Shamim Jairajpuri


Mohammad Shamim Jairajpuri, D.Sc., commonly known as Shamim Jairajpuri, is an Indian zoologist and academic who is known for his contributions to the field of nematology. He has had an active career in higher education in India, including helping to establish Maulana Azad National Urdu University, and has received a number of honors and awards, including two awards from the Indian National Science Academy. He has also received the Janaki Ammal National Award for Taxonomy bestowed by the Indian Ministry of Environment & Forests, the first individual to have been so awarded.

Biography

Born in Jairajpur, Azamgarh District, Uttar Pradesh, India in 1942, Jairajpuri attended Aligarh Muslim University, receiving a Ph.D. in 1964 and in 1970 a Doctor of Science degree in Zoology for his work in Taxonomy.

Positions

Jairajpuri has had an active career, primarily in association with AMU, at which university he became a professor in 1983. He served as Chairman of its Zoology Department for two terms, from 1988–1989 and from 1997–1998, and as Dean of the Faculty of Life Science for two terms, from 1993–1995 and from 1997–1998. In 1991, he was coordinator of the Agricultural Center.
He has also served as the President of the Nematological Society of India from 1979 to 1981. He was vice president of the Indian National Science Academy and the Zoological Society from 1989 to 1991, standing during those years also as Director of the Zoological Survey of India. He was the Founding Director of the Institute of Agriculture, serving from 1993 to July 1996. In 1998, he became the first Vice Chancellor of the newly formed Maulana Azad National Urdu University and was credited in The Milli Gazette as "a leading personality" in the establishment of that university. He remained in that position until 2003. He was also during that time an honorary professor in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Hyderabad. In 2000, he became President of the Indian Society for Parasitology, serving until 2005. In 2001, he became the Chairman of the Programme Advisory Committee of the Zoological Survey of India and the Botanical Survey of India, a position he held until 2004.

Publication

Jairajpuri is published in books, monographs and journals. From 1977 to 1979, he was chief Editor of the Indian Journal of Nematology. Journal publications include the Netherlands journal Nematologica, in which he has placed 80 papers, and the French Revue de Nématologie, in which he has placed 40.

Honors and awards