Staff Reporter :
National Professor Jamilur Reza Choudhury, the most revered civil engineer of Bangladesh, has been laid to rest at the Banani Graveyard in Dhaka.
Choudhury was buried following his Namaz-e-Janaza at Dhanmondi Eidgah Mosque after Zuhr prayers, his niece Shenin Ziauddin said.
Earlier, he passed away on Tuesday morning at a Dhaka hospital. He was 77.
Morshed Alam, an officer at Square Hospital, said Prof Choudhury was brought there around 4:30am. “He breathed his last at 5am at the emergency,” he said.
Zia Wadud, son-in-law of the National Professor, announced the demise of Prof Choudhury in a Facebook post.
Prof Choudhury is survived by his wife Selina Choudhury, daughter Charisma Farheen
Choudhury and son Kaashif Reza Choudhury.
President Abdul Hamid expressed deep shock and sorrow at the death of the National Professor. He conveyed deep sympathy to the bereaved family members and prayed for the eternal peace of the departed soul.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also mourned the death of the National Professor. In a condolence message, she said the Ekushay Padak recipient brilliant educationist played very important role in the infrastructural development of the country.
She recalled the contribution of this talented personality, who led the experts’ panels of Bangabandhu Bridge, Padma Multipurpose Bridge, Dhaka Elevated Expressway, Karnaphuli Tunnel and many other ongoing development projects, with gratitude.
Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammed Yunus mourned the passing away of his old friend. “I am saddened that I have lost a very close friend,” he said in a message, praising the National Professor for his honesty and recalling his contribution to the country.
He was born to Hayatun Nessa Choudhury (1922-2010) and Engineer Abid Reza Choudhury (1905-1991) in Sylhet on November 15, 1943.
Prof Choudhury, a foremost civil engineer, researcher, and education advocate, is Prof Choudhury was born in Sylhet and had his early education in Dhaka’s St Gregory’s School and Dhaka College.
Jamilur Reza Choudhury attended Dhaka College from 1957-1959 and earned his Bachelor of Science Degree (Civil Engineering) from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) in 1963.
After graduating from BUET (First Class First with Honours), he joined the Department of Civil Engineering as a lecturer. He later earned a Master of Science in Engineering in 1965 and a PhD in structural engineering in 1968 from the University of Southampton, UK.
In 1973, he was promoted to the post of associate professor of BUET and in 1976 a full professor.
In 1975, he was offered Nuffield scholarship to pursue post-doctoral Fellowship at Surrey University in UK.
Until 2001, he was working as a Professor at BUET. He was also entrusted with developing a “Computer Centre” at BUET and was appointed director for about 10 years.
Jamilur Reza Choudhury was appointed chairman of task force for developing Software Export and IT Infrastructure in Bangladesh from 1997 to 2000 under the Ministry of Commerce. He was a ranking member of the Prime Minister’s Task Force on developing Digital Bangladesh.
He was a foremost civil engineer, researcher, and education advocate of this country.
As a civil engineer, Jamilur Reza Chowdhury’s hand was ever-present in the making of modern Bangladesh. At the time of his death, he was still heading the International Panel of Experts on the Padma Bridge, the country’s flagship infrastructure project.
Prior to that, he chaired the panel of experts who advised the government and a clutch of donors including JICA, on the Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge, completed in 1998.
He was the Team Leader for the Multipurpose Cyclone Shelter Programme and prepared the Master Plan for Cyclone Shelters in the coastal areas of Bangladesh.
Prof Choudhury was even appointed the chairman of a task force for developing software export and it infrastructure in Bangladesh from 1997 to 2000.
In 2013, in “gratitude for the cooperation and long standing contribution” to their activities, JICA conferred their special Recognition Award on Prof Choudhury, and in the citation, they said: “No important development project in Bangladesh has been implemented without the involvement of Prof Choudhury.”
He was also a former adviser to the caretaker government of Bangladesh in 1996, and was the Vice-Chancellor of University of Asia Pacific before his demise.
He has received numerous awards during his illustrious career. He was awarded Ekushey Padak in 2017 and appointed as the National Professor the next year.
He also won a Commonwealth Academic Staff Fellowship in 1974 and spent a year at the University of Surrey, UK, as a Visiting Associate Professor.
