Abdul Wahid Qureshi

Abdul Wahid Qureshi (1946 – 16 November 2023) was an Indian economist and academic administrator from Jammu and Kashmir. He served as the 16th vice-chancellor of the University of Kashmir from 2004 to 2008 and the 1st vice-chancellor of the Central University of Kashmir from 2009 to 2014.^[1] He specialized in public finance, fiscal policy, and regional development, with a particular focus on the economic issues of mountainous and conflict-affected regions in South Asia.^[2]

Qureshi was born in 1946 in Kandi village, Karnah, in the Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir.^[1][3] His father, Qazi Ghulam Nabi Qureshi, worked as a mathematics teacher.^[1]

He obtained his early schooling at the Government Higher Secondary School Kandi Karnah, later completed his matriculation in 1961 and obtained a bachelor of arts degree in 1965 from SP College, Srinagar, with subjects including Economics, Political Science, Persian, and English. In 1967, he earned a master's degree in Economics from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), graduating first in his class.^[1]

In 1975, he received a PhD in Economics from the same university through a distance programme, with a specialization in public finance and statistics.^[1]

Qureshi began teaching in 1968 as a lecturer in Economics at the Regional Engineering College, Srinagar (now NIT Srinagar). Later the same year, he joined the University of Kashmir as a lecturer in Economics and later as an assistant professor. He was promoted to professor of Economics in 1981.^[3][1]

During his career, he supervised postgraduate and doctoral research and held several administrative positions, including head of the Department of Economics, dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, dean of Academic Affairs, and coordinator of the Audio-Visual Research Centre.^[1]

In 2004, he was appointed vice-chancellor of the University of Kashmir and served until 2008. After one year in 2009, he became the first vice-chancellor of the Central University of Kashmir, where he served until 2014. He oversaw the establishment of academic and administrative structures during the university's initial phase.^[1]

Qureshi was associated with recruitment boards, including the Jammu and Kashmir Bank, and provided expert input on state budgetary planning.^[1]

Qureshi was married with three children. He died on 16 November 2023 at the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Srinagar, following a cardiac arrest. He was buried in his native village, Kandi, Karnah.^[1]