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Professor Abdus Salam


The name of Abdus Salam is linked forever to the International Centre for Theoretical Physics. Not only did he envisage the Centre as a place where scientists could carry out research of the highest level but through the ICTP he also managed to set an example for other nations to follow. Professor Salam became a widely known and charismatic figure in international scientific and political milieus. He travelled extensively throughout the world and, in his discussions with heads of states and governments, he was able, in a convincing manner, to put forward his views regarding the paramount importance of supporting science in their own countries for the benefit of humanity. His pursuit of a science for peace capable of filling the gap between the North and South of the planet shall remain as an example for those who endeavour to achieve the cultural and social development in poor countries. Thanks to the leadership of Professor Salam, ICTP has been a major forum for the international scientific community and a model for similar establishments both in Trieste and abroad.

Prof.Abdus Salam

Professor Salam has been one of the greatest exponents in physics this century. Born in Jhang, Pakistan in 1926, he was educated at Punjab University, St. John's College, Cambridge and Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge where he obtained his Ph.D. in 1952. He then returned to Pakistan where he served as Professor at Government College, Lahore and Panjab University. There he suffered the isolation which scientists experience when they are not supported by their home countries. There was no tradition of doing any postgraduate work; there were no journals; there was no possibility of attending any conferences. He suffered the tragic dilemma of having to make the choice between physics or Pakistan. So he returned to Cambridge to take up the position of Lecturer. In 1957 he was appointed as Full Professor of Theoretical Physics at Imperial College. Fired by his own unhappiness at having had to leave his country, he was determined to find a way of making it possible for those like him to continue working for their own communities while still having opportunities to remain first-rate scientists. It was thus in 1960 that he conceived the idea of setting up an International Centre for Theoretical Physics with funds from the international community.

Professor Salam is famous for that electroweak theory which is the mathematical and conceptual synthesis of the electromagnetic and weak interactions—the latest stage reached until now on the path towards the unification of the fundamental forces of nature. With this motivation, Professor Salam received the Nobel Prize for physics together with the Americans Steven Weinberg and Sheldon Glashow in 1979. The validity of the theory was ascertained through experiments carried out at the superprotosynchrotron facility at CERN in Geneva which led to the discovery of the W and Z particles. Salam's electroweak theory is still the core of the "standard model" of high energy physics.

Professor Abdus Salam, Nobel Laureate in Physics (1979), Director of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste, Italy, from 1964 to December 1993, died in Oxford on 21 November 1996, after a long illness. He was buried in his native country, Pakistan.

The Abdus Salam
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