Dr. Nazeer Ahmad was a Guyanese born soil scientist whose work on tropical soils supported farmers all over the world in increasing the health and abundance of their crops. Growing up on a farm under the guidance of his father, he learned the importance of different soils and their effect on planting. He attended the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture (ICTA) in Trinidad, precursor to the University of the West Indies, where received a BS/Diploma in Agriculture (1951) and Postgraduate Associateship (1952). He received his MSc in Soil Science from McGill University and the University of British Columbia (UBC), and then his PhD (1957) in Agriculture from the University of Nottingham (UofN). He returned to Guyana to Head the Division of Agricultural Chemistry in the Ministry of Agriculture. During his tenure he conducted soil and land surveys to improve crop productivity in the Caribbean and Latin America and in 1983 published his most notable work “Soil Genesis and Taxonomy”.
His academic career advanced at the University of the West Indies (UWI) in Trinidad and Tobago. He started as a Lecturer in Soil Science (1961), then was a Sr. Lecturer in Soil Science (1965), and then named Professor of Soil Science and Department Head of Soil Science (1969). He was named Professor Emeritus in 1996. In his time, he founded a postgraduate research program, found numerous funding sources, and mentored numerous students to enhance this field of work and improve facilities for training. He published more than 200 articles and 3 books. Dr. Ahmad continued to advance soil science in Guyana by serving as the Director of the National Agricultural Research Institute, on the International Board for Soil Research and Management and the International Society of Soil Science, and as a Fulbright Professor at the University of Illinois (UofI). He was awarded the Gold Medal by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperations in Agriculture for his work. He remained active in his community up until his death in 2013.
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