Professor M.A. Hamid Biographi
Published , Writer By NH Sorkar
Professor M.A. Hamid was born to a respectable Muslim family Barupur village under Belcuchi Upazila at Sirajgonj, Bangladesh in December, 1939. After studying at the University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh he joined the Department of Economics as Lecturer in 1963 and rose to Professorship in 1976. He was awarded the Commonwealth Scholarship to do a Master (1969) and Ph.D. (1972) at Manchester University, UK. He was appointed Vice Chancellor, Islamic University, Kushtia in June 1991 by the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh and left the office in March 1995. He was a Visiting Fellow of Wye College, UK in 1978-79. After his retirement from the Department of Economics, Rajshahi University he joined Darul Ihsan University, Dhaka as the Vice Chancellor, in November, 2000 the post he served till his death in Chicago, USA, of lung cancer in November 2002.
He was a renowned social researcher and published extensively in the filed of irrigation, agriculture and rural development. Under his able guidance and determined leadership a series of research work under the name Rural Development Studies was published from the Department of Economics, Rajshahi University. Later his interest was shifted to the study of Islamic economics. To his credit he had more than 100 publications in the learned journals of home and abroad.
He published dozens of research monographs and half a dozen books of which Irrigation Technologies in Bangladesh (1978) received the recognition of a milestone. His Palli Unnayan Bangladeshe (1988) (Rural Development in Bangladesh) was widely acclaimed. Among his other important publications Lathyrism in Bangladesh : An Agro-Economic Survey (1986) and Silk Sector in Bangladesh : A Selective Overview (1991) drew attention of the concerned people.
He was a distinguished fellow and member of many learned bodies and held various statutory positions in public universities of the country. He was member, University Grants Commission (1981-83), member, UNESCO Bangladesh Commission (1980-82) and member, Board of Governors of the Islamic Foundation Bangladesh (1991-95). While he was in the UK he collected money for the War of Liberation of Bangladesh. He was a widely traveled man and participated in scores of national and international seminars and conferences.