Renowned scientist Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman was appointed as the chairman of United Nations' committee on Science, Technology and Innovation in March 2016. Formerly Professor Emeritus, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (H. E. J. Research Institute of Chemistry and Dr. Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research), University of Karachi, Pakistan, he was Pakistan Federal Minister for Science and Technology (2000-2002), Federal Minister of Education (2002), and Chairman of the Higher Education Commission with the status of a Federal Minister from 2002-2008. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of London (FRS) and an UNESCO Science Laureate. A leading scientist, he also has over 930 publications to his name in several fields of organic chemistry