Wali Mohammad specialized in spectroscopy, magneto-optics and wireless operations. He served as the Senior Professor of Physics/Principal, MAO College, Aligarh (1912-22) (now Aligarh Muslim University); Deputy Secretary, Education Department, Government of India; Member, Indian Education Service; Professor and Head, Department of Physics, University of Lucknow and Vice-chancellor, Osmania University, Hyderabad (1946-49).

Academic and Research Achievements: Wali Mohammad did research on the hyperfine structure of spectral lines with a Littrow mounting spectrograph, a rare acquisition for an Indian university at that time. He was one of the earliest to introduce ‘wireless’ in the postgraduate course in physics in an Indian university. Set up a low-power medium-wave radio transmitter in the department for his research on ionospheric reflection.

Awards and Honours: Wali Mohammad was the President, All India Library Association. He served as the President, Physics and Mathematics Section, Indian Science Congress.