Toufiq Siddiqi Obituary

TOUFIQ A. SIDDIQI Passed away at his home in Honolulu, after a long illness, on June 8, 2023, at age 86. He is survived by his devoted wife Ulrike of almost 58 years and two loving sisters Shirin and Sayeeda. A widely known Environmentalist, educator, and international advisor on Climate Change, he was one of the first participants in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and was honored as one of the recipients of the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize award, in Oslo, Norway. Born in Hyderabad, India, educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, England, he earned his Ph.D. in Nuclear Physics, at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University of Frankfurt, Germany, in 1966. He and Ulrike emigrated to the United States in 1967, so he could continue his thesis research at Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. However, realizing the dramatic environmental developments, he soon left the world of Physics to teach Environmental Sciences, interdisciplinary subjects on Environment and Public Policy, and becoming one of the founders of the University's School of Public and Environmental Affairs. In 1977, he joined the Environment and Policy Institute at the East-West Center, Honolulu, Hawaii. As research scholar, he became one of the leaders in the first Environmental Research Projects for China. He developed workshops for EWC regional partners as well as international research institutes and held seminars for EWC students and faculty, addressing a variety of evolving and current environmental issues. His early attention to the global threats of Climate Change led to the first conference in the Pacific Region on Energy and Climate Change at the EWC. He spent two years in Thailand as Regional Advisor on Energy for the United Nations ESCAP, Bangkok, traveling and working in most ESCAP member countries in South and Central Asia. His expertise in analyzing global as well as local conditions, reporting on the dangers of global energy demands in connection with the change in climate patterns. In 1997, he founded the private non-profit research institute, "Global Environment and Energy in the 21st Century". To promote global activities for mankind to live in a harmonious and safe environment, he wrote and published extensively, his work and contributions inspired by these goals.