Badiul Alam
{{Short description|Bangladeshi academic}}
{{BLP sources|date=July 2023}}
{{infobox officeholder
| name = Muhammad Badiul Alam
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1949|02|28|df=y}}
| birth_place = North Nolbila, Maheshkhali, Cox's Bazar, East Bengal, Dominion of Pakistan
| title = Vice Chancellor of the University of Chittagong
| occupation = Academic
| predecessor = A J M Nuruddin Chowdhury
| successor = Abu Yusuf
| term_start = 8 February 2006
| term_end = 24 February 2009
| nationality = Bangladeshi
| education = PhD
| alma_mater = {{unbulleted list|University of Dhaka|University of Waterloo|University of Delhi}}
| image =
}}
Muhammad Badiul Alam (born 28 February 1949) is a Bangladeshi academic who served as the 13th Vice Chancellor of the University of Chittagong.{{cite news|url=https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/prof-badiul-alam-takes-over-charge-of-cu-vc|title=Prof Badiul Alam takes over charge of CU VC|date=February 8, 2006|access-date=June 20, 2017|newspaper=bdnews24.com}}{{cite web |title=Faculty Members |url=http://www.ciu.edu.bd/slass-faculty.html |website=Chittagong Independent University}}{{Cite journal |last=Alam |first=Muhammad Badiul |date=1977 |title=The Concept of Non - Alignment: A Critical Analysis |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20671723 |journal=World Affairs |volume=140 |issue=2 |pages=166–185 |issn=0043-8200}}
Early life and education
Alam was born in Maheshkhali, Cox's Bazar district in 1949. He completed his undergraduate degree at the Chittagong Government College and his M.A. in Political Science at the University of Dhaka in 1969. He obtained a second M.A. in Political Science at the University of Waterloo, Canada in 1977. He did his Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of Delhi, India in 1986.{{cite web|url=http://www.cu.ac.bd/ctguni/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=178&Itemid=59|title=CV of Pro-Vice-Chancellor|access-date=June 20, 2017|publisher=University of Chittagong|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150702100814/http://www.cu.ac.bd/ctguni/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=178&Itemid=59|archive-date=July 2, 2015|url-status=dead}}
Alam served as Dean and Head of the Department of Political Science at the University of Chittagong and was the president of the Bangladesh Political Science Association.
Career
M. Badiul Alam began his academic career as a lecturer in Political Science at the University of Chittagong in 1971. He became Department Chairman in 1980 and was promoted to Professor in 1987.
He was elected Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences in 1988 and was pro-vice-chancellor in 1991. In 2006, he was appointed Vice Chancellor of the University of Chittagong. During his tenure, During his tenure, he initiated efforts to integrate technology into education,{{Cite web |title=::: Star Campus ::: |url=https://archive.thedailystar.net/campus/2008/09/04/newsroom.htm |access-date=2025-03-10 |website=archive.thedailystar.net}} incorporating new technologies in education in order to "survive in the competitive world".{{Cite web |date=2008-07-03 |title=The week that was |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-43866 |access-date=2025-03-10 |website=The Daily Star |language=en}} He was replaced by Dr. Yusuf Alam in 2009,{{Cite web |title=Abu Yusuf new VC of CU |url=https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/print/abu-yusuf-new-vc-of-cu |access-date=2025-03-10 |website=today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd}} before completing a four-year tenure.{{Cite web |date=2009-02-25 |title=Prof Yusuf new CU VC |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-77413 |access-date=2025-03-10 |website=The Daily Star |language=en}}
Alam was President of the Bangladesh Political Science Association from 1990 to 1992. He has served as Executive Editor of Chittagong University Studies, as member of the Editorial Board Member of Bangladesh Political Studies and of the Advisory Board of the Bangladesh Research Foundation Journal.{{Cite journal |title=BANGLADESH RESEARCH FOUNDATION JOURNAL - Panel of the Advisory Board |url=https://www.researchfoundbd.com/wp-content/uploads/journal/Vol.4-No.1-2015.pdf |journal=Bangladesh Research Foundation Journal |volume=4 |issue=1}} In 1984, he was a Fellow at the International Centre for Asian Studies{{Cite web |title=International Centre for Asian Studies {{!}} UIA Yearbook Profile {{!}} Union of International Associations |url=https://uia.org/s/or/en/1100022525 |access-date=2025-03-10 |website=uia.org}} in Hong Kong. He had previously been a Visiting Fellow at the Indian Council of Social Science Research in New Delhi, India.
His areas of study include governance in South and Southeast Asia, social change and development, comparative political systems, democracy and authoritarianism, and globalization.{{Cite web |date=2015-07-02 |title=Curriculum vitae of Ex-Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr. M. Badiul Alam |url=http://www.cu.ac.bd/ctguni/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=178&Itemid=59 |access-date=2025-03-10 |website=web.archive.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150702100814/http://www.cu.ac.bd/ctguni/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=178&Itemid=59 |archive-date=2015-07-02}}
2009 University of Chittagong Strike
In 2009, the Bangladesh Chhatra League demanded Badiul's resignation as Vice-Chancellor, stating that the VC had "failed to ensure the co-existence of all student bodies and their security on campus".{{Cite web |last=bdnews24.com |title=BCL maintains lockdown of CU campus |url=https://bdnews24.com/campus/bcl-maintains-lockdown-of-cu-campus |access-date=2025-03-10 |website=BCL maintains lockdown of CU campus |language=en}} BCL-affiliated students also charged him of patronizing Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir and of corruption, further declaring a two-day strike. Badiul termed the demands and accusations as "irrational" and that BCL had no right to demand his resignation. Following the disturbances, Badiul appointed new proctors{{Cite web |last=bdnews24.com |title=New CU proctors appointed |url=https://bdnews24.com/campus/new-cu-proctors-appointed |access-date=2025-03-10 |website=New CU proctors appointed |language=en}} to enforce disciplinary measures.
Awards and Accolades
Alam received a Gold Medal for Bangladesh in 2006 and an Order of International Ambassador (OIA) Medal in 2008 from the now-defunct vanity award publisher American Biographical Institute for his contributions to social and educational development in Bangladesh. The American Biographical Institute has been previously denounced as a scam organization that sells its awards.{{Cite web |title=The Tribune...Saturday Plus Head |url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/1999/99jan16/saturday/head4.htm |access-date=2025-03-10 |website=www.tribuneindia.com}}
Thesis, Dissertations and Publications
- M. Badiul Alam, "Democracy and Authoritarianism in New States: The Case of Bangladesh" Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis (New Delhi: Department of Political Science, University of Delhi (1985).{{Cite book |last=Alam |first=Muhammad Badiul |url=http://14.139.53.195/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=12432&shelfbrowse_itemnumber=15173 |title=Democracy and authoritarianism in a new state: the case of Bangladesh |date=1985 |publisher=University of Delhi |others=Kothari, Rajni}}
- M. Badiul Alam. "The Concept of Non-Alignment: A Critical Analysis". World Affairs. Vol. 140, No. 2 (Fall 1977).
- M. Badiul Alam. "Contemporary Ideas and Theories of Nationalism". The Indian Journal of Political Science, Vol. 41, No. 3 (September 1980){{Cite journal |last=Alam |first=Muhammad Badiul |date=1980 |title=Contemporary Ideas and Theories of Nationalism |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41855037 |journal=The Indian Journal of Political Science |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=367–378 |issn=0019-5510}}