Mohammad Shamim Jairajpuri, commonly known as Shamim Jairajpuri, (born 1942) is an Indian Zoologist. He served as a professor and Chairman of the Zoology Department (1988–89 and 1997-1998) and Dean of the Faculty of Life Sciences (1993-95 & 1997-98) at Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh before retirement in 2004. He received the first Janaki Ammal National Award bestowed by the Government of India, Ministry of Environment & Forests and Lifetime Achievement Award from the Zoological Society of India for his notable works on taxonomy of nematodes (1964-2004).
Education
He was born in Azamgarh district on 8 April 1942. He received his education at Aligarh Muslim University where he completed his B.Sc, M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Zoology in 1964.
Positions
In 1998, he became the first Vice Chancellor of the newly formed Maulana Azad National Urdu University and was credited by The Milli Gazette as "a leading personality" toward the establishment of the aforementioned university. Earlier he acted as Coordinator of the Agriculture Center at AMU and became the Founder Director of the Institute of Agriculture in 1993 at AMU
Research
Prof. Jairajpuri has done pioneering research on plant and soil nematodes, the results of which have been published in more than 300 research papers, viewing the ecosystem through his aforementioned research. In addition, he is the author of several books on the subject. Some of his work are listed in the selected bibliography section.
Selected bibliography
Honors and Awards
Honorary D.Sc. Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh (1970) Senior Scientist-Indian National Science Academy (2004-2009) Professor Har Swarup Memorial Lecture (2000),and Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Visiting Fellowship (2004). Principal Nematologist, Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux International, United Kingdom(1981–83). Director of the Zoological Survey of India (1989-1991) President of the Nematological Society of India (1979 -1981) President of the Zoological Society (1989-1991) Editorial Board Member, the Indian Journal of Nematology Shiksha Ratna Puruskar, 2007, by India International Friendship Society Lifetime Achievement Award in Parasitology,Indian Society for Parasitology
References
Further reading
Interview, Vigyan Prasar Science Portal, Government of India.