Fellow

Prof. M Abdul Aziz Khan (Deceased)

(Fellow, 1992)

Professor Muhammad Abdul Aziz Khan was born in February 1931 at Pabna, Bangladesh.

Professor Khan earned Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, England in 1964; M.Sc. Dhaka University, 1952; took a course in plant physiology at Cambridge University, 1961-1964.

Professor and Founder Chairman, Department of Botany, Chittagong Univesity from 1974 to 1981. Associate Professor, Department of Botany, Dhaka University from 1972-1974. Senior Lecturer in Botany, Dhaka University from 1955 to 1964; Research Assistant in Botany, Dhaka University from 1953 - 1955. Dr. Khan was actively engaged in researches on problems related to plant metabolism, physiological ecology, horticulture and agronomy from 1950 till retrement.

He published 41 research papers in different foreign and national scientific journals. Supervised Ph.D., M.Phil. and M. Sc. research students.

He is the author of two text books and another two books on education and agriculture, wrote a number of articles on the problems of higher education, research and agriculture of the developing countries.

He obtained Colombo Plan Scholarship from 1961 to 1964 and under this scholarship obtained Ph.D. from Cambridge University England. In 1977 obtained Commonwealth Academic Staff  Fellowship and conducted higher research in the Botany Department of St. Andrews University, Scotland, Unitied Kingdom. On special invitation by Australia and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Sciences (ANZAAS) he attended a Science  Conference held in Perth (Australia) in 1973.

Professor Khan was Vice-Chancellor, Chittagong University from 1981 to 1985. Dr. Khan worked as a founder Chairman, Department of Botany, Chittagong University (1973-1981). Worked as Dean, Faculty of Science, Chittagong University (1980 -1981). Worked as Vice President of Chittagong University Rural Development programme (CURJDP), a horticultural and agricultural programme of the University (1976 - 1981). Developed Chittagong University Botanical Garden on 300 acres of hilly land.

Professor Khan initiated an NGO named Plantation Club Bangladesh (PCB) in the year 1996, in association with the teachers of the University. It was realized that if the students and the teachers of Schools and Colleges (literate group of youths in the rural areas) are involved in the programs of nursery making, transplantation, and caring of the transplanted plants in the campus and homesteads, then the literate mass will come forward to plantation and taking care of plants. PCB received the grant from the Embassy of Japan, Dhaka in 1999 to work in nine colleges of the districts of Pabna and Sirajgonj and in 2002 received an aid from CIDA to work in four schools in the district of Pabna. A total of about 100,000 seedlings of timber, fruit and medicinal plants were raised and planted in the campus and approach roads and homesteads of students and community people.

The PCB work include: creating awareness about maintaining homestead plants; biodiversity of species; plantation of new and fast growing tree species; amelioration of environment through discussion, seminar and exhibition.

He was Fellow of Bangladesh Academy of Sciences. Life Member, Bangladesh Botanical Society, Life Member of the Bangladesh Association for the Advancement of Science, President of Bangladesh Botanical Society(1991-1992); Founder President of Bangladesh Biggani Samiti (1993-1997).

As Vice-Chancellor he participated in conferences and meetings of Vice-Chancellors of Association of Commonwealth (ACU) in U.K. and West Indies in 1983 and 1984. He acted as Chairman of Bangladesh Association of Universities (BAU) and attended many national and international seminars in various countries.

Professor Abdul Aziz Khan expired on 28 March 2012