IUB Trustee Mohammad Zakaria Khan has been elected as the Chairman of the Education Science Technology and Cultural Development Trust (ESTCDT) for a period of two years starting January 2025. Trustee Dr. Husne Ara Ali has been elected as the Vice Chairman of the trust for the same two-year period. 

Mr. Khan replaces Trustee Mrs. Nilufer Zafarullah, while Dr. Husne Ara Ali replaces Trustee Salma Karim. The election for the positions were held in the last week of December 2024 during which they were elected unanimously. 

ESTCDT was established in 1992 as a philanthropic body with a strong commitment to take Bangladesh’s higher education to global standards. Under ESTCDT, Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB) was founded in 1993 in Dhaka and the Chittagong Independent University (CIU) in 1999.

Mohammad Zakaria Khan, born in 1950, graduated from the Department of English at the University of Dhaka in 1974. While at university, he joined his father Late Fazlur Rahman Khan’s business. He now serves as Chairman and Managing Director of Commander Soap Co. Ltd. (COSCO), Goldhill Chemical Complex Ltd., Tiger Wire Products Ltd., Haque Plastic Ltd., and Sikander Industries Ltd. 

Mr. Khan is also the Founder Director of NRBC Bank Ltd. and Federal Insurance Co. Ltd. He was also the founder Managing Director of Channel 9 and served for 19 years as the publisher and editor of the now-defunct national daily Bangla Bazar Patrika. His late wife, Dr. Benajir Durdana, was a Professor of English at the University of Dhaka and a Foundation Donor of IUB.

Dr. Husne Ara Ali is an accomplished academic and researcher. She is the daughter of Late National Professor Dr. Md Innas Ali, the first Rector of IUB. She holds PhD and MPhil degrees in Pharmacy from the University of Dhaka. She has been serving as a member trustee of IUB since 2008, the founding trustee of the National Professor Dr. M. Innas Ali Memorial Trust of the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences, Founding Trustee of Rowshan Innas Ali Welfare Trust Fund, Dhaka University, and Primary Member of the Committee of Action for Research, Extension and Services (CARES), Dhaka. 

Dr. Ali is an active researcher with published work in international journals and a philanthropist. An amateur artist and writer, she has held numerous art exhibitions and published 20 short pieces. Her husband Late Mr. A. H. M. Ershad Ali was a civil engineer who graduated from BUET in 1963 batch and retired as the Chief Engineer of BADC. She is also a mother of two medical specialists, Dr. Maleka Ali and Dr. Md. Asif Ali.

BDST: 1832 HRS, JAN 9, 2025
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