ASIAN GEOPHYSICS PROFESSOR WINS ASTRONOMY AWARD
(4 January 2007)

An Emeritus Professor of the University of Leicester, Professor Aftab Khan, has been honoured with a prestigious award from the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) . From time to time the Society makes an award ‘to honour an individual who, through outstanding or exceptional work has promoted, facilitated or encouraged the sciences of astronomy or geophysics and developed their role in the life of the nation, often beyond the requirements of his or her paid position’.

Their citation reads: ‘The 2007 RAS Award for Service goes to Professor M. Aftab Khan, who has been a stalwart servant of UK geophysics for over 50 years. Currently Emeritus Professor at the University of Leicester, his career has been singularly devoted to the promotion and promulgation of his science to all facets of our society, schools, business, media, adult education, amateur and professional societies, governments and the developing world. He helped initiate UK undergraduate degrees in geophysics, and his most recent task was to lead an extensive RAS and Geological Society enquiry into the state of geophysics education in the UK.’

Professor Khan said: “Geophysics is a complex and difficult subject but it is vital in the generation of wealth and vital resources, as well as in addressing concerns about the environment, safety, and security. It has been a privilege to work with so many excellent geophysical colleagues throughout the world and to interact with those from all disciplines in our excellent university. It has been a most enjoyable and rewarding experience. The RAS award is a bonus and provides reassurance that I have been doing the right things.“

Professor Khan graduated in geology with physics in 1956 from the university of Birmingham where he also did his PhD in palaeomagetism of the Tertiary igneous rocks of Skye at a time when continental drift and reversals of the earth’s magnetic field were still subjects of vigorous debate.

After 5 years as a Research Fellow in Birmingham he was appointed in 1963 to start geophysics in the new department of geology at the University of Leicester. Here he initiated the first geophysics degree in a UK geology department. He also became involved in geophysical investigations to depths ranging in scale from a few meters in mineral exploration to tens of kilometers in studies of the earth’s crust and mantle. He was Head of the Department of Geology from 1976 -1980 and again from 1989-92. He has served the university on many of major Boards of Senate and Council most notably as Dean of the Science Faculty from 1974-1976, Sub-dean of Graduate Studies in Physical Sciences from 1994-7, and Public Orator from 1985-91.

Professor Khan is best known, however, for his research and geophysical activities outside the University. His primary research interest since he came to Leicester has been geophysical investigations of the deep structure of the East African Rift system, believed to be the only place in the world where a continental plate is in the act of splitting. His work was mainly in Kenya where he started in the 1960s using large underground and underwater explosions to generate seismic signals detectable hundreds of km away. His pioneering efforts grew into the major KRISP (Kenya Rift International Seismic Projects) from 1985-1995 for which he was the International Co-ordinator.

He collaborated in other crustal projects in Europe and Cyprus where he and his students experimented with techniques for mineral exploration. He was the Scientific co-ordinator of the British Seismic Verification Research Project (BSVRP) which was the first to be allowed to record underground nuclear explosion within the Soviet Union in 1989 and demonstrate that it is possible to use the methods of seismology to verify a comprehensive test ban treaty (CTBT). Through his research activities he has served, often as Chairman on a number of Royal Society, NERC, EU and international committees concerned with seismology, equipment, earth resources and education. He also co-led a UNESCO project on continental rifting.

Professor Khan was Chairman of the Joint Association of Geophysics (now the British Geophysical Association) from 1990-3. He has served on the Council of the Royal Astronomical Society and was its Vice President in 1989. He was an Editor of the Society’s prestigious Geophysical Journal International for 13 years, the last six as its Managing Editor. He has been on the Governing Board of the School of Cosmic Physics of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies for 13 years, the first five as Chairman at the invitation of President Mary Robinson. For the last five years he has been involved in the development of a highly successful Geoscience Programme in the University of the West Indies in his home country, Trinidad, to meet the local oil industry’s geophysical manpower shortage. He has been addressing this critical problem in the UK in the Review of Geophysical Education in the UK, which was launched at the Institute of Physics in July this year, and which made recommendations relating to the promotion of geophysics in schools, which are now under consideration.

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