Jamal Nazrul Islam

Jamal Nazrul Islam (24 February 1939 – 16 March 2013) was a Bangladeshi mathematical physicist and cosmologist. He was a professor at University of Chittagong, served as a member of the advisory board at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology and member of the syndicate at Chittagong University of Engineering & Technology until his death. He also served as the director of the Research Center for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (RCMPS) at the University of Chittagong. He was awarded Ekushey Padak in 2000 by the Government of Bangladesh. Early life and education Jamal Nazrul Islam was born on 24 February 1939 in Jhenaidah. His ancestral home is at Jujkhola Narayanhat of Fatikchhari Upazila of Chittagong District, East Bengal. His father, Khan Bahadur Sirajul Islam, was a sub-judge in British India. Because of his father's job, Islam spent his early school years in Calcutta. He studied at Chittagong Collegiate School and College until ninth grade and then he went to Lawrence College, Murree in West Pakistan to pass the Senior Cambridge and Higher Senior Cambridge exams. He received a BSc degree from St. Xavier's College at the University of Calcutta. In 1959, he got his Honors in Functional Mathematics and Theoretical Physics from Cambridge University. He completed his master's degree in 1960. As a student of the Trinity College, he finished the Mathematical Tripos. Islam obtained his PhD in applied mathematics and theoretical physics from Trinity College, Cambridge in 1968, followed by a DSc in 1982. Academic career Islam worked in the Institute of Theoretical Astronomy (later amalgamated to Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge) from 1967 until 1971. Later he worked as a researcher in California Institute of Technology and University of Washington. During 1973–1974, he served as the faculty of Applied Mathematics of King's College London. In 1978, he then joined the faculty of City University London until he returned to Chittagong in 1984. In 2006, he was made Professor Emeritus at the University of Chittagong. His research areas included applied mathematics, theoretical physics, mathematical physics, the theories of gravitation, general relativity, mathematical cosmology, and quantum field theory. Islam authored, coauthored or edited more than 50 scientific articles, books and some popular articles published in various scientific journals. Besides this he has also written books in Bengali.