Sardar Ali Sheikh was professor of surgery at King Edward Medical College (now University), Lahore, the second oldest medical school on the Indian subcontinent. He joined the college in April 1947 as a demonstrator in the department of anatomy, went on to become a clinical assistant, and finally professor of surgery. He published a thesis in 1950 on hyperplastic ileocaecal tuberculosis. He was principal of King Edward Medical College from 1971 to 1973, when he retired. A student hostel has been named after him. He died prematurely from a heart attack at the age of 63.