Jamilur Reza Choudhury


Jamilur Reza Choudhury was a Bangladeshi civil engineer, professor, researcher, and education advocate. He was an Adviser to Caretaker Government of Bangladesh. He was the vice chancellor of University of Asia Pacific. He was also the president of Bangladesh Mathematical Olympiad Committee from 2003. He was awarded Ekushey Padak by the Government of Bangladesh in the category of science and technology in 2017. He was inducted as a National Professor by the Government of Bangladesh in 2018.

Early life and background

Choudhury was born in Sylhet on 15 November 1943. His father, Abid Reza Choudhury, was a civil engineer who had migrated to Dhaka in 1952 from Rangauty, a rural area of Hailakandi. Abid was the first Muslim to graduate from Bengal Engineering and Science University, in 1929. His mother, Hayatun Nessa Choudhury was a homemaker, from the Nitainagar area of Hailakandi. Jamilur is the middle child of five siblings.

Education

Choudhury began school in 1950 at the Mymensingh Zilla School. After his family moved to Dhaka from Mymensingh in 1952, he transferred to Nawabpur Government High School, and transferred once more to a private Catholic school, St Gregory's High School, in 1953. He passed entrance examination from Sylhet Government Pilot High School. He attended Dhaka College from 1957–1959 and earned his Bachelor of Science Degree from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in 1963. Upon graduation from BUET, he became a lecturer in the Civil Engineering Department that same year. He earned a Masters of Science in Engineering Degree in 1965 and a Ph.D. in structural engineering in 1968, both at University of Southampton.
Choudhury was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Engineering by Manchester University on 20 October 2010 – the first person of Bangladeshi origin to receive this honor from a British University.

Work

Immediately after publication of results of BSC Engineering, he joined as a faculty member of the former East Pakistan University of Engineering and Technology pending formal appointment. In November 1963, he formally joined as a lecturer the Department of Civil Engineering and began his long teaching career. In September 1964 he was awarded a scholarship by Burmashell to pursue MS in structural engineering. His thesis was on "Cracks in Concrete Beam using Computer-Aided Design". In 1968, he was conferred a Ph.D. degree on the topic of "Shear Wall & Structural Analysis of High rise Building". After completing Ph.D. he returned to former East Pakistan in 1968 and joined the former East Pakistan University of Engineering & Technology as an assistant professor until the demise of East Pakistan and the birth of a new nation, Bangladesh. In 1973 he was promoted to associate professor of Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology and in 1976 a full professor. In 1975, he was offered a Nuffield scholarship to pursue a post-doctoral Fellowship at Surrey University in the UK. Until 2001 he was working as a Professor at BUET. He was also entrusted with developing a "Computer Center" at BUET and was appointed the director for about 10 years. He served as vice-chancellor of BRAC University between 2001 and 2010. Choudhury was appointed the chairman of the task force for developing Software Export & IT Infrastructure in Bangladesh from 1997 to 2000 under the Ministry of Commerce. He was a ranking member of the Prime Minister's Task Force on developing Digital Bangladesh. Besides he was involved with several local and international organizations.
He was working as the vice-chancellor of the University of Asia Pacific. Under his intellectual leadership, University of Asia Pacific is now regarded as one of the most respected universities in Bangladesh. He was the Technical Adviser of Padma bridge. He was the president of Bangladesh Mathematical Olympiad Committee.

Awards

Chowdhury died on 28 April 2020 following a heart attack in his home in Dhanmondi, Dhaka, Bangladesh.