PJB-2021-1530
Obituary Prof. Dr. S.H. Iqbal
Firdaus-e-Bareen and Abdul Nasir Khalid
Abstract
Prof. Dr. S.H. Iqbal, an eminent Researcher, Teacher and Mycologist of Pakistan, passed away in Lahore on 8th December 2019. He retired from the Department of Botany, University of the Punjab in 1997 after serving this University for 34 years.
Prof. Dr. S.H. Iqbal was born in a small village named Talwandi, Battala in the Indian Punjab in 1937. At the age of one and a half year, his father, Abu-Al Hassan Burra Shah, passed away and his mother brought him up. His family migrated to Pakistan and settled in Sahiwal. He did his Matriculation and FSc from Sahiwal and his B.Sc. from Faisalabad. He did his M.Sc. (Botany) from Government College, Lahore in 1963 with distinction and got Gold Medal. During MSc he worked under the mentorship of the great Mycologist of Pakistan, Prof. Sultan Ahmad Chaudhry. This cultivated in him an interest in the field of Mycology and, therefore, he planned to specialize in this field. He started working with Prof. Sultan Ahmad Chaudhry on Ascomycetes of Pakistan. During his research, he collected Fungi and Lichens from mountainous areas of Pakistan with Prof. Sultan Ahmad.
He joined Department of Botany, University of the Punjab as Lecturer. Dr. Iqbal completed his Ph.D. under the supervision of Prof. John Webster, a renowned Mycologist in 1972 from the University of Sheffield, U.K. where he worked on Ecology and seasonal periodicity of Aquatic Hyphomyetes, which is quoted in all standard books of Mycology. During his academic/professional career he also served in the Department of Biological Science at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad as Associate Professor.
Prof. Dr. Iqbal also served as Chairman, Department of Botany, University of the Punjab, Lahore from 1986―1992. He was a versatile Mycologist, having command on Taxonomy and Ecology of Freshwater Hyphomycetes, Mushrooms, Lichens, Rust and Smut Fungi and Mycorrhizae. Later, he compiled all known fungi of Pakistan in a book “Fungi of Pakistan” retaining Prof. Sultan Ahmad as the first author. He published more than 250 research papers. He kept working even after his retirement in 1997 and his last publication was on Lichens of Pakistan in 2012.
He supervised seven Ph.D. and several M.Sc. theses during his career. He excelled in classroom teaching and practical work with live materials of fungi collected by himself. His skill of identifying plants and fungi in the field was commendable. He always enlightened his pupils with exceptional knowledge and inculcated in them novel ideas. His students are currently serving in prominent academic and institutions in Pakistan.
May ALLAH, Almighty shower His choicest blessings upon him and may his soul rest in Eternal Peace. Ameen
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