Alay Ahmad was born in Lucknow, India, in 1938 and received his education from High School (1953) to MA (Psychology, 1959) from Aligarh Muslim University, UP India. He emigrated from India to Pakistan in 1960 and joined the Department of Psychology University of Peshawar as Lecturer. In 1993 he was appointed Full Professor at the University of Peshawar.

Professor Ahmad completed his PhD.D. in 1979 on "Effects of Most Favored TV Programmes and Commercial Spot Messages on Children." Professor Ruth Pickford was one of the external examiners of his PhD.D. dissertation. In 1988-1989 Professor Ahmad completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the U.S. He has attended and organized workshops held in India, Pakistan, and the U.S., and he has published over 60 papers in national and foreign journals besides presenting empirical papers at Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, India, Pakistan, and the U.S. He has organized several national and international conferences.

Professor Ahmad is co-author of a book entitled "Terrorism, Television Violence and Innocent Children" (2004). He is former Deputy Secretary General of Pakistan Psychological Association, and currently Vice-President of Society for the Advancement of Psychology (Lahore) and a Fellow of SAP. He served Pakistan Psychological Studies as Chief Editor and Editorial Member. He also served International School Psychology Journal (Denmark, USA), and Distance Education Bl (UK). Professor Ahmad is founding Chief Editor of Preston Journal of Social Sciences.

The Pakistan National Book Foundation awarded him 3rd prize on his children short story book, and the Preston University Peshawar campus awarded him a gold medal for his services. In addition, students and faculty members at Preston University Peshawar and the Department of Psychology, University of Peshawar, awarded him several academic awards.

Professor Ahmad served as Chair of the Psychology Department, University of Peshawar, for 12 years. After his retirement in 1998, he joined Preston University as Full Professor and Dean Faculty of Social Sciences and Head Department of Applied Psychology and Mass Communication, Preston University. He has also contributed to Radio Pakistan and Pakistan Television, and his current work focuses on Teletext for Deaf Children, media and children, and ethnicity. Most recently he presented presidential address on Positive Psychology at Andhra Pradesh University, India.

He is Registered HEC PhD Approved Supervisor and successfully supervised PhDs and MPhils.