Syed Anwar Husain ( bn, সৈয়দ আনোয়ার হোসেন; 5 November 1947) is a Bangladeshi academic and historian. He is a former Director General of Bangla Academy. He is the President of

Bangladesh Itihas Samiti Bangladesh Itihas Samiti (also known as Bangladesh History Association) is a non-profit historical association in Bangladesh that publishes and supports research of the history of Bangladesh. History Bangladesh Itihas Samiti was founded in 1966. ...

Early life and education

Husain was born on 5 November 1947 to a Bengali Muslim family claiming to be

Syeds ''Sayyid'' (, ; ar, سيد ; ; meaning 'sir', 'Lord', 'Master'; Arabic plural: ; feminine: ; ) is a surname of people descending from the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali, sons of Muhamma ...

from the Bogra District in Rajshahi Division,

Dominion of Pakistan Between 14 August 1947 and 23 March 1956, Pakistan was an independent federal dominion in the Commonwealth of Nations, created by the passing of the Indian Independence Act 1947 by the British parliament, which also created the Dominion of I ...

. He has a bachelor's and master's from the

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 ...

. He also has a masters in international history from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

. He completed his PhD from

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

in British Administrative History. He studied at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

on a

Fulbright scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

Career

Husain joined the University of Dhaka in 1970 as a lecturer in the Department of History. He was promoted to professor in 1985. From 1993 to 1996, he served as the chairperson of the Department of History at the University of Dhaka. He was the Director General of Bangla Academy from 1997 to 2001. From 2004 to 2005, he worked as the Vice-Chancellor of

Darul Ihsan University Darul Ihsan University ( bn, দারুল ইহসান বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়) or DIU was a private university in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It was founded by late Syed Ali Ashraf in 1989. The government of Bangladesh accredit ...

. He was a visiting professor at the

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, and

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

. He retired from the University of Dhaka in 2014 and was appointed the Supernumerary Professor there. He was awarded the Ekushey Padak in 2009. From 2010 to 2012, he was the founder editor of

Daily Sun The ''Daily Sun'' is the largest daily newspaper in South Africa. ''Daily Sun'' may also refer to the following newspapers: United States * ''Arizona Daily Sun'', Flagstaff, Arizona * ''Bowdoin Daily Sun'', Connecticut, published by Bowdoin Colleg ...

. He is the Bangabandhu Chair at the

Bangladesh University of Professionals Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP) is the 31st public university of Bangladesh (according to University Grants Commission of Bangladesh), located in Mirpur Cantonment, Dhaka. It is the first public university of Bangladesh to be run by ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Husain, Syed Anwar Living people University of Dhaka alumni Academic staff of the University of Dhaka Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of London Recipients of the Ekushey Padak 20th-century Bangladeshi historians 1947 births 21st-century Bangladeshi historians People from Bogra District