Luna Shamsuddoha (4 October 1953 – 17 February 2021) was a Bangladeshi entrepreneur. She was the chairman of the software firm Dohatec New Media, in Dhaka Bangladesh, which she founded in 1992. She was the first woman to head any state-owned bank in Bangladesh. She was the chairman of state-owned

Janata Bank Limited Janata Bank Ltd. ( bn, জনতা ব্যাংক লিমিটেড) is a state-owned commercial bank of Bangladesh established in 1972. Its headquarters is situated at Motijheel in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. It is the seco ...

. She was also founder and president of Bangladesh Women in Technology (BWIT). She received the Bangladesh Business Award (2017) for her contribution to the country's economy and was honored with

Anannya Top Ten Awards Anannya Top Ten Awards ( bn, অনন্যা শীর্ষ দশ পুরস্কার) is the prize for women in Bangladesh recognition of contribution to the fields of agriculture, industrial, trade, economics, acting, music, sports, ...

for her work in the local

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...

industry as a woman

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

. She was a board member of SME Foundation, Independent University Bangladesh (IUB), director of state-owned

Agrani Bank Limited Agrani Bank Limited (ABL) ( bn, অগ্রণী ব্যাংক) is a state-owned commercial bank of Bangladesh established in 1972. Its headquarters is situated at Motijheel in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. Murshedul Kabir is the ...

and

. She was featured on global forums on

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...

, e-Governance and women's economic participation and empowerment. Luna was a member of Council of Global Thought Leaders on Inclusive Growth,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. She joined as chairman of the state-owned

Early life and education

Shamsuddoha was born to Lutfar Rahman and Hasina Rahman on 4 October in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

. She got her Secondary School Certificate (SSC) from

Viqarunnisa Noon School and College Viqarunnisa Noon School and College ( bn, ভিকারুননিসা নূন স্কুল এন্ড কলেজ), also known as VNSC, is an all-girls higher secondary school and college in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It has 25,000 students ...

and Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSC) from Holy Cross College. She had a master's degree in international relations from

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...

Career

She began her career as a consultant in 1978 but she started the business in 1985 as the managing partner of The Executive Center. Prior to that, she functioned as an English Language teacher at

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

Language Resource Center and as a lecturer, English Language, Institute of Modern Languages,

. She worked for Dohatec since 1992. Her company is an independent software vendor and system integrator. Dohatec provides software solutions to institutions, government agencies and corporations in North America, Europe, and Bangladesh. Dohatec's key clients are the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

, US Postal Service,

Government of Bangladesh The Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ সরকার — ) is the central executive government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Con ...

and

Bangladesh Army The Bangladesh Army is the land warfare branch and the largest component of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. The primary mission of the Army is to provide necessary forces and capabilities to deliver the Bangladeshi government's security and def ...

. The company is a Certifying Authority and issues Digital Certificates including identification certificates and SSL Certificates. Shamsuddoha was a panelist in two sessions of the UN 59th Commission on the Status of Women and Moderator of UN Online Discussion, UN Women. She participated in UN ITC Trailblazers Summit: Transformations in Sourcing from Women, in São Paulo,

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

2015 – a call for the inclusion of women in public procurement.

Personal life

She was married to A. K. M. Shamsuddoha, a businessman. The couple had a daughter, Reem Shamsuddoha.

Awards

* Bangladesh Business Award, 2017 * Outstanding Woman in Business, 2017 * Honorary Special Recognition Award by Global Women Inventors & Innovators Network (GWIIN), 2013 *

(2013)

Death

She died while undergoing cancer treatment at a Singapore hospital on February 17, 2021, aged 67.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shamsuddoha, Luna 1953 births 2021 deaths Bangladeshi businesspeople People from Dhaka Holy Cross College, Dhaka alumni Viqarunnisa Noon School and College alumni University of Dhaka alumni