Mohammad Tahir Shah

Dr. Mohammad Tahir Shah is a professor at the National Centre of Excellence in Geology (NCEG) at the University of Peshawar. He has served at the NCEG since 2013. He was previously selected as the vice-chancellor of the Fata University by the Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sardar Mahtab Ahmad Khan.

Dr. Mohammad Tahir Shah has organized two international and four national-level conferences/workshops on science and technology and has delivered talks at conferences in the United States, UK, Italy, Austria, China, Bangkok, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.

Shah has carried out extensive geological research in understanding the genesis of diverse types of rocks, mineral deposits (such as lead, zinc, copper, and manganese) and gemstones in the northern parts of Pakistan. He supervised an international collaborative exploration for source materials in the Gilgit-Baltistan region. His establishment of a geochemistry lab at the NCEG promotes analysis of rocks, minerals, soil, plants, and water. Researchers throughout Pakistan reference geochemical data from this laboratory.

Education and life
Mohammad Tahir Shah was born in the village in Sirikot, Ghazil Tehsil, Haripur District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on 20 July 1956. He got his primary education from the Central Model School located in Mianwali in 1972 and intermediate from the Islamia College Peshawar in 1975. He obtained a Bachelor of Science in geology in 1978 and a Masters in Geology in 1981, both from the University of Peshawar. He was appointed as a Research Associate in the National Centre of Excellence in Geology, University of Peshawar in 1982. In 1986, he received his first M.Phil. degree in geology from the University of Peshawar. He won and utilized the Thomas Jefferson Ph.D. scholarship at the University of South Carolina in 1987 before returning to Pakistan. Back at the University of Peshawar, he was promoted to assistant professor (1992–1995), associate professor (1995–2002), professor (2009), and tenured professor (2009–2016).

Academic career
In recognition of Shah's research contributions in the field of earth and environmental sciences, the President of Pakistan awarded him Civil Award (Tamgha-e-Imtiaz) on 14 August 2014. He is the recipient of the Gold Medal of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences for his research in 2005. The Pakistan Book Foundation awarded him the Earth Scientist of the Year award for his publications in the Earth Sciences in the year 1994–95. He has been awarded Productivity Awards for his international papers for the years 2003–2005 and 2009–2013. He is listed in the directory Productive Scientists of Pakistan published by the Pakistan Council of Science and Technology from 2011 to 2014. He has also received the Star Laureate award and Zafar H. Zaidi Gold Medal for the year 2006 by the South Asia Publications (SAP) in recognition of his credentials par excellence in the field of education.

Shah has sat on the boards of studies of various universities, including the University of Peshawar, University of Haripur, Benazir Women University, Quaid-i-Azam University, University of Sargodha, AJK University, University of Poonch, and COMSAT Institute of IT. He is a member of the Board of Faculty of the University of Swabi, the Board of Directors of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Oil and Gas Company (Ltd), and the Board of Governors of the Centre of Excellence in Mineralogy at the University of Baluchistan. Shah remained a member of the Ph.D. Review Committee and the National Curriculum Revision Committee of the HEC. He is the chief editor of the HEC recognized Journal of Himalayan Earth Sciences  and the Sub-Editor of the Journal of Science & Technology, University of Peshawar. Shah won the prestigious Fulbright (1999–2000) and Commonwealth (2000–2001) Post-Doctoral fellowships and has carried out Post-Doctoral research at the University of Nevada and University of Leicester. He was the senior vice president of the National Geological Society of Pakistan (2006–2008).