Acheivements
- Won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1979.
- Founder the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in 1964.
- In 1950, he received the Smith's Prize from Cambridge University for the most outstanding pre-doctoral contribution to Physics.
Education
- At age 14, Salam scored the highest marks ever recorded for the matriculation (entrance) examination at the Punjab University.
- He won a full scholarship to the Government College University of Lahore, and took his B.A. in Mathematics in 1944.
- Salam went on to attend the graduate school of Government College University and received his MA in Mathematics in 1946
- He was then awarded a scholarship to St John's College, Cambridge, where he completed a BA degree with Double First-Class Honours in Mathematics and Physics in 1949.
- He obtained a PhD degree in theoretical physics from the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge in 1951.
Career
Some highlights of his career are:
- Acadmic:
- Professor of Mathematics at Government College University, Lahore.
- Professor of Mathematics at St John's College Cambridge
- Set up the theoretical physics department at Imperial College London
- Scientific:
- Made important and significant contributions in quantum electrodynamics and quantum field theory, including its extension into particle and nuclear physics.
- Had a prolific research career in theoretical and high-energy physics
- Successfully showed that weak nuclear forces are not really different from electromagnetic forces, and two could inter-convert.
- Government:
- Was a member of the Scientific Commission of Pakistan, was Chief Scientific Adviser to the Presidend and also the first technical team mamber of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC)
- Salam played an influential and significant role in Pakistan's development of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. In 1964, he was made head of Pakistan's IAEA delegation and represented Pakistan for a decade.
Further Info
To learn more about the life of Dr Abdus Salaam, you may visit the following websites:
The following documentary is also reccommended: Salam: The First **** Nobel Laureate. You may watch the trailer below: