As I was doing interesting work at the World Bank, I resigned from the Civil Service of Pakistan. Later, I became Director of Poverty and Social Development Division. Soon I became a resident representative in Nigeria, following which I was made a Division Chief, then Chief Economist for Africa and later East Asia. After finishing my PhD, I came back to Pakistan and applied and got selected for a junior economist position at the World Bank after obtaining a three-year leave from the government. Later I went to Williams College to study Economics and afterwards to Boston University for my PhD. After the breakup of One-Unit, I was assigned to Sindh, where I was posted first in the administration but soon I was transferred to planning & development. After I spent some time in the field in Sindh and then in East Pakistan as a civil servant, I came back to Lahore in 1970 and had the opportunity to work on the dissolution of One-Unit (West Pakistan) and formation of new provinces. I decided to compete in the CSS exams and I was 6th in order of merit in Pakistan.

I realized during those two years that I was not really cut out for science as you have to spend a lot of time in the odd hours in the labs I was an extrovert and very much involved in extracurricular activities. Then I came back to Pakistan, although I was offered a job at Dow Chemical and a citizenship in 1961. Ishrat Husain: I started my educational career as a scientist when I went to the University of British Columbia in Vancouver at the age of 19 and did my masters in Chemistry. BR Research: After decades of public service, you have chosen to retire.

Pakistan by Ishrat Husain