Kazi Zulkader Siddiqui - Education and Early Life

Education and Early Life

Zulkader is a graduate in Chemical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, Mass, USA. He pursued his graduate studies in at the Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University, Montreal Canada. Prior to his studies at MIT, he also studied at the Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara, Turkey for 3 semesters.

He spent his high school years at Cadet College Petaro, one of the premier institutions in Pakistan, from where he completed his Matriculation and Intermediate (FSc). Cadet College Petaro is located around 160 km from Karachi, the main port city of Pakistan. This college has produced many prominent Pakistanis who have excelled in every field in Pakistan.

In 1969, upon completion of his High School Certificate from Petaro, Zulkader moved to Ankara, Turkey and was admitted to the Chemical Engineering program at the Middle East Technical University in the Fall of that year with a full merit scholarship from CENTO. Those were tumultuous years, and the university was going through a difficult period. With political upheavals influenced by Leftist and communist philosophies, Middle East Technical University was also hit badly. Boycott of classes and other Leftist student activities disrupted studies, leading to closure of the university for 6 months from March - August 1971 after a battle on campus between the Leftist students and the Turkish armed forces.

Dissatisfied with the loss of academic progress and the on-campus politics, Zulkader then chose to make a move. He applied for transfer to MIT, USA. He was granted admission as a transfer student in the Sophomore year with scholarship and financial assistance from the university. He moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts in September 1971. Subsequently, he graduated from MIT from the Department of Chemical Engineering in 1974.

Zulkader has a flair for languages as well. While he is proficient and fluent in English and Urdu (his native language), and a good command off Arabic and Turkish. He is able to pick up and communicate very easily in a number of other regional languages and dialects.

Upon return to Pakistan from Canada, Zulkader married Ayesha on February 7, 1980. They have four children - Amina, Kazi Muhammad, Khadija and Sarah.

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