In today’s world, even though ‘engineering’ is mainly dominated by men, we can find that women are competing equally too. This is true in the case of Bangladesh too. However, go back to the period of the 1960s or 70s, and imagine the situation of women’s education in Bangladesh. On one hand, not many women had the access to education, on top of it, technical fields like engineering were fully equipped with only male students. During such a period, a highly intellectual woman stood out 3rd out of more than 2000 students in the admission test of engineering exam. Besides that, in the admission test of architecture exam, the same woman got 5th position out of 700 students. Later in her life, this woman made history in Bangladesh by becoming the very first female Vice-Chancellor of the country’s male majority university, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).
She is Khaleda Ekram. Let’s get to know more of her life journey, inspirations, contributions etc., beginning from her childhood days until her last days before leaving the earth.
Life of “Khaleda Ekram” at a glance:
Real Name: Khaleda Ekram
Date of Birth: 6 August 1950
Birth Place: Dhaka, the then East Bengal, the then Dominion of Pakistan
Date of Death: 24 May 2016
Place of Death: Bangkok General Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand
Buried Place: Banani Graveyard, Dhaka
Cause of Death: Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma disease (a type of Cancer)
Age: 65
Father’s Name: Ekram Hussain
Mother’s Name: Qamrunnessa Hussain
Education:
➢ Holy Cross College, Dhaka
➢ Bachelor of Architecture degree (BArch), Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka, in 1974
➢ Masters degree, Urban Planning and Design, University of Hawaii, the USA, in 1980
➢ Post-graduate courses, in architecture and development, Lund University, Sweden, in 1992
Professions:
➢ Junior architect, Bastukalabid Limited, Dhaka, in 1974
➢ Architect, Parikalpak Sangstha Limited, Dhaka, in 1975
➢ Lecturer, Department of Architecture, BUET, in 1975
➢ Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture, BUET, in 1977
➢ Assistant architect planner, Honolulu-based Michael T. Suzuki & Associates, in Honolulu, Hawaii, the USA, from December 1980 to May 1981
➢ Associate Professor, Department of Architecture, BUET, in 1986
➢ Professor, Department of Architecture, BUET, in 1995
➢ Head, Department of Architecture, BUET, in 1997
➢ Dean, Faculty of Architecture and planning, BUET, in 1999
➢ Vice-Chancellor, BUET, from 11 September 2014 to 24 May 2016
Married to: Haroon ur Rashid
Children: 3; (2 daughters) Mariam Ali, and Mashida Rashid, and (1 son) Masud Malik, and Khaled Yasin Rashid
Religion: Islam
Nationality: Bangladeshi
Awards and Achievements:
➢ Outstanding Alumni Award, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Hawaii, Hawaii, USA, in November 2010
➢ Chair, Executive Board, East West Center Association (EWCA), Honolulu, Hawaii, the USA from July 2007 to July 2010
➢ President, Women Architects, Engineers, Planners Association (WAEPA) Bangladesh from 2009 to 2016
➢ Member, Executive Board, East West Center Association (EWCA), Honolulu, Hawaii, the USA from July 2005 to July 2007
➢ Resource person, Commonwealth Association of Architects (CAA) Visiting Board (a full- scale visit – category 4), Department of architecture, Manipal Institute of Technology, India, Sept. 21–27, 1997; Rizvi College of Architecture and Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture, & Environmental Studies, Mumbai, India, December 4 – 11, 2005
➢ Gender Advisor (From Oct. 1992 to Dec. 2004), Gender Strategy Component (from 2001 known as Gender Equality Policy Group), University of Alberta – BUET Institutional Linkage Project, BUET, Dhaka
➢ Honorary Advisor, Bibi Khadeja Kalayan Sangstha, a Nonprofit Welfare Association from 1995 to 2016;
➢ External Supervisor of two graduate students, the University of Karlskrona/ Ronneby, Sweden, January 1993
➢ First Class Second in order of merit, B. Arch. Examination, 1974
➢ Anannya Top Ten Awards, in 2014
➢ Begum Rokeya Padak (posthumously), in 2023
Early Life:
The day when Khaleda was born was 6 August 1950, at the capital city, Dhaka, the then part of Dominion Pakistan. She belonged to a decent Muslim family; her father was Ekram Hussain who was a service holder, and her mother was Qamrunnessa Hussain. Khaleda had 3 more sisters, and she was the third child of the family.
In her childhood days, she spent her life in two different districts nameed Jessore and Sylhet due to her father’s posting. She used to spend her time quietly drawing and painting. Seeing her passion for art, her family admitted her to an art school. Perhaps that is why she was so good at the field of architecture in her adult days.
Eventually, her family moved and settled in Dhaka where she completed her basic education and therefore started further higher education.
Education:
Even though it is unknown about her schools, she had completed her college therefore schooling life from Holy Cross College. After passing Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) exams from there, she and her family became indecisive about choosing a path and subject to study for higher education. Now, it was the boldness and support of her father who wanted his daughter to study physics or in any of the fields of engineering. During the period of 1970s, in Bangladesh, to even think of sending one’s daughter to the university to study such a subject which is dominated by males, is indeed a daring move.
One day, after seeing lots of models and drawings in the house of a family friend’s son, Khaleda made her final decision to study and pursue ‘Architecture’. So in order to fulfill both her own wish and her father’s desire, she sat for the admission test in both the schools, engineering and architecture at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). She was such a meritorious student that she got selected in both. In the engineering admission test, out of more than 2,000 students, her position was 3rd and in the Architecture department, out of the 700 students, she stood 5th. She finally followed her passion and got admitted in the architecture department. She was the only girl in her department. In 1974, she graduated B. Arch degree with flying colours by obtaining First Class Second in order of merit. Her final year thesis project was titled “Tourist Resort at Cox’s Bazaar, Chittagong”.
In 1977, her skills and intellect won her the East-West Scholarship to pursue a Master’s Degree at the University of Hawaii, in the USA. It was her first application for a scholarship to study abroad and she had earned it. This proves how talented she was. She achieved her master’s degree (MURP), in 1980, in Urban and Regional Planning. There, her thesis title was “Revitalization of Residential Areas of Old Dhaka”. She came back to Bangladesh and started her career.
She did not stop there and went to obtain a further and the highest degree, PhD. In 1992, Khaleda completed her postgraduate courses in architecture and development from Lund University in Sweden. It was an extensive program and her work was related to housing for urban low-income families with provision for community facilities. After completion of her degree, she again then returned to Bangladesh for her career.
Since she had studied in countries like the USA and Sweden, she could very easily opt to settle and start her career life over there. However, every time after completing her degrees, she had come back to Bangladesh to utilize her knowledge and skills in the service of Bangladesh. This shows her patriotism and dedication.
Career:
In 1974, Khaleda started off her career by working as a junior architect at Bastukalabid Limited, a Dhaka based organization. Within 1 year, in 1975,, for a brief period of time, she was employed at Parikalpak Sangstha Limited as well. She then started her four-decade teaching career with BUET’s Department of Architecture from that same year, as a lecturer. In 1977, she was promoted to assistant professor. Housing, community development, urban design, urban planning, and gender issues were among her interests. In the same year, she went abroad for her post graduation purpose.
In Hawaii, after her graduation, she took a small job in an architectural consulting firm, named Michael T. Suzuki & Associate, and worked there as an assistant architect planner for five months, from December 1980 to May 1981.. That is because her husband, Prof. Haroon Ur Rashid, was also studying and completing his degree in the country at the same time. After his completion of studies, both of them came back to Bangladesh. For the five months, Khaleda worked on three projects. She did the master plan of Housing Development at Keawanui, which is an island. A Nine-storied Academy Business Center, in Honolulu, Hawai`i, was already designed by one of the architect owners of the firm. She did the working of drawing that building only. She also designed a studio apartment building, named Ala Moana Condominium, in Honolulu, Hawai`i. Since she was not a registered architect of the U.S.A., she could not sign the drawing sheets. The office where Khaleda worked was a small office with two just architect owners, a draftsman and Khaleda herself. But her skills and knowledge gained from working in that firm helped her develop her career in Bangladesh immensely. In the USA, she also worked at East West Center and contributed to community service projects in Honolulu.
Upon returning to Dhaka in 1981, she again joined her former workplace, BUET, and resumed the position of assistant professor. Eventually, she got promoted as an Associate Professor in 1986. In 1992, she again left for her PhD in Sweden but after coming back to Bangladesh, in 1995, she became professor. She mostly taught in the undergraduate design studios of Level IV or V. At the postgraduate level, she taught three courses, two of Urban Design Stream and one of Housing and Settlement Stream. In 1997, she served as the Head of the architecture department and in 1999, she got the role as the Dean of the faculty of architecture and planning.
On September 11, 2014, the Education Ministry of Bangladesh, and the then President and Chancellor of Buet Abdul Hamid appointed Khaleda to be the very first female vice-chancellor (VC) of BUET for the next 4 years. She was the only second female to hold the position of VC. That was a historic and proud moment for both BUET and Bangladesh. Farzana Islam was the first female VC of Jahangirnagar University (JU). As the VC, Khaleda served the role for 20 months only before becoming sick and ultimately losing her life before finishing her 4 year contract with the university.
Throughout her diverse career life, she was seen as a down to earth person. Apart from jobs, she in her personal life was successful too in being humble and making others’ life better.
Personal life:
Such a highly qualified and very dynamic teacher, Khaleda Ekram, can be considered as a woman who is one of a kind. She had excelled both in academics, professional and personal life. She was admired and respected by her teachers, students, colleagues and others who knew her personally. As a teacher of architecture, she enjoyed teaching and guiding her students. Her mentorship encouraged others to do something for themselves as well as for the country. In her childhood, she was calm and quiet in nature. She would love to draw and paint at home. But who could have imagined that this very same girl would grow up to be very active and bold and hence be such an inspirational character especially for the women in Bangladesh? She would not sacrifice anything over studies. When she got the opportunity to pursue her master’s degree in Hawaii, she was married and had a daughter by then. Still she chose to leave her family behind and went to Hawaii alone for education, in the year of 1977. Such a step of Khaleda can motivate the women in our modern times to go limitless for education.
In her marital life, being an architect herself, she was married to another architect, Prof. Haroon Ur Rashid. The couple together had 3 children; among them, 2 were daughters and one son. The eldest daughter, Mariam Ali, is an environmentalist. The second daughter, Mashida Rashid, is a public health specialist. The youngest child, Khaled Yasin Rashid, is also an environmentalist like his family.
She had always gotten support from her family. As already mentioned, she had to leave behind her husband and first daughter for her scholarship in the USA, luckily her husband also got the scholarship and joined her there at the same institute. At that time, they were perhaps the first couple who enjoyed the East-West Center scholarship.
Living in a different culture and society than from what one is used to, is always either a blessing or a curse. For Khaleda, living in Hawaii turned out to be a blessing as she admitted to be living in the realm of the divine, which helped her to be a better architect and professor. The skills and knowledge she earned had helped her in later years. That is why, besides her professional work, she served as a social worker by being involved in different community works. Her contributions in Bangladesh were quite significant.
Contributions:
In Bangladesh, she had done voluntary work for ‘Bibi Khadeja Kalyan Sangstha’ which is a non-profit social welfare organization. She suggested low-cost ways to enhance the squatter communities, like installing self-help sanitary improvements, paving roads, and setting up hand pumps for drinking water. Furthermore, from the same organization, she raised funds during Natural Calamities, arranged free schooling for underprivileged kids, set up cutting and sewing classes for women. Because of all these actions, she was given the title of honorary advisor of the organization, from 1995 to 2016.
She also advised the Women Architects, Engineers, and Planners Association of Bangladesh and presented an action plan to the government for breaking down barriers for women in technical fields.
Khaleda’s stubbornness to do better for herself and for the position she was in had always helped her cross difficult paths. We know that she was the first female VC of BUET. But do you know she had to go through some controversies and challenges before getting the role? The Teachers’ Association of BUET voiced their disagreement to the new VC just two days after Khaleda’s appointment, claiming that her nomination had breached seniority. They argued that Khaleda was the 26th most senior professor at BUET, and so she was ineligible for the position since BUET VCs were previously appointed based on seniority ranking. However, the issue subsided eventually because of Khaleda’s talent and potential for the post, and she successfully completed 20 months of her four-year term before unfortunately falling seriously sick in 2016. In those 20 months, she showed the BUET administration her administrative skills and she can be credited for bringing back the academic discipline by reducing the ‘session jam’ of BUET. She also patronized and facilitated many extra-curricular activities for the BUET students in an attempt to improve their overall university life experience. That’s how we can say BUET did not made any wrong decision by appointing her as the VC.
Death:
The life journey of Khaleda Ekram started to slow down suddenly, one fine day, on 11 May 2016, when she was taken and admitted to the Square Hospital, in the capital Dhaka. The doctors diagnosed her with a type of blood cancer, called non-Hodgkin Lymphoma disease. This cancer is comparatively uncommon in Bangladesh than other developed countries like the USA, the UK etc. This is why in our country, its treatment is both expensive and scarce.
3 days later, on 14 May, in the early morning, when Khaleda’s health condition started to deteriorate more and therefore she was in a critical condition, her family did not waste any more time and took her to Bangkok, Thailand. That is because the treatment in Bangladesh was not meeting the required needs. By an emergency air ambulance, she was flown to Bangkok and got admitted to Bangkok General Hospital. In Bangkok, she was received personally by the then Bangladesh Ambassador in Thailand, Saida Muna Tasneem, who was a former Buet student herself like Khaleda.
As already mentioned, the treatment of this cancer is expensive, the prime minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, had granted Tk 20 lakh from her special fund to support the treatment of Khaleda in Bangkok. Additionally, professor Khaleda’s the then Buet colleagues and alumni in Dhaka had raised a substantial treatment fund for their beloved VC’s treatment.
10 days later, in the late afternoon, the cancer-fighter Khaleda lost the battle of life and breathed her last on 24 May at around 3 pm at the hospital, at the age of 66 years old. This was confirmed by her personal assistant Kamrul Hassan to the newspaper ‘Prothom Alo’ and as well as by the Bangladesh Embassy in a press release. They ensured that they had started doing the necessary paperworks to bring her body back to Bangladesh as soon as possible.
The news of her departure brought sadness for all the BUETians and other academic intellectuals. All academic activities at the university remained closed for a day in honor and to mourn the death of the incumbent vice-chancellor of the university. The then President Abdul Hamid, prime minister Sheikh Hasina, University Grants Commission chairman and member, the then education minister Nurul Islam Nahid, Dhaka University vice-chancellor, Jahangirnagar University vice-chancellor, among others, expressed their deep shocks at the death of Khaleda Ekram. Moreover, in separate condolence messages, they prayed for the eternal peace of her departed soul and conveyed their sympathy to the bereaved family members.
Just a day after, on 25 May, by Bangladesh Biman airlines, Khaleda’s body was flown back to Dhaka to be buried. Her body was then kept in front of the architecture department on the campus at 4:00pm so that people from all walks of life could pay their last homage and tribute to her. Her namaz-e-janaza was held at the university playground at 5:30pm, and then she was taken to Banani graveyard, to be buried on her mother’s grave. That is how the life chapter of such a dynamic academic of Bangladesh came to the end. However, her legacy and the honors and achievements that they had received over the years are still remembered by everyone.
Publications:
Khaleda Ekram was a researcher as well as a writer, who had written and published several papers and articles mainly on the theme of architecture and development of women in Bangladesh. By reading and gathering information from her writings, one can understand the field of architecture and women related issues very clearly. The papers and articles are given below with reference.
Urban Open Space System of Dhaka City –Need and Possibilities of Intervention, proceedings of International Seminar on Architecture: Overcoming Constraints, June 11–13, 2003, Dhaka, ISBN 984-32-0748-3
Architectural Education and Means, in ‘PROTIBESH’, which is a journal of the department of architecture, BUET, Volume viii, No. 1, Dhaka, 1994, pp. 99–105.
Problems and prospects of Conservation Study in Dhaka, 1993, this was published in the Architectural Conservation Bangladesh by Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, and edited by A. H. Imamuddin, Dhaka, Dec. 1993, pp. 111–124.
Tall Buildings in Urban Design – this was published in the Proceedings of the International Conference on Tall Buildings in Developing Countries, Dhaka, June 1993, pp. 15–23.
Women in Development: Technical Profession and Education, excerpts of the proceedings of the Workshop published in Gender Perspective, CIDA Bangladesh Programme, Dhaka, March 1993, pp. 10–11.
Women Resources in the Development of Bangladesh – it was published in the Proceedings of the International Seminar on Human Resources Development in Islamic Countries: Challenges in the 21st Century, Oct. 1992, pp. 13–19.
Housing the Urban Poor—A resettlement Project for Squatters at Mirpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh, Architecture and Development 1992, Lund Centre for Habitat Studies, Lund University, Sweden, June 1992, pp. 357–373.
Pourashavas and Urban Development in PROTIBESH (ENVIRONMENT), a journal of the department of architecture, BUET, Dhaka, Vol. IV, No. 1, May 1991, pp. 53–62.
Planning Tools for Architectural Conservation, published in ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN CONSERVATION IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD, Vol. One; publication of The Aga Khan Trust for Culture, Geneva, 1990, pp. 68–72.
She also contributed a paper in Contemporary Architecture Bangladesh, on Cultural and Institutional Buildings, edited by Shah Alam Zahiruddin and others, a publication of the Institute of Architects Bangladesh (IAB), March 1990, pp. 67–71.
Thoughts on Urban Planning and Development in Bangladesh – it was published in PROTIBESH (ENVIRONMENT) a journal of the department of architecture, BUET, Dhaka, Vol. III, No: 2, 1989, pp. 71–74.
Conservation of Ahsan Manzil—A step in the Right Direction; this was published in AIH JANALA, students’ journal of the department of architecture, BUET, March, 1988, pp. 12–14.(was editorial adviser of this special issue).
Building Construction Regulations, 1984—An Evaluation, published in ENVIRONMENT, a Journal of the Faculty of Architecture and Planning, BUET, Dhaka, No.2, June, 1987, pp. 49–54.(was editor of this issue).
Old Dhaka – A Case for Conservation, published in REGIONALISM IN ARCHITECTURE, a publication of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, Geneva, 1985, pp. 101–106.
Women in Technical Education and Profession, editorial advisor of the supplement in ‘The Daily Star’ Dhaka, May 13, 1997, pp. 8–9.
Book review of Rural Settlement in Bangladesh, Spatial Pattern and development, author Sabiha Sultana, published in Earth, Dhaka, Sept. 1996
Mosques of Dhaka, Do They Represent the Periods They Belong To? – it was published in the Weekend Magazine of The Daily Star, Dhaka March 17, 1995, pp. 9–10.
Valedictory Speech ‘Embracing Knowledge, Overcoming Barriers’, National Institute of Technology (NIT), Agartala, India: August, 2015
Existence, Use and Impact of Urban Community Open Spaces, Dhaka, Bangladesh, Paper Presented at International Symposium, ‘Towards a better Future: Environmental and Social Concern in architecture’, IAP, Lahore Chapter, April 25–27, 2006; Lahore, Pakistan.
Women Entrepreneurship Development in Bangladesh — Case Studies, paper read at the Women in Leadership seminar, August 18–22, 2003, Sydney, Australia, Organized by the East West Center Association, the Global Banking Alliance for Women and the Westpac Bank
Social Attitude towards Technical Education and Profession for women in Bangladesh, paper presented in the EWC/ EWCA 2002 International Conference on ‘the Impact of Globalization on Building an Asia Pacific Community’, July 1–4, 2002, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Mansions and Villas of Old Dhaka, a paper presented at the International workshop on Architectural and Urban Conservation. Calcutta, India, December, 1994
No wonder, all these contributions for the society had given her many awards too.
Awards and Achievements:
In her professional career, Khaleda was able to earn not only love and respect but also many achievements that not many academics can achieve throughout their life. Her hard work and dedication were paid off by both international and local stakeholders.
Firstly, let’s start off with her local or national honors. In 2014, she was given the ‘Anannya Top Ten Awards’. This award is given annually by the Bangladeshi magazine, ‘Anannya’ for the women in Bangladesh in recognition of contribution to the fields of excellence like agriculture, industrial, trade, economics, acting, music, sports, education, liberation war, social welfare and development, human rights, entrepreneur, politics and journalism.
Recently, in 2023, Khaleda was posthumously given the ‘Begum Rokeya Padak’ award. It is a national honor given to specific women in Bangladesh for their outstanding accomplishments in their respective fields. The Bangladesh government’s Ministry of Women and Children Affairs presents this award. The award acknowledges a woman’s dedication and hard work towards advancing different women’s problems and empowering women in our society.
Now moving on to the international award that she had earned; it is found that she had achieved only a prestigious award from her alma mater, University of Hawaii. From the department of Urban and Regional Planning, in November 2010, she was given the ‘Outstanding Alumni Award’. This award recognizes and honors all the exceptional graduates of the university who have utilized the most of their education to succeed professionally, have mentored others with their inspirational leadership, and therefore give back to the community and the university too.
From this we can understand and conclude that Khaleda’s education, skills and knowledge were put into developing the society.
Conclusion:
Khaleda Ekram’s immense contribution as a mentor in the realm of architecture in Bangladesh is undeniable and unforgettable. She played a major role in making visible changes in the aspects of social, cultural, and economic sectors of Bangladesh. She had a belief that even a small contribution and effort from each of the rational human beings can make this world a better place to live in. Certainly she did her best to put her beliefs into action. It is now our responsibility to follow her footsteps and make our country more developed and represent it to the world.