Usman Ali Isani

Usman Ali Isani is a former senior Pakistani bureaucrat, educationist and a philatelist. Isani served at the high-profile positions of Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of Pakistan Muhammad Khan Junejo in the 1980s, Secretary General Establishment Division and Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. After retirement from civil services, he served as Vice Chancellor for Iqra University.

Education and family
Usman Ali Isani received his earlier education from Lawrence College, Murree. He has a master's degree in History from Punjab University and a master's degree in Education from University of California, Berkeley. He was awarded the Sword of Honour (Pakistan), awarded to the best graduating cadet in their class, in 1956 at the Pakistan Military Academy. Usman Ali Isani is the brother of Dr. Muzaffar Ali Isani.

Career
Isani initially joined the Pakistan Army. However, he opted to join the Civil Services of Pakistan later on. Isani served as the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as well as Health Secretary of Pakistan. Isani also served as the head of the prestigious Establishment Division as Secretary General. In addition, Isani served in the Government of Sindh as the provincial Education Secretary. During his long career, he has also served as the Chairman, Higher Education Commission (Pakistan) formerly known as University Grants Commission.

Philatelist
Isani is one of Pakistan's leading philatelist having won medals for both his traditional and literature exhibits at world exhibitions. He is also a former President of the Philatelic Federation of Pakistan as well as the country's representative on the FIP Commission for Philatelic Literature. Usman Ali Isani is an active member of Philatelic Federation of Pakistan.

Publications

 * Women's Access to Higher Education in Pakistan: A Case Study of Access of Women to Higher Education in Pakistan. Saarbrücken: LAP Lambert Academic Publishing, 28 April 2010
 * Problems of Higher Education; paper prepared by Captain Usman Ali Isani and Dr. Latif Virk for the Task Force on Improvement of Higher Education in Pakistan, 2001.
 * Pakistan: Overprints on Indian Stamps and Postal Stationery, 1947-1949 by Usman Ali Isani and Ron Doubleday, 1993)
 * The Emirate of Bahawalpur, Postal History and Stamps (1932–1949) by Dr. Usman Ali Isani and Syed Abid Hussain. Karachi: Post Office Foundation Press. 2006.