National Book Council of Pakistan
  • Gold Medal of Honour (1987) from United States
    United States
    The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

  • Mathematician of the Year Award (1990) by the National Book Council of Pakistan
  • M. Raziuddin Siddiqi Gold Medal
    Raziuddin Siddiqui
    Dr. Professor Muhammad Raziuddin Siddiqui , , also known as Dr. Razi, was an eminent Pakistani theoretical physicist and a renowned mathematician who played an instrumental and an influential role in Pakistan's education system and Pakistan's integrated nuclear detterence development...

     (1991) from the Pakistan Academy of Sciences
    Pakistan Academy of Sciences
    The Pakistan Academy of Sciences The Pakistan Academy of Sciences The Pakistan Academy of Sciences (Urdu: پاکستان اكيڈ مى ﺁف سائس; shortened to PAS, is a learned society for science and technology based in Pakistan. The academy consisted and served as the network of science across the Pakistan as...

  • First Khwārizmī Award (1992) from the President of Iran
    President of Iran
    The President of Iran is the highest popularly elected official in, and the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Iran; although subordinate to the Supreme Leader of Iran, who functions as the country's head of state...

  • Young Scientist of the South Award (1993) from Third World Academy of Sciences, Italy
  • 5th National Education Award (1999) by the National Education Forum
  • Gold Medal in Mathematics (2000) from the Pakistan Academy of Sciences.

Academic societies

Professor Mushtaq has founded the internationally acclaimed mathematical society, the Pakistan Mathematical Society. He has also founded the series of international conferences, namely IPMC, in Pakistan, which now has become an icon of mathematics in Pakistan and is a well known international mathematical activity. The conference takes place every August in Islamabad.
He is a member of the American Mathematical Society
American Mathematical Society
The American Mathematical Society is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, which it does with various publications and conferences as well as annual monetary awards and prizes to mathematicians.The society is one of the...

, the Oxford Society, the London Mathematical Society
London Mathematical Society
-See also:* American Mathematical Society* Edinburgh Mathematical Society* European Mathematical Society* List of Mathematical Societies* Council for the Mathematical Sciences* BCS-FACS Specialist Group-External links:* * *...

, and the Punjab Mathematical Society. He has been the President of the Brunei Darussalam Mathematics Society, and he is the current President of the Pakistan Mathematical Society.

Professor Mushtaq was one of the pioneers who started the ‘Islamic Society
Islamic society
The term Islamic Society has several different meanings:* A society in which Islamic culture is dominant.* Mosque, or Islamic Center - the place of Muslim prayer.:Category:Mosques - mosque category.:Category:Islamic organizations - of various types....

’ at Oxford. He was its vice president and secretary in 1980 to 1983. He was one of the Pakistanis at Oxford University who rejuvenated the Oxford University Pakistan Society
Oxford University Pakistan Society
Oxford University Pakistan Society is a student society in the University of Oxford for Pakistani nationals, people of Pakistani ancestry and everyone interested in Pakistan. It was founded in the 1950s and is one of the oldest Pakistani societies in the United Kingdom. The society is renowned...

 of which he was the Vice President from 1981 to 1982.

In Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

, he started the ‘Mathematical Seminar Series’ at Quaid-i-Azam University
Quaid-i-Azam University
The Quaid-i-Azam University is a public, research university in Islamabad Capital Territory of Pakistan. It was initially founded as the "University of Islamabad" in July 1967...

 in 1983 and developed it into an institution recognized nationally. At Quaid-i-Azam University
Quaid-i-Azam University
The Quaid-i-Azam University is a public, research university in Islamabad Capital Territory of Pakistan. It was initially founded as the "University of Islamabad" in July 1967...

, he founded the ‘Algebra Forum’ which has held advanced level seminars on algebra in particular and on various academic topics of general interest. He reformed and restructured the Mathematical Society of Brunei Darussalam as its President.

Quotes

Professor Mushtaq is one of those mathematicians who care less for what mathematics can do for scientific advance than for its life affirming properties. He is also of the view, that:


As Graham Higman
Graham Higman
Graham Higman FRS was a leading British mathematician. He is known for his contributions to group theory....

 told Mushtaq in an interview on Pakistan Television in 1987.:


This has been quoted in the obituary of Graham Higman
Graham Higman
Graham Higman FRS was a leading British mathematician. He is known for his contributions to group theory....

in the Telegraph on 26 May 2008
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