Peshawar
Business School (PBS) has established HM Close Center for Research, Innovation,
Creativity and Development (HMCCRICD) in memory of a veteran educationist Mr. Hubert
Michael Close. Hubert Michael Close or HM Close or simply Close for his students
and colleagues. After graduating from Cambridge, Close went to teach English at
St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, India in 1937. However, his teaching career was
interrupted when he joined the army during World War II, and he ended up in
Cyprus and other Mediterranean Islands commanding a Pathan Company. At the end
of the war, Close went back to St. Stephen’s, and then, after the Partition,
migrated to Pakistan to take up teaching English at Islamia College Peshawar. In
his book, A Pathan Company, published in 1993, Close warmly describes his 'boys' in B Company that he commanded, admiring their sturdiness, simplicity of
habits, sincerity and loyalty to their commander. It was probably his affection
for the young Pathan soldiers of his Company that motivated him to move to
Peshawar. He gifted 46 years of his life to the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,
rendering his services to different universities, schools and colleges. Close
is remembered today by his students not for what he taught in the classroom but
mostly for what he taught outside it: discipline, compassion, social work and
adventure. Close remained at Islamia College Peshawar up until his retirement and
then moved to Edwardes College Peshawar and remained there until his death, in 1999.
