Ekushey Padak-winning educationist, scientist, researcher, and author Professor Ahmad Shamsul Islam has passed away.
He was 100.
Shamsul Islam breathed his last in the early hours of Monday.
He is survived by two sons, a daughter, 14 grandchildren, and a host of relatives, admirers, and former students.
Shamsul Islam’s eldest son, Prof Yusuf Islam, is the vice-chancellor of Southeast University, while his youngest son, Khalid Islam, is an IT specialist based in Silicon Valley, USA. His only daughter, Zeba Islam, is a UGC professor.
Prof Shamsul taught botany for over 40 years at the University of Dhaka and other institutions around the world. He also served as a supernumerary professor at Dhaka University.
In his research career, he achieved a major milestone by successfully hybridising two commercial varieties of jute for the first time. He also pioneered tissue culture and micropropagation techniques for jute.
To produce virus-free plants from local orchids and potatoes, he developed and applied various tissue culture methods, including somaclonal variation, meristem culture, and micropropagation.
Among his notable awards are the President’s Gold Medal in agriculture (1984), Ekushey Padak in education (1986), BAS Gold Medal in biology (1987), Bangladesh Botanical Association Gold Medal (1997), and the GNOBB Lifetime Achievement Award (2017).
In 1980, he founded the Qur’anic School Society to spread the teachings of the Qur’an among young children.
His notable publications include “Smritir Pote Jibon Chhobi”, “Rhymes of the Heart”, “Bongshogotibidyar Moolkotha”, and “Gene Prokoushol”.
bd-pratidin/GR
