Tasneem Zehra Husain

Tasneem Zehra Husain
Born	Lahore, Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Nationality	Pakistan
Citizenship	Pakistani
Alma mater	Kinnaird College, Lahore Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad International Center for Theoretical Physics, Trieste Stockholm University, Stockholm
Known for	her work in 11-dimensional supergravity, M-branes wrap supersymmetric cycles
Awards	Phillip's gold medal the Vice Chancellor's gold medal Boswell Medal for Science
Scientific career
Fields	Theoretical Physics
Institutions	Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) Harvard University (HU) International Center for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) Delaware University (DU) Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) National Center for Nuclear Physics (NCP)
Doctoral advisor	Dr. Ansar Fayyazuddin

Dr. Prof. Tasneem Zehra Husain (also spelled as Tasneem Zehra Hussain) or Prof. Tasneem Zahir, is a Pakistani theoretical physicist and an assistant professor of physics at the Lahore University of Management Sciences. She is one of the few Pakistani women who has doctorate in physics, and the first ever Pakistani woman to obtain Ph.D. in physics at the age of twenty six. As an eminent scientist, she has dedicated her life for physics and science, and has been a guest speaker at a various schools and colleges to promote science in Pakistan. Tasneem has represented Pakistan at the Meeting of Nobel Laureates in Lindau, Germany and led the Pakistan team to the World Year of Physics (WYP) Launch Conference in Paris.

Biography

Early Life

Born in Lahore to a high-educated family, Hussain recieved her education in Lahore. She was born to somewhat unconventional parents, who have supported their daughter's talent in doing slightly different comparing to the other girls. However, at an age of eleven, Husain drop out from a regular school and was homeschooled by her parents. A fairly disciplined child, she spent her teenage years reading for O Levels on her own in British Council and teaching under-privileged children, under the aegis of Alif Laila Book Bus. However, in an interview given to the dawn news, Husain had advised to her students and viewers to not to follow her suit because her isolation created problems in her adjusting in Kinnaird, when she went there for her under-graduate education.

Education

Husain attended Kinnaird College in Lahore where she Bachelors of Science (B.Sc.) in physics from there, followed by her Master of Science (M.S.) in physics from Quaid-i-Azam University. She went to Trieste, Italy on a scholarship awarded by the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP). She did her a year long post-graduate work in the field of High Energy Physics. In 1997, she was awarded an ICTP diploma in high-energy physics.

Husain in Europe

After her diploam attained from the ICTP, Husain moved to Stockholm, Sweden to attend the Stockholm University. She was the first Pakistani woman to attend the Stockholm University. At Stockholm University, she got in touch with dr. Ansar Fayyazuddin, the brilliant Harvard professor of physics of Pakistani origin, who was also teaching theoretical physics at the Stockhom University. Later, Dr. Ansar Fayyazuddin became her Ph.D advisor. She completed her PhD in theoretical physics under the supervision of dr. Ansar Fayyazuddin and, hence, became a first Pakistani woman physicist to obtain doctorate in physics at the age of twenty six.

Career in Physics

After her doctorate in physics, Husain moved to United States to complete her post-doctoral training at the Delaware University. Having joined Delaware University as a Teacher Assistant, she later went on to join Harvard University where she re-joined her mentor's High Energy Theory Group as a post-doctoral researcher. Soon after, she moved back to her country, Pakistan, where she joined her family in Lahore. Husain joined the Lahore University of Management Sciences's School of Science and Engineering. She became an assistant professor of physics. Her research is currently engaged in the interested methods of 11-dimensional supergravity to arrive at a classification of the backgrounds that arise when M-branes wrap supersymmetric cycles. She also continued her research to the field of String theory where she has published her first monograph. The monograph was supervised by the noted physicist dr. Fayyazuddin. At LUMS, she is a distinguished faculty member of Virtual Program Development Team (VPDT).

Advocate for Science in Pakistan

Husain has became a vocal and vehement supporter of science in Pakistan. She has attened numerous high school ceremonies and an event functions that are hosted by the schools. A keenly interested in education and science popularization in her country, she has designed Pakistan’s logo for the World Year of Physics (WYP) and was an active participant in the WYP Physics Stories project, lead by Argonne National Laboratory of the United States.

Tasneem has made contemporary efforts to make basic theoretical physics accessible to high-school students, and has developed a series of animated presentation in which Tasneem has presented to the different high school and college students as well as other audience. Tasneem has also taught in her alma mater, Kinnaird College where, under her guidence and supervision, number of students has studied physics. At Kinnaird College, she has helped and prepared Pakistan's physics team to the International Olympiads of the Physics. Tasneem is also a trustee and Baord of Directors of the Alif Laila Book Bus Society, a a non-profit educational institution catering primarily to under-privileged children.

External Resources

• Daud, Nyla (February 9, 2006). "PROFILE: Tasneem Zahra Husain – Ahead of her times". Dawn News (in English). Islamabad, Islamabad Capital Territory: Dawn Newspapers. Retrieved 2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
• Husain, Tasneem-Zehra (8 August, 2003 ). "A brane teaser". Department of Physics. Retrieved 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Text "publisher Department of Physics, Stockholm University," ignored (help)
• Husain, Tasneem Zehra (2010), The LUMS SSE Virtual Program Development Team (VPDT), retrieved 2010 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)

External Links

• See faculty, staff and the sse community. "LUMS SSE - Newsletter". Science and Engineering Innovation. Retrieved 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

• "Biology, Chemistry, Electrical Engineering and Physics: Tasneem Zehra Husain". Lahore University of Management Sciences. LUMS School of Science and Engineering. September 22, 2008. Retrieved 2010. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help); Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

• Chowk. "Tasneem Husain". Chowk.Com. Retrieved 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)