Editorial [Special Issue in Honor of the 70th Birthday of Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman, FRS]

This special issue of the journal of MRMC is dedicated to Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman on the occasion of his 70th birthday and in recognition of his many outstanding contributions to Organic Chemistry. Prof. Rahman's honors include: the first scientist from the Muslim world to have won the prestigious UNESCO Science Prize (1999) in the 35 year old history of the Prize; elected as Fellow of Royal Society (London) in July 2006; conferred honorary doctorate degrees from many prestigious universities, including the University of Cambridge. On a national level his services are acknowledged in the form of four prestigious civil awards, including these highest national awards: Nishan-e-Imtiaz (2002), Hilal-e-Imtiaz (1998), Sitara-e- Imtiaz (1991) and Tamgha-e-Imtiaz (1983). He is currently the Editor-in-Chief of 12 scientific journals in fields ranging from Medicinal Chemistry to Pharmaceutical Drug Design. Seventy six students have completed their Ph.D. degrees under his supervision. He chairs the Network of Academies of Sciences of Islamic Countries (NASIC) and is the Vice-President (Central & South Asia) of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS) Council, and Foreign Fellow of Korean Academy of Sciences. Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman was the President of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences (2003-2006) and was again elected as the President of the Academy from 1st of January 2011. In particular, Prof. Rahman has made outstanding contribution to Mini-Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry. He has over 852 Publications in leading International journals in several fields of organic chemistry including 662 research publications, 18 patents, 114 books and 59 chapters in books published by major U.S. and European presses. The contributions of Prof. Rahman to the uplifting of science in Pakistan in his capacity as the Federal Minister for Science & Technology and later as Chairman Higher Education Commission were acknowledged by a civil award of the government of Austria and TWAS prize for institution building as well as by four editorials in Nature. We congratulate Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman on his 70th Birthday and wish him health, prosperity, and a long, active and successful future in his favorite pursuit---organic chemistry and inspiring scientific accomplishment. With best wishes