The Government of Austria will be conferring one of its highest national awards on Professor Dr Atta-ur-Rahman, Chairman Higher Education Commission (HEC) on June 12. Dr Atta-ur-Rahman will be conferred the award entitled 'Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Sash for Services to the Republic of Austria' in recognition of his outstanding contributions to uplift higher education sector in the country, says a press release here on Friday.
Dr Atta-ur-Rahman, who obtained his PhD from Cambridge University (1968) and was later awarded the degree of Doctor of Science (ScD) by the Cambridge University (UK) has over 778 publications in leading international journals in several fields of organic chemistry including 611 research publications, 15 patents, 93 books and 59 chapters in books published by major US and European press.
Sixty nine students have completed their PhD degrees under his supervision. He is the first scientist from the Muslim world to have won the prestigious Unesco Science Prize (1999) in the 35 years old history of the prize.
The Government of Pakistan has conferred four civil awards, including Tamgha-i-Imtiaz (1983), Sitara-i-Imtiaz (1991), Hilal-i-Imtiaz (1998), and the highest national civil award Nishan-i-Imtiaz (2002), in recognition of his eminent contributions.
Dr Atta was elected as Fellow of Royal Society (London) in July 2006. He has been conferred an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Education by Coventry University UK in November 2007 and was elected Honorary Life Fellow of Kings College, Cambridge University, UK. He is the Vice-President (Central and South Asia) of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS) Council, and Foreign Fellow of Korean Academy of Sciences.