Obituary - DR. AZRA QURAISHI (1945-2002)Dr. Yusuf Zafar and Dr. Abdul Ghaffar* |
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Dr. Azra Quraishi an eminent tissue culturist, Chief Scientific Officer
and Deputy Director General, Agriculture Biotechnology Institute, NARC/PARC,
Islamabad died on 22nd November 2002 (16 Ramadan 1423) after a brief
illness. She was buried in Rawalpindi by the side of her mother Salma
Begum. May God Almighty shower His choicest blessings upon the departed
soul and may her soul rest in eternal peace in heaven (Ameen).
Dr. Azra Quraishi daughter of Dr. Abdul Sattar Quraishi, a civil
surgeon, was born on 22nd September 1945 in Tonk State, Rajhastan,
India. In 1951 she with her parents migrated to Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
She had her early education at the Presentation & Convent School,
Rawalpindi. She obtained her B.Sc. degree (1964) from the Gordon
College, Rawalpindi and her M.Sc. degree (1966) from the Botany
Department, University of the Punjab, Lahore. She started her career as
a lecturer in Viqar-un-Nisa Girls College, Rawalpindi (1967-72). She
obtained overseas Scholarship of Government of Pakistan and was awarded
the degree of M.Phil. (1973) for her work on "Studies on some aspects of
vegetative multiplication in Solanum tuberosum var., BF-15 by
tissue culture technique" and Ph.D. (1976) for her work on "Study of
callogenesis and organogenesis from explant of in vitro shoots in
Solanum tuberosum var., BF-15" from the University de Paris, Orsay,
France. She rejoined Viqar-un-Nisa Girls College, Rawalpindi
(1977-1978). She went to Canada as a Canadian Immigrant and joined the
group of Dr. Hiruki, Professor of Plant Virology at the University of
Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. She worked on protoplast culture as a post
doctorate fellow (1978-1979). She returned to Pakistan and joined the
Nuclear Institute for Agriculture & Biology (NIAB), Faisalabad. She
worked as Senior Scientific Officer (1979-1980) and developed a group
for work on plant tissue culture. For a brief period she also taught at
the Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad. Dr. Amir Mohammad the then
Chairman of the PARC who recognized her talent gave her the
responsibility to establish national tissue culture programmes.
Dr.
Azra Quraishi will always be remembered by her pioneering work to
establish virus free potato seed production technology in Pakistan which
increased its production @ 5% annual growth level but also resulted in
less import of seed from Holland. She also successfully launched
projects of micropropagation of banana, date palm, Vinca major,
Citrus reticulata and screening salt tolerance through tissue
culture in local wheat and rice cultivars. In recognition of her
significant contributions to scientific research, Dr. Azra Quraishi was
awarded Hamdard Award (1992), Norman Borlaug Award (1997), PARC/PARSA
Millenium Award for Best Scientist (2001), PALMES Academique Award from
French Government (2002). In a Memorial reference on 26 November 2002,
Dr. Badruddin Soomro, Chairman PARC, Islamabad announced that the
Institute of Agriculture Biotechnology and Genetics Research (IABGR)
NARC/PARC, Islamabad has been renamed after Dr. Azra Quraishi.
Dr. Azra Quraishi was a prolific writer. She has published < 140
scientific research papers in journals of international repute of home
and abroad besides 85 scientific popular articles in national
newspapers. Dr. Azra Quraishi participated in < 70 national and
international conferences, seminars, workshop in Canada, China, Egypt,
Philippine, USA, UK, India, Jordan, Bangladesh etc. She has also
organized several national and international symposia/workshop on plant
tissue culture in Pakistan. She was a life member of the Pakistan
Botanical Society besides member of a number of other national and
international societies.
Dr. Azra Quraishi always nurtured her associates with affection and
encouraged them to make contributions in the subject of plant
biotechnology. A person with kind heart, she was bearing the cost of
education of nearly 3 dozen children.
The loss of her mother and younger brother during the last 3 years was a
great shock to her. A lone soul however, never complained. Apart from
members of the family (2 brothers and 1 sister), Dr. Azra Quraishi has
left behind a large number of students and colleagues, who are now
holding responsible positions in teaching and research institutions at
home and abroad to mourn the loss.
Plant
Biotechnology Division, NIBGE, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
* Department of Botany, University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan.