Abstract
Prof. Dr. Syed Irtifaq Ali, former Vice Chancellor, University of Karachi, was born in 1930. He was from a respectable family of Lucknow (British India). He completed his matriculation from ALLAH-ABAD in 1946. He was awarded the degree of M.Sc. (1952) by the University of Allahabad and Ph.D. (1958) and D.Sc. (1979) by the University of London, UK. He spent about 56 years in teaching, research and administration - Chairman, Department of Botany, Dean Faculty of Science, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Karachi, Professor Emeritus and Director of KIBGE (Karachi Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering), He was an internationally-renowned top ranking systematic botanist and author of three books and more than 136 research papers, published in well-known national and international journals. The magnum opus of Professor Ali is the Flora of Pakistan that he has edited along with E. Nasir, J. Nasir and M. Qaiser for the last 38 years. This work is devoted to the evaluation and categorization of the plants of Pakistan. It is a source book of basic information about the plant genetic resources of the country. Thus it provides fundamental information for the preservation and systematic utilization of the plant wealth of Pakistan. This painstaking work of Professor Ali and his associates contains an account of 215 families based on the description of 1384 genera and 4758 species of plants of Pakistan spread over 6815 pages. He served as honorary vice-president of Botanical congress, Saint Louis in 1999. Till last day of his life he was performing duties as National Distinguished Professor under the auspices of Higher Education Commission. For his meritorious services, he was awarded with Sitare-e-Imtiaz award by the government of Pakistan in the year 1988. He took his last breath on Thursday, February 18, 2021. May his soul rest in peace and Allah give him highest place in Jinnah (Ameen).
