Usman Ali Isani is a former senior Pakistani bureaucrat, educationist and a philatelist. He was born in 1934 in his village Bado of Shikarpur District. He is alumnus of Prince of Wales Royal Military College Dheradhoon. Later, after the Indo-Pak division, he joined Lawrence College and was first Sindhi to receive ''Sword of Honour'' of 13th PMA Long course. At the rank of captain, he was inducted in civil services in 1960 as Assistant Commissioner rank. Isani served at the high-profile positions of Principal Secretary to Governor west Pakistan in 1968 and to the Prime Minister of Pakistan (PSPM) Muhammad Khan Junejo in the 1980s and also to PM

Benazir Bhutto Benazir Bhutto ( ur, بینظیر بُھٹو; sd, بينظير ڀُٽو; Urdu ; 21 June 1953 – 27 December 2007) was a Pakistani politician who served as the 11th and 13th prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 t ...

in her first government, Secretary General Establishment Division and Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. After retirement from civil services, he served as Vice Chancellor for

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

. and Vice Chancellor of Quaid-e-Azam University.

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 ...

. He has a master's degree in History 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 Jalandhar, Punjab * Panjab University, a public collegia ...

and a master's degree in education from University of California, Berkeley. He was awarded the Sword of Honour (Pakistan), awarded to the best graduating cadet in their class, in 1956 at the Pakistan Military Academy. Usman Ali Isani is the brother of Dr. Muzaffar Ali Isani. Isani initially joined the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...

. 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 Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as well as Health Secretary of Pakistan and Secretary Railways. Isani also served as the head of the prestigious Establishment Division as secretary general. In addition, Isani served in the Government of Sindh as the provincial Education Secretary. During his long career, he has also served as the chairman, Higher Education Commission (Pakistan) formerly known as University Grants Commission. He also remained, Secretary to Governor West Pakistan at Lahore. He is 1st

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

i sword of Honour from 13th Pakistan Military Academy Long course. Army Captain in Artillery corps and than Transferred in

CSP CSP may refer to: Education * College Student Personnel, an academic discipline * Commonwealth Supported Place, a category in Australian education * Concordia University (Saint Paul, Minnesota), US Organizations * Caledonian Steam Packet Compa ...

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 exhibits at world exhibitions. He is also a former President of the

Philatelic Federation of Pakistan Philatelic Federation of Pakistan is the governing body of philately in Pakistan. It is a member of Fédération Internationale de Philatélie (FIP) and Federation of Inter-Asian Philately (F.I.A.P.). Executive Board The current president (2024– ...

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, 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 Year of birth missing (living people) Pakistani civil servants Lawrence College Ghora Gali alumni Vice-Chancellors of the Quaid-i-Azam University University of the Punjab alumni Pakistan Army personnel Vice-Chancellors of the Iqra University Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of Pakistan