the "Distinguished Teacher award", University of Waterloo, 1977 – the citation for this award was presented at the UW convocation held on May 27, 1977 Distinguished professor emeritus, University of Waterloo, 1999 – this honor was bestowed upon Pathria at the UW convocation held on June 18, 1999 Personal life Pathria is married to a former student of his, named Raj Kumari (nee Gulati). They were blessed with two daughters and a son, as well as five grandchildren; unfortunately, they lost their younger daughter to Cancer in 2011. Pathria's current hobbies are 'contemporary world affairs' and 'Urdu poetry'. Right from his childhood, Pathria was nurtured in an atmosphere replete with Urdu language, Urdu idiom and Urdu poetry. Having read and imbibed dozens of classics emanating from stalwarts like Mir, Ghalib, Zauq, Momin, Hali, Dagh and Iqbal, down to modernists like AsGhar, Fani, Hasrat, Jigar, Firaq and Faiz, Pathria finally turned to writing Urdu poetry himself – but only around the year 1993 when he was close to retirement from Physics. Pathria – now pen-named 'Qais' (after the legendary lover of the Arabic damsel Laila) – is now known for his latest compilation of Urdu Ghazals entitled Sahraa Sahraa. See also List of University of Waterloo people References 1933 births Living people 20th-century Indian physicists Panjab University alumni Delhi University alumni Scientists from Punjab, India Urdu-language poets from India Poets from Punjab, India Canadian physicists University of Waterloo faculty