Fellow

Maj. Gen (Retd.) MR Chowdhury (Deceased)

(Fellow, 1992)

Major General (Retd.) M. R. Chowdhury was born on 1 June, 1928.

Major General Chowdhury obtained the MBBS (1951) from Calcutta Medical College, University of Calcutta, India. He was graded Specialist in Pathology (1956), Clinical Pathology including Microbiology, Haematology, Parasitology, Chemical Pathology and Histopathology at the Armed Forces Medical College, Rawalpindi, Pakistan. He secured the Dip. Bact. (1959) in Microbiology from the University of London, United Kingdom and FCPS (1976) in Clinical Pathology from Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons. He was awarded the MRCPath (1987) in Pathology from the Royal College of Pathologists, London.

Dr. Chowdhury received Independence Day Award in Medical Science; Civil Award - TQA (Pakistan) equivalent of British Award (MBE). Recipient of C-in-C's Commendation for professional excellence while commanding Army Pathological Laboratory. Recipient of the Certificate of Merit for distinguished achievement which is the subject of commendation of MEN OF ACHIEVEMENT (Volume Ten), International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, England. Recipient of the "Certificate of Inclusion" in recognition of distinguished achievements which are recorded in the "International Who's Who of Intellectual" (Volume Six). He was a recipient of the "Community Leaders of the World Award", American Biographical Institute, USA.

Dr. Chodhury was employed as Commandant AFIP, Dhaka Cantonment from where he retired. He was Executive Director, National Health Laboratories, Islamabad, Pakistan (1970 - 1972). Commanding Officer, Army Pathological Laboratory (CPL) from 1966 - 1970. Classified Specialist in Pathology, Dept. of Microbiology. AFLP, Rawalpindi, Pakistan (1960 - 1966). Post-Graduate researcher in U.K. (1958 - 1959). East Pakistan Medical Service (1952) and General Duty Medical Officer (1952-1955). Graded Specialist in Pathology, AFIP (1956-1958).

He was Member, WHO Expert Advisory Panel on Health Laboratory Services. Founder President, Bangladesh Society of Microbiologists. Member, Editorial Board, Bangladesh Medical Research Council Bulletin. Member, Bangladesh Medical Research Council. Editorial Secretary, Armed Forces Medical Journal, Bangladesh. Member, various Committees of icddr, b. Member, National Nutrition Council, Bangladesh. Member, Governing Body of the Institute of Food Science and Nutrition, Dhaka University. Member, Bangladesh Association for the Advancement of Medical Science, IPGMR. Fellow, Bangladesh Academy of Sciences. Member, First National AIDS Committee.

Maj. Gen. (Retd.) M. R. Chowdhury, an eminent Clinical Microbiologist of Bangladesh retired from the Army after long 39 years of meritorious service. In his long year of service he had been working devotedly in various capacities and had contributed enormously in this part of the world to the cause of Laboratory Medicine in General and Clinical Microbiology in particular.

His superb organizational capabilities and foresightness contributed largely to the establishment of Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It imparts Postgraduate training to medical officers, trains-laboratory technicians and carries out research activities.

During his service in Pakistan, he made commendable contributions as the Commanding Officer of the Army Pathological Laboratory, Dhaka and as the Executive Director of NTH, Islamabad. In recognition of his professional excellence he received a letter of commendation from C-in-C. Pakistan and was also honoured with a Civil Award: TQA. Dr. Chowdhury is the author of a Text Book on Medical Microbiology. This book has been acclaimed by the scientists both at home and abroad and has been praised by the most prestigious scientific body: The Royal Society of Great Britain. He has more than 50 research publications to his credit in scientific and medical journals.

His academic contributions earned the recognition of the Government of Bangladesh and as such the highest National award i.e. the ‘Independence Day Award’ was conferred on him in 1977.

He  visited USA, UK, Japan, Hongkong, Manila, Bangkok, India, Soudi Arabia etc. for participation in conferences, seminars and laboratory visits.

Dr. M. R. Chowdhury expired on 24 June 1999.