H. H. Abdul Razzack 1924

H. H. Abdul Razzack '24 was born on March 15, 1896 and hailed from Madras, India. He was the first South Asian Muslim to enroll at the Institute. "Razz", as he was called by his classmates at the Institute, had studied Physics at the University of Calcutta under Professor C.V. Raman, a Nobel Prize winner in the field. While he initially planned to study Physics at MIT, he eventually switched majors and received an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering.

Razzack Yearbook

H.H. Abdul Razzack Electrical Engineering Class 1924

Razzack Description

H.H. Abdul Razzack, Senior Portfolio, 1924

Razzack stayed in the United States for several years after graduating. He married an American, Elly Norden, and was appointed a Planning Engineer on the Board of Economic Welfare in Washington D.C. during the Second World War.  

Following the war, Razzack returned to India, where he was appointed the Chief Technical Industrial Adviser to the Nizam of the princely state of Hyderabad and assumed sole administrative control of a large number of funds allotted for the development of Hyderabadi industries. He was later appointed Chief of Industries in the Planning Commission set up by the Government of India after independence in 1947. He later returned to the United States and settled there permanently.