Usman Ali Isani is a former senior

Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

bureaucrat A bureaucrat is a member of a bureaucracy and can compose the administration of any organization of any size, although the term usually connotes someone within an institution of government. The term ''bureaucrat'' derives from "bureaucracy", wh ...

, educationist and a

philatelist Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. While closely associated with stamp collecting and the study of postage, it is possible ...

Overview

Usman Ali Isani was born in 1934 to a Sindhi family in the village Bado of

Shikarpur District Shikarpur district (, ), is a district in Larkana Division of Sindh province in Pakistan. The city of Shikarpur is the district headquarters. There are 4 talukas: Lakhi, Garhi Yasin, Khanpur Tehsil and Shikarpur Tehsil itself. It is spre ...

. He is an alumnus of the Prince of Wales Royal Military College Dheradhoon. After the Indo-Pak division, he joined Lawrence College and was the first Sindhi to receive ''Sword of Honour'' of the 13th PMA Long course. At the rank of Captain, he was inducted in the Civil Services of Pakistan in 1960, at the rank of an Assistant Commissioner. Isani served at the high-profile positions of

Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of Pakistan The secretary to the prime minister of Pakistan (also referred to as SPM or PM's chief of staff) is the administrative head and highest-ranking official of the Prime Minister's Office. The position holder is usually an officer belonging to the ...

(PSPM)

Muhammad Khan Junejo Mohammad Khan Junejo (18 August 1932 18 March 1993) was a Pakistani politician and statesman who served as the tenth Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1985 to 1988 under president Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. During his tenure as prime minister he sou ...

in the 1980s and also to PM

Benazir Bhutto Benazir Bhutto (21 June 1953 – 27 December 2007) was a Pakistani politician who served as the 11th prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990, and again from 1993 to 1996. She was also the first woman elected to head a democratic governmen ...

in her first government, Secretary General Establishment Division and

Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa The chief secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Urdu: ), also referred to as CS KP, is the bureaucratic chief and highest-ranking official of the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The appointment of the chief secretary is made directly by the prime minist ...

. After retirement from civil services, he served as

Vice Chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth countr ...

for

Iqra University Iqra University, () is a Private University primarily with its main campus located in the Defence View area of Karachi, Pakistan. It has additional campuses in other parts of the city, in Islamabad and Peshawar. Iqra University was ranked as the ...

. and Vice Chancellor of

Quaid-e-Azam University Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU), founded as the University of Islamabad, is a Public university, public research university in Islamabad, Pakistan. Founded as the University of Islamabad in 1967, it was initially dedicated to postgraduate educat ...

Education and family

Usman Ali Isani started his schooling from Deradhoon College before migrating to Pakistan and later received his earlier education from

Lawrence College, Murree Lawrence College Ghora Gali is a school situated in Murree Tehsil, Punjab, Pakistan. The college is located in the foothills of the Himalayas and Pir Panjal at a height of about 1950 metres (6395 feet) above sea level, covering an area of . It i ...

. He has a master's degree in

History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

from

Punjab University Punjab University may refer to: India * Punjab Agricultural University, a state agricultural university in Ludhiana, Punjab * I. K. Gujral Punjab Technical University, a state university in Kapurthala, Punjab * Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Techn ...

and a master's degree in education from

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. He was awarded the

Sword of Honour (Pakistan) The Sword of Honour is a prestigious award given to the top-performing Gentleman Cadet, Officer Cadet, Aviation Cadet or Lady Cadet during their training period at the Pakistan Military Academy, Pakistan Air Force Academy, Pakistan Naval Acad ...

, awarded to the best graduating cadet in their class, in 1956 at the

Pakistan Military Academy Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) is a military academy located nearby Kakul village in Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Established in October 1947, it is the only service academy in Pakistan that trains cadets to serve as army of ...

. Usman Ali Isani is the brother of Dr. Muzaffar Ali Isani. Isani initially joined the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

. However, he opted to join the

Civil Services of Pakistan The Central Superior Services (CSS; or Civil Service) is a permanent elite civil service authority and the civil service that is responsible for running the bureaucratic operations and government secretariats and directorates of the Cabinet of ...

later on. Isani served as the

as well as Health Secretary of Pakistan and Secretary

Railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to roa ...

. Isani also served as the head of the prestigious

Establishment Division The Establishment Division is the human resource arm of the Government of Pakistan. It deals with all matters related to the country's civil service and is regarded as one of the most sensitive and important divisions of the federal government. ...

as secretary general. In addition, Isani served in the

Government of Sindh The Government of Sindh () () is the provincial government of the province of Sindh, Pakistan. Its powers and structure are set out in the provisions of the 1973 Constitution, in which 30 Districts of 7 Divisions under its authority and ju ...

as the provincial Education Secretary. During his long career, he has also served as the chairman,

Higher Education Commission (Pakistan) The Higher Education Commission (colloquially known as HEC) is a statutory body formed by the Government of Pakistan which was established in 2002 under the Chairmanship of Atta-ur-Rahman. Its main functions are funding, overseeing, regulating ...

formerly known as University Grants Commission. He also remained, Secretary to Governor West Pakistan at Lahore. He is 1st

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

sword of Honour The ''Sword of Honour'' is a trilogy of novels by Evelyn Waugh which loosely parallel Waugh's experiences during the World War II, Second World War. Published by Chapman & Hall from 1952 to 1961, the novels are: Men at Arms (Waugh novel), ''M ...

from 13th Pakistan Military Academy Long course. Army Captain in Artillery corps and then transferred in CSP cadre in 1960 as Assistant commissioner. He is also co-author of the book Dynamics of Higher Education in Pakistan.

Philatelist

Isani is one of Pakistan's leading philatelist having won medals for both his traditional and

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

exhibits at world exhibitions. He is also a former President of the Philatelic Federation of Pakistan as well as the country's representative on the FIP Commission for Philatelic Literature. Usman Ali Isani is an active member of Philatelic Federation of Pakistan.

Publications

*''Women's Access to Higher Education in Pakistan'': A Case Study of Access of Women to Higher Education in Pakistan. Saarbrücken:

LAP Lambert Academic Publishing Omniscriptum Publishing Group, formerly known as VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, is a German publishing group headquartered in Riga, Latvia. Founded in 2002 in Düsseldorf, its book production is based on print-to-order technology. The company publi ...

, 28 April 2010 *''Problems of Higher Education''; paper prepared by Captain Usman Ali Isani and Dr. Latif Virk for the Task Force on Improvement of Higher Education in Pakistan, 2001. *''Pakistan: Overprints on Indian Stamps and Postal Stationery'', 1947-1949 by Usman Ali Isani and Ron Doubleday, 1993) * The Emirate of Bahawalpur, Postal History and Stamps (1932–1949) by Dr. Usman Ali Isani and Syed Abid Hussain. Karachi: Post Office Foundation Press. 2006.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Isani, Usman Ali Philatelic authors Pakistani philatelists Living people Pakistani civil servants Lawrence College Ghora Gali alumni Vice-chancellors of Quaid-i-Azam University University of the Punjab alumni Pakistan Army personnel Vice-chancellors of Iqra University Principal secretaries to the prime minister of Pakistan 1934 births