Karachi, Sindh, in a Gujarati family belonging to the Ismaili Shia community. He has at least one older brother. He has been married twice, first to Hajra Ahmed, niece of activist Eqbal Ahmad. Hoodbhoy and Hajra Ahmed have two daughters together, including the feminist Alia Amirali. They were divorced in the early 2010s. Hoodbhoy later married Sadia Manzoor, who is also, like him, a physics professor. They were married late in life and do not have children together. Education Hoodbhoy attended the Karachi Grammar School in Karachi for his initial schooling. After graduating, at the age of 19, Hoodbhoy went to the United States to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on a scholarship. While attending MIT, Hoodbhoy worked for a local Pakistani restaurant based in Massachusetts to support his studies and showed a great interest in electronics and mathematics. At MIT, Hoodbhoy graduated with a double BSc in Electrical Engineering and Mathematics in 1971, followed by an MSc in physics with a concentration in solid-state physics in 1973. After graduation, Hoodbhoy joined the Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU) as a researcher and renewed his scholarship to resume his studies in the United States. Hoodbhoy continued his research in doctoral studies in physics at MIT, and was awarded a PhD in nuclear physics in 1978. In the United States, his collaboration took place with the scientists who participated in the Manhattan Project in the 1940s, which set of experiences subsequently influenced in his philosophy. Hoodbhoy remained a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Washington for a short time. In 1973, Hoodbhoy joined the Institute of Physics of the University of Engineering and Technology in Lahore. Career Academia Hoodbhoy focused his research career extensively on quantum field theory, particle phenomenology, and supersymmetry in the area of particle physics. After receiving his PhD from MIT, Hoodbhoy met Riazuddin and Abdus Salam– the prominent Pakistani physicists who were visiting MIT to give lectures on particle physics. Subsequently, he joined a group of Pakistani physicists at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy. At ICTP, Hoodbhoy collaborated with Pakistan's leading theoretical physicists who worked under Abdus Salam in the 1970s. After ICTP work, Hoodbhoy returned to Pakistan to join Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU) where he began teaching and lecturing on physics. Eventually, he became chairman of the Institute of Theoretical Physics (now the Department of Physics). After spending more than 30 years at