Abdus Salam Biography and Timeline

Birth

Is born in Jhang in Punjab, then part of British India and now in Pakistan.

Birth of Abdus Salam

Birth of Abdus Salam

Matriculation

Achieves exceptionally high marks in the University of the Punjab matriculation examination while still a teenager.

Masters Degree

Completes his MA at Government College in Lahore and wins a scholarship for further study at Cambridge.

Cambridge Degree

Completes a BA with first-class honours in both mathematics and physics at St John's College, Cambridge.

Smith's Prize

Receives Cambridge University's Smith's Prize for outstanding pre-doctoral work in physics.

Doctorate

Completes a doctorate in theoretical physics at Cambridge with research that advances quantum electrodynamics.

Government College

Returns to Pakistan and teaches mathematics at Government College in Lahore.

Role range: 1951-1954

Cambridge Lectureship

Returns to Cambridge as a lecturer in mathematics after finding limited research opportunities in Pakistan.

Role range: 1954-1957

Imperial College

Becomes Professor of Theoretical Physics at Imperial College London, establishing a long association with the institution.

Role range: 1957-1996

Royal Society

Is elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, becoming the first Fellow elected from Pakistan.

International Physics Centre Proposal

Proposes an international theoretical physics institute that would support scientists from developing countries.

Scientific Adviser

Begins serving as Chief Scientific Adviser to the President of Pakistan while remaining active in theoretical physics.

Role range: 1961-1974

ICTP Director

Becomes the founding director of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics when the centre opens in Trieste.

Role range: 1964-1993

Standard Model

Steven Weinberg and Abdus Salam incorporated the Higgs mechanism into Glashows electroweak theory

Electroweak Theory

Formulates the electroweak gauge theory independently along lines closely related to Steven Weinberg's model, using spontaneous symmetry breaking to generate weak-boson masses.

Higgs Boson

Presents an electroweak gauge theory in which spontaneous symmetry breaking supplies masses to weak force carriers while preserving the underlying gauge structure.

Swedish Academy

Is elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Higgs Boson

Sees the discovery of weak neutral currents provide major experimental support for the electroweak framework in which the Higgs mechanism operates.

Neutral Currents

Sees experimental observation of weak neutral currents provide a key confirmation of the electroweak theory.

Higgs Boson

Shares the Nobel Prize in Physics for electroweak unification, the theory whose massive weak bosons depend on spontaneous gauge-symmetry breaking.

Nobel Prize

Shares the Nobel Prize in Physics with Sheldon Glashow and Steven Weinberg for contributions to unified weak and electromagnetic interactions.

Third World Academy

Becomes a founding member of the Third World Academy of Sciences, furthering his effort to strengthen science in developing countries.

ICTP Leadership

Ends his long period as director of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics after building it into a major international research institution.

Death

Dies in Oxford after a career combining fundamental particle physics with advocacy for scientific development in poorer countries.