BB Qureshi, one of Pakistan’s first few women to earn a PhD degree, was born into an educated family in Muradabad, India in 1922. She did her BA and MA Economics from Aligarh Muslim University. After partition, her family moved to Rawalpindi where Qureshi taught economics at a government college. She taught for several years in Africa and had the honour of having taught the former UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, in Ghana. She completed her PhD in agricultural economics from Trinity College in Dublin.
Qureshi remained single her whole life. When she finally returned to Islamabad after years of teaching abroad, she was so disappointed at the standard of education that she decided not to teach anymore. Her brother did not treat her well and she shifted to Karachi and lived in Edhi Centre for homeless women in North Karachi, where she passed away in her sleep on 15 August 2012.
Qureshi remained single her whole life. When she finally returned to Islamabad after years of teaching abroad, she was so disappointed at the standard of education that she decided not to teach anymore. Her brother did not treat her well and she shifted to Karachi and lived in Edhi Centre for homeless women in North Karachi, where she passed away in her sleep on 15 August 2012.
