Notable students from Dhaka University
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was admitted into Dhaka University after the partition of India in 1947, but he could not complete his studies as he was expelled by the University in 1949. He was charged with "fomenting fourth grade staff" to protest against the indifference of the University authorities to their legitimate claims. The expulsion was repealed 61 years later in 2010 by the university authority.
Sheikh Hasina
After passing Intermediate in 1967, the current Prime Minister was admitted to the Bangla Department of Dhaka University the same year. Sheikh Hasina was a member of the Dhaka University Bangladesh Chhatra League and general secretary of the Rokeya Hall branch of the BCL. In 1973, Sheikh Hasina graduated in Bangla from the University.
Abdur Razzaq
Abdur Razzaq was a Bangladeshi thinker, scholar, academic and public intellectual. In 1975, the Government of Bangladesh honoured him with the title 'National Professor' in order to acknowledge his distinction as an educator. He was admitted to the department of political economy at the University of Dhaka in 1931. In 1936, he completed his Masters and then joined as a lecturer in the same department.
Munier Chowdhury
Munier Choudhury was a Bangladeshi educationist, playwright, and literary critic. He achieved literary success chiefly as a progressive writer. His short stories and one-act plays are about disparities and aberrations in contemporary social life. He was a victim of the mass killing of Bangladeshi intellectuals in 1971. He studied English literature for his Bachelor's degree in 1946 and Master's in 1947 at the University of Dhaka.
Abdus Suttar Khan
Abdus Suttar Khan is a renowned scientist who worked for NASA for more than four decades and invented more than forty different alloys for commercial application in space shuttles, jet engines, train engines and industrial gas turbines. He graduated at the top of his class from University of Dhaka with a Bachelor of Science (Honors) in 1962 and Master's degree in chemistry in 1963.
Syed Manzur Elahi
Syed Manzur Elahi is a Bangladeshi businessman and chairman of Apex Group that pioneered the export of leather goods from Bangladesh. He earned his Master's degree from the University of Dhaka in Economics. He was also an Adviser to the election-time Caretaker Government, President of DU Alumni Association and chairman of the Trustee Board of East West University.
Nurul Islam
Renowned economist Nurul Islam is noted for his role in raising awareness about the economic disparity between the two wings of Pakistan before the independence of Bangladesh. From 1972 to 1975, he was the Deputy Chairman of the first Planning Commission of Bangladesh. He was both a student and teacher of Dhaka University Economics department.
Akhteruzzaman Elias
Akhteruzzaman Elias is a novelist and short story writer. Despite writing only two novels, critics place Elias in the pantheon of great Bengali novelists. He published his first novel, Chile Kotar Sepai in 1987 and his second and last Khowabnama in 1996. From Dhaka University's Bangla Department, he obtained BA Honors in 1964 and MA degree in 1966.
Jahanara Imam
Often referred to as 'Shaheed Janani', Jahanara Imam was a writer and a political activist. She is most recognised for her notable efforts to bring the accused war criminals and perpetrators of the Independence War of Bangladesh to trial. She completed her Bachelor's degree in Bangla Language and Literature and a Master's degree in Education from the University of Dhaka in 1962 and 1963 respectively.
Anisuzzaman
Anisuzzaman was a Bangladeshi academic of Bengali literature. He was an activist who took part in the Language Movement (1952), participated in Mass Uprising (1969), and took part in the War of Liberation (1971). He was a member of the Planning Commission to the Government of Bangladesh during the Bangladesh Liberation War and a member of the National Education Commission set up by the government after liberation. In 2018, he was recognised as a National Professor by the Government of Bangladesh. He obtained his Bachelor's in 1956 and Master's in 1957 in Bangla from the University of Dhaka.