Prof Attaur Rahman Receives Highest Chinese Scientific Award
The President of China, Xi Jinping, has conferred the highest scientific award of China on the famous Pakistani scientist Professor Dr Atta-ur-Rahman in the Great Peoples Hall in Beijing. Professor Atta-ur-Rahman is the only Muslim scientist who has been honored with this prestigious award, "China International Science and Technology Cooperation Award."
A spokesman of the International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS) said on Friday that the China International Science and Technology Cooperation Award for the year 2020 was conferred on Prof. Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman in recognition of his monumental contributions in the field of chemistry. The president of China offered Professor Atta-ur-Rahman the award in a special ceremony held in the Great Peoples Hall in Beijing on Friday. This top international award has previously been given to several leading scientists of the world, including Nobel Laureates Dr Carlo Rubbia (Nobel Prize in physics, 1984) and Dr Zhores I. Alferov (Nobel Prize in physics, 2000), the spokesman added.
China and Malaysia have also established major research centers in his name in recognition of his international eminence.
The award has been conferred in recognition of Dr Atta ur Rehman’s valuable contributions in the field of chemistry and his efforts to launch numerous collaborative programs with China in the fields of organic chemistry, genetics, pharmacology, agricultural sciences, virology, nanotechnology and other emerging R&D areas.
Prof Rahman is the most decorated scientist of Pakistan having many accolades under his name including Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, Sitara-e-Imtiaz, Hilal-e-Imtiaz and the highest national award Nishan-e-Imtiaz.
Currently, he is serving as Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Science and Technology, Vice Chairman on the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Technology-Driven Knowledge-Economy, and Co-Chairman Task Force on Information Technology.
He has also served the nation as a Federal Minister of Science and Technology, and Founding Chairman of Higher Education Commission (HEC).
The acclaimed scientist obtained his PhD in organic chemistry from Cambridge University in 1968.
With 1,250 publications in several fields of organic chemistry, including 775 research publications, 45 international patents, 69 chapters in books and 341 books published largely by major US and European publishing houses, Dr Rahman has won international acclaim. He is the editor-in-chief of eight European Chemistry journals.
He is also the editor of the world’s leading encyclopedic series on natural products Studies in Natural Product Chemistry. During the last two decades 62 volumes of the series have been published under his editorship. As many as 82 students have completed their PhD degrees under his supervision.
