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CONVOCATION SPEAKER DR. A MAJEED KHAN
Dr. A Majeed Khan, born in Faridpur in 1929, and educated in Kolkata, London, and Minnesota, has the distinction of being the first PhD recipient in Sociology and Anthropology from Bangladesh. He is a member of 'Phi Beta Kappa', the most prestigious honor society for promoting liberal arts and sciences in the United States, and was bestowed a Doctor of Humane Letters, a prominent honorary doctorate by Hamline University, St. Paul Minnesota for advancing higher education.
Dr. Khan has held positions as a distinguished visiting professor and senior Fulbright fellow at Hamline University, Minnesota and was a resident fellow in the Department of Rural Sociology at the University of Wisconsin. He has also taught at universities in Holland, Sweden and Jordan.
Dr. Majeed Khan served as an ambassador of Bangladesh to France, Spain and Morocco, and was a senior director of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), a member of the Executive Board and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and a Cabinet Minister for Education and for Planning of Bangladesh, during the 1980s. He was decorated with the Officer de TOrdre des Palmes Academiques by the Republic of France for his contributions to education, science and culture.
His exceptionally meritorious Service to the field of education and unparalleled vision were instrumental in the successful establishment of numerous institutes and organizations such as:
• The Academy for Rural Development in Comilla, Bangladesh in 1958 with Dr. Akhter Hamid Khan;
• The Department of Social Work at Rajshahi University in 1964;
• The Education, Science, Technology and Cultural Development Trust ESTCDT, in 1991, which later established the first private university in Bangladesh: Independent University, Bangladesh, IUB, in 1993; and
• The University of Information Technology and Sciences (UITS), in 2003, as its founder Vice Chancellor.
Dr. Khan spent seven years as President of Independent University, Bangladesh and under his able leadership, IUB solidified its status as one of the nation's leading private universities and emerged as a leader in the area of providing liberal arts education to the nation. He is also currently a board member of Chittagong Independent University.
To date, Dr. Majeed Khan has authored over 100 professional articles, monographs and book chapters and edited a compendium of biographies entitled Twenty Great Bengalis. Presently, he is engaged in co-editing the second edition of a collection of essays by distinguished authors and scholars, a reader on National Culture and Heritage, to be published by IUB.
Since 2009, Dr. Khan has been working with a group of like-minded scholars, scientists and social leaders to initiate and fast-track a movement for holistic economic development of an agro-based economy through research in biotechnology and synthetic biology. This initiative is now known as the Committee of Action for Research, Extension and Services (CARES) of which Dr. Khan is the current Executive Chairman. Recently, the Association of Universities of Asia and Pacific (AUAP) elected Dr. Majeed Khan a member of its Advisory Council.
Last year, Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB), conferred upon Dr. Khan the title and honor of President Emeritus in recognition of his selfless service and commitment to the development of higher education and for his determination, enthusiasm, and leadership in introducing the concept of private university education in Bangladesh. The country is deeply indebted to Dr. Majeed Khan for breaking new ground in higher education.