Niaz Ahmed Khan to be appointed new vice-chancellor at Dhaka University

He teaches development studies and has served as acting VC at Independent University of Bangladesh

Professor Niaz Ahmed Khan, who teaches development studies, is set to be appointed the new vice-chancellor at Dhaka University.

For more than two weeks, the top public university has had no one at the helm.

Education Secretary Sheikh Abdur Rashid told bdnews24.com on Monday that an official announcement on the matter will be made on Tuesday.

Prof Niaz Ahmed studied public administration at Chittagong University and teaches development studies at DU.

He served as acting VC at the Independent University of Bangladesh for a while.

Prof Niaz Ahmed will be the 30th VC at Dhaka University. His predecessor Prof ASM Maksud Kamal resigned on Aug 10.

There was a change in the top positions of most of the public and private offices amid the demand for all-round reforms after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government in the face of the student-led uprising. Like other VCs appointed during the Awami League tenure, Prof Maksud had to step down.

The new vice chancellor was born in 1966. After his graduation and post-graduation from Chittagong University in 1986 and 1987 respectively, he did a post-graduate diploma in Human Resource Management from the Institute of Personnel Management.

In 9196, Prof Niaz Ahmed obtained his PhD in development studies from the University of Wales Swansea in the UK. He later pursued post-doctoral research at the University of Oxford, the University of Wales, and the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand.

His other positions include senior academic adviser at the National Defence College (NDC), senior academic adviser at BRAC Institute of Governance and Development, and chairman of Arannayk Foundation, also known as the Bangladesh Tropical Forest Conservation Foundation.