Dr. Abdul Hannan Chowdhury

Chairman of Grameen Bank &
Vice-Chancellor of North South University

 

Dr. Chowdhury is presently holding the position of Professor at the School of Business and Economics (SBE) at North South University (NSU) in Bangladesh. Previously, he served as the Vice Chancellor of Primeasia University from May 2017 to Oct 2020 and as the Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Eastern University from May 2014 to May 2017. His prior roles include being a former faculty of the SBE from May 2005 to May 2014, Executive Director of External Relations (6 months), Dean of the SBE (6 years), Director of the BBA Program (6 years approx.), Member of the Syndicate (4 years), and Director of the Career Services (7 years approx.) at NSU. Boasting 35 years of teaching and research experience, he has worked with esteemed institutions in Bangladesh, Canada, the USA, and China. His international faculty roles include positions at the University of Windsor, Canada (3 years), Northeastern University, Boston, USA (2 years), University of Calgary, Canada (1 year), and the Islamic University, a public university in Bangladesh (4 years). In 2014, he was appointed as a visiting Professor at the School of Economics and Management at Yunnan Normal University, China.

Dr. Chowdhury obtained his Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Northeastern University, Boston, USA, in 1999, and earned his M.S. in Operations Research from Northeastern University, USA, in 1996. His academic journey also includes a Bachelor of Science (Hons.) and a Master of Science in Statistics from Jahangirnagar University in the years 1986 and 1987, respectively. Teaching a range of courses such as Business Statistics, Operations Management, Quantitative Analysis, Statistical Quality Control, and Total Quality Management in the MBA and EMBA programs, Dr. Chowdhury is actively involved in research areas such as Quantitative Analysis, Application of Statistics in Business, Statistical Quality Control, Total Quality Management, Operations Management, and Social Business.

He served as a faculty member in the Executive MBA Program for Managers and Professio nals at the Centre for Executive Education at the University of Windsor, Canada. Additionally, he instructed the Applied Statistics course in the Quality Certification Program of Saint Clair College, Canada, offered by the American Society for Quality (ASQ). In 2001, he received the Pacific Institute for Mathematical Sciences (PIMS) Industrial post-doctoral fellowship, completing his research at the University of Calgary, Canada, in 2002. The funding for his research endeavors came from various sources, including PIMS, the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada, Nortel Networks, and the Statistical Consulting and Research Laboratory (StatCaR) of the University of Calgary. Dr. Chowdhury also received a travel grant for his research from the National Science Foundation (NSF) of the USA through the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Washington DC, USA. Moreover, he was a recipient of both Research and Conference Grants from the Graduate and Professional Student Association (GPSA) of Northeastern University, USA, and CTRG at NSU. To his credit, Dr. Chowdhury was able to attract more than half a million US dollars for research, consulting, and project grants that benefit the institutions.

Dr. Chowdhury assumed the role of Team Leader of NSU (2009-‘13) for the INSPIRE project on Environmental Management, which received a funding of 50 thousand GBP from the British Council, UK, in collaboration with Prof. Phil Haris of Coventry University, UK. Notably, he led a project with HEC, France, focused on Social Business (2010-‘14), facilitating overseas training for several faculty members from NSU SBE in the UK, France, and other European countries. Additionally, Dr. Chowdhury played an active role as a Team Member in the Investment Climate Fund project financed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank. He was also a team member in the Green Banking project, funded by the Higher Education Quality Enhancement Project (HEQEP) under the University Grants Commission (UGC) of Bangladesh. Further, he contributed as a Team Member in several projects funded by the Ministry of Science and Information Communication Technology, Government of Bangladesh. As the team leader of the One Asia Foundation, Japan-funded project "The Path to form an Asian Community" at Eastern University, Dr. Chowdhury demonstrated leadership. Moreover, he led a team at NSU to secure a grant from the Institute of Sustainable Communities (ISC), USA, to establish the Environment, Health, and Safety (EHS+) Center. Additionally, he serves as a team member of the Institutional Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) of Eastern University, a project funded by the World Bank through HEQEP, UGC of Bangladesh.

Dr. Chowdhury’s efforts in fundraising have been remarkable, raising more than 50 million BDT over the years. These funds were utilized for organizing various events, including National Career Fairs, Academic Seminars, Social Business Forums, Youth Conventions, Academic Conclaves, and International Conferences across different disciplines. He has organized numerous seminars, workshops, and conferences on pertinent issues. Notably, he served as the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the National Career Fair from 2007 to 2011 and was a member of the organizing committee of the 9th South Asian Management Forum (2006). Additionally, he held the position of Executive Chair for the International Conference on Statistical Science (ICSS 2008) and the International Conference on Knowledge Globalization (ICKG 2010), both hosted in Bangladesh in collaboration with Carleton University, Canada, and Suffolk University, USA, respectively. Furthermore, he acted as the co-convener for ICKG 2018 held in Bangladesh.

Dr. Chowdhury has actively participated as a member in numerous professional organizations and committees across Bangladesh, Canada, France, China, Germany, and the USA. His involvement extends to editing numerous papers for various national and international journals, as well as conference proceedings. He has been a featured speaker at many national and international conferences, and he has served as a reviewer for several scientific journals. During the period of 2011-2013 and 2020-2022, he served as the editor of the North South Business Review, and currently, he holds the position of editor for the Journal of Knowledge Globalization, published by the Knowledge Globalization Institute in Boston, USA.

Since 2010, Dr. Chowdhury has expanded his expertise to include the field of Social Business (SB) academia, research, and practices. He has gained extensive experience working directly with Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, actively contributing to the global promotion of the concept of SB. Dr. Chowdhury has received distinctive invitations to attend the Global Social Business Summit (GSBS) and SB academic conference in Germany (2010, ‘15), Austria (2011, ‘12), Malaysia (2013), Italy (2022), Thailand (2024), and Social Business Day in India (2019) and Malaysia (2023), Philippines (2024).

He has taken a leading role in organizing a multitude of conferences, seminars, forums, workshops, lecture series, and prestigious events focused on Social Business (SB). Notably, with the support of the U.S. Department of State, he played a pivotal role in organizing the First South Asian Youth Leaders' Summit on SB in Dhaka in 2012. As the Founder and President of the Professional Society for Social Business, he spearheaded the Social Business Forum in 2012 and 2013, serving as the Executive Chair. In the capacity of Chairman of the Bangladesh Country Forum at the SBD from 2021 to 2023, Dr. Chowdhury continued to contribute significantly to the promotion of SB worldwide. He also assumed the role of Patron for the SB Youth Convention in 2014 and the SB Academic Conclave in 2015. 

Dr. Chowdhury’s influence extends internationally, as he has been an invited speaker at numerous conferences in countries such as India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Cambodia, Italy, Germany, Austria, USA, and Canada. He has also contributed to the international arena as the Secretary General of the Organization of Population and Poverty Alleviation (OPPA), Bangladesh. His involvement in global research conferences includes serving as a member of the International Scientific Committee for the GSBS Research Conferences held in Malaysia (2013), Mexico (2014), and Germany (2015). Furthermore, he played a role in the Planning and Organizing Committee and the International Scientific Committee of the SB Academia Conference (SBAC) held in China in 2016. Presently, he holds the position of co-chair for the upcoming SBAC.

His scholarly contributions encompass a diverse array of publications that have been featured in esteemed journals like the International Journal of Production Economics, Intelligent Systems with Applications, Journal of Quality and Reliability Engineering International, Journal of Quality Engineering, Accounting Research Journal, International Journal of Industrial Engineering, International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management, Journal of Enterprise Information Management, Benchmarking: an International Journal, International Journal of Manpower, International Journal of Bank Marketing, The Learning Organization, International Journal of Trade and Economic Development, International Journal of Economics and Finance, South Asian Journal of Management, Journal of Knowledge Globalization, International Journal of Electronic Government Research, Journal of Business Administration, Journal of Business Education and Accreditation, Pakistan Journal of Statistics, North South Business Review

Dr. Chowdhury took an active role in the accreditation project team at NSU to chase the AACSB (The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) and SAQS (South Asian Quality System) accreditation process for SBE to achieve a globally recognized mark of excellence. Under his leadership, SBE was able to get eligibility for the AACSB accreditation in Bangladesh for the first time in the shortest possible time. In 2022, he was featured by the AACSB at ICAM in Louisiana, New Orleans, USA for his outstanding leadership on Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity. He has widespread experience working as an international peer review team member of the SAQS accreditation process of AMDISA (Association of Management Development Institutions in South Asia). He led Outcome-based Education (OBE) curriculum development at NSU as outlined by the University Grants Commission (UGC) with extensive experience designing courses and developing curriculum. 

His prolific body of work includes over 70 published papers, book chapters, and authored books. Dr. Chowdhury has also presented more than 75 papers at various international conferences. Beyond his academic contributions, he has written over 25 features and articles published in national daily newspapers and weekly magazines. His widespread leadership role in the education sector in Bangladesh has been unique and well-recognized by the students, faculty members, professionals, and academicians for his invaluable support, mentorship, and guidance. He holds a unique distinction as the only son of a mother who was honored with the "Ratna Garva" award in 2010.