AMU mourns demise of Prof Mirza Said-uz-Zafar Chughtai

Aligarh : Professor Mirza Said-uz-Zafar Chughtai, retired faculty member who served as the Dean, Faculty of Science and Chairman, Department of Physics at the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) passed away after brief illness. He was 85.

“The demise of Prof Chughtai has left the university community with a feeling of profound loss. Besides his inspiring and impactful work, Prof Chughtai was an extraordinary human being with a generous spirit and positivity. He always made the classroom brighter with his knowledge and wisdom. That will definitely be gravely missed”, said AMU Vice Chancellor, Prof Tariq Mansoor.

He extended heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family of the deceased.

“Prof Chughtai was an amazing teacher and mentor who always motivated his students and colleagues to give their best. His leadership, mentorship, and guidance made his younger colleagues better teachers, researchers and human beings. We are all going to reminisce about this forever”, said Prof Mohammad Ashraf (Dean, Faculty of Science).

Prof Mohammad Sajjad Athar (Chairman, Department of Physics) pointed out: “Prof Chughtai touched the lives of so many students and helped so many of them to walk on the right path, the path of wisdom”.

“Besides his scholarly work as a physicist; Prof Chughtai was also a polyglot with a great proficiency in the French language who authored books in various languages. In the account of his own life, ‘Memoirs of Three Continents: I Tell You the Truth and Nothing But the Truth’; he outlined his social, political, and religious beliefs and shared insights on scientific and literary life in India, Europe and the United States of America with candor and humor”, said Prof M Shafey Kidwai (Department of Mass Communication).

Prof Chughtai joined AMU as a lecturer in 1969 and was subsequently promoted to the positions of Reader and Professor in 1971 and 1983 respectively. He spent the arc of his life in teaching and conducting innovative research in Atomic Spectroscopy and contributed a great number of research papers in peer- reviewed journals.

Prof Chughtai is survived by wife, two daughters and a son.