LAHORE: Punjab University Institute of Communication Studies (ICS) former director Dr Mugheesuddin Sheikh passed away on Wednesday and was laid to rest in a graveyard on the varsity campus. He was 69.

Mr Sheikh was suffering from Covid-19 and was admitted to a local hospital where he breathed his last in the morning.

His funeral prayers were offered at PU jogging ground. People from different walks of life including academicians attended the funeral.

Those who attended the funeral also included PU Vice Chancellor Prof Niaz Ahmed, Prof Dr Shafique Jullandhry, PU Academic Staff Association (PUASA) president Prof Dr Mumtaz Anwar Chaudhry and a large number of his students.

Mr Sheikh was born in Lahore on Jan 1, 1951, and did his Master’s in Journalism in 1976 from the PU and started his career as lecturer at the Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan, the same year. He joined PU as assistant professor in 1982 and was promoted and appointed as professor in 1988. He remained a teacher for around 40 years and earned his PhD from Iowa State University, USA, in 1991.

He also remained chairman and director of PUICS from 2003 to 2009 and Dean of the Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences from 2005 to 2011.

Mr Sheikh also served the university on other administrative positions and was also appointed as Representative on the Press Council of Pakistan by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) chairman.

After retirement from the Punjab University in 2011, Dr Sheikh served as dean and director of communication studies departments of various private universities and was author of many books.

According to some students who attended his lectures in the late 80s, Dr Mugheesuddin Sheikh would come to the class well prepared and use projector and slides to better illustrate his point. There would be hardly any absent mind among students due to his speaking power and teaching style.

PU VC Prof Niaz Ahmed said the field of journalism had been deprived of a great personality and the gap created by his death could never be filled. He said Dr Sheikh had produced thousands of journalists and his name would be remembered in golden words in the PU history.

ICS Director Prof Dr Noshina Saleem said Dr Mughees upgraded the PU Department of Mass Communication to ICS. She said he introduced market-oriented courses and launched several initiatives to uplift the institute.

Earlier, in the meeting of Punjab University Academic Council, deans, heads of departments and professors paid tributes to the services of Prof Sheikh and offered fateha for him.

University of Management and Technology (UMT) President Ibrahim Hasan Murad said Dr Sheikh was one of the most successful and influential academicians in the history of media studies development in Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2020