Name: Umar Saif
Nationality: Pakistani
Birth day : 1979
Born City: Lahore
Religion: Islam
Profession : computer scientist
Education: Bachelor of science degree in computer science (LUMS Lahore), Doctor of philosophy degree in computer science ( University of Cambridge )
Who is Umar Saif ?
Umar Saif is a Pakistani computer scientist . He obtained bachelor of science degree in computer science from LUMS in 1998. He received doctor of philosophy degree in computer science from the University of Cambridge at the age of 22 in 2001. In 2002 Umar received a post-doctorate degree from MIT( in Computer science) .
- Taught at MIT ( 2001 to 2005)
- worked as research scientist at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL)
- Associate professor of computer sciences at LUMS ( 2006 to 2013)
- Vice-chancellor of the Information Technology University ( January 2013 – Current)
- Chairman of the Punjab Information Technology Board ( November 2011 – Current )
- Member of the provincial cabinet of Punjab ( 2016)
- April 2018, he was appointed UNESCO chair for using Information and Communication Technology for Development.
- In January 2019, Saif joined Jang Group as Chief Digital Officer.
- In August 2023, Saif assumed the role of Minister for IT and Science in the cabinet of caretaker Prime Minister Anwar ul Haq Kakar.
- He gave up his jobs as Minister for IT and Science when Prime Minister Kakar’s caretaker cabinet ended on March 4, 2024
Recognition:
- Named as Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum ( 2013)
- 1st Pakistani to receive the Google’s Faculty Research Award
- Received the Digital Inclusion Award from Microsoft Research ( 2006)
- Received the MIT Technovator Award ( 2008)
- Mark Weiser Award and the IDG CIO Technology Pioneer Award ( 2008)
- Sitara-i-Imtiaz by the Government of Pakistan ( 2014)
- The 500 most influential Muslims ( 2015 && 2016 )
( Last updated: 13 Sept 2019 )