About the Department of Economics
Since its establishment in 1921 as one of the founding departments of the University of Dhaka, the Department of Economics has been at the intellectual forefront of the subcontinent's most consequential economic debates.
Our early years attracted distinguished scholars including S. G. Panandikar, who served as the Department's first chairperson, followed by eminent economists R. C. Majumdar, J. C. Sinha, D. N. Banerjee, H. L. Dey and K. B. Saha. The 1947 partition saw a temporary vacuum, but the Department quickly rebuilt with exceptional talent: A. F. A. Husain joined in 1948 with credentials from the London School of Economics, followed by M. N. Huda in 1949, who brought a doctorate from Cornell University and later served as Governor of East Pakistan and Finance Minister of Bangladesh.
The decades that followed saw the Department become a crucible for economic leadership. Nurul Islam, who was to serve as Deputy Chairman of Bangladesh's first Planning Commission; Mosharaff Hossain, later President of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS); Rehman Sobhan, who participated in the Liberation War before leading BIDS; Muzaffer Ahmed, founder of Dhaka University's prestigious Institute of Business Administration; Anisur Rahman, who had a Ph.D. from Harvard—these scholars and many others built the Department into an intellectual powerhouse.
In the years preceding Independence, our faculty played a pivotal role in exposing the economic inequities between East and West Pakistan, raising public consciousness and engaging directly with the Pakistan government on economic policy. This tradition of rigorous analysis in service of the nation did not end in 1971. Through independent Bangladesh's journey, the Department has continued to shape economic thought and policy discourse, championing inclusive and sustainable development pathways for the nation.
Today, we carry forward this legacy—training new generations of economists, conducting research that informs national policy, and maintaining our commitment to building a more prosperous Bangladesh.