S. M. Junaid Zaidi

Syed Muhammed Junaid Zaidi (); known as S. M. Junaid Zaidi (born 19 July 1949) is a Pakistani scientist, educator, entrepreneur, and an administrator.

Junaid Zaidi took the post of the Executive Director of Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development (COMSATS) in Islamabad, Pakistan on February 27, 2017.

Early life and education
Junaid Zaidi was born in Rawalpindi in 1949. After getting his master's degrees in Mathematics and Physics from the University of the Punjab, in 1981 he got another degree in Operations Research from the University of Birmingham. He completed his doctoral work at the University of Birmingham in 1984, specializing in optimization of algorithms on networking. On July 19, 2012, Lancaster University, UK, conferred on Zaidi the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science.

Positions held
He has served the government of Pakistan as the Director General of the National Center for Technology Transfer, (1991–95) and as "Scientific Secretary & Chief S&T" with the Pakistan Council for Science and Technology (1995–98).
From 1998 to 2017 he was the Founder Rector of the COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), which was awarded Charter by the Government of Pakistan in 2000. After retiring from CUI, he is serving as the Executive Director of COMSATS, since March 2017.

Awards and recognition
 Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence) Award by the President of Pakistan in 2006.
 Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Crescent of Excellence) Award by the President of Pakistan in 2015.
 The NCR Corporation award “IT Pioneer 1987-1995” in the year 2000.
 Doctorate of Science Honoris Causa, University of Lancaster, 2012.
  Al-Farabi gold medal, awarded by the Academic Council of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University (KazNU), 2018.
 Center of Islamic Finance - Special Award in 2017

References

External links 
 Founder rector of CIIT Founder rector of CIIT
Profile Of The Executive Director (S. M. Junaid Zaidi) on COMSATS.ORG website

Category:1949 births
Category:Living people
Category:Pakistani educators
Category:Pakistani information theorists
Category:Pakistani scientists
Category:University of the Punjab alumni
Category:Alumni of the University of Birmingham
Category:People from Rawalpindi District
Category:Recipients of Sitara-i-Imtiaz
Category:Recipients of Hilal-i-Imtiaz