Full Name: Dr. Zillur Rahman Khan

Affiliation: University of Wisconsin, USA

Current Position: Deceased

Date of Birth: November 21, 1938

Date of Death: May 22, 2021

Place of Birth: Hoogly, India

Home District: Faridpur

Nationality: Bangladeshi, American

Profile:

Dr. Zillur Rahman Khan (21 November 1938 - 22 May 2021) was a renowned Bangladeshi-American political scientist, educator, writer and Professor Emeritus of Wisconsin University, USA. He was president of Bangladesh Foundation USA for 39 years, since 1982. He was also an adviser of Awami League's central Florida unit.

Khan was born in Hoogly, India to educationist Khan Bahadur Abdur Rahman Khan and Begum Khadija Khatun. His aboriginal is Bhandarikandi of Faridpur. His elder brother was world renowned structural engineer F. R. Khan. He completed his Bachelor degree with honors from Dhaka University in 1957 and Master of Arts fron the same Universit in 1958. Again he completed his Master of Arts from Claremont Graduate University, California in 1965. He obtained his PhD degree from the University of Claremont in California in 1967.

Khan was the Rosebush Professor Emeritus of University of Wisconsin in USA. Even after his retirement from the university and moving to Florida, he continued teaching for a number of years as an adjunct professor at Rollins College near Orlando.

Khan was the Coordinator of Asian studies under University Wisconsin in1980-1990. He was chairman of political science department in1987-1999. He was President of American Muslim Alliance, Wisconsin in 1996-1998, President of Bangladesh Foundation, Chicago, since 1982. He was President of political science group North America Association Muslim Natural and Social Scientists in 1976-1980.

Khan was a Consultant of United Nations Development Program, New York City during 1988-1990. He was visiting lecturer of Carleton University of Canberra, 1971-1972. Visiting professor University Manitoba, Canada, 1988-1989, designated Rosebach professor emeritus political science University Wisconsin, 2004.

Khan has been listed as a noteworthy foundation executive by Marquis Who's Who.

Khan received numerous awards including Willard Smith Distinguished Teaching Award at the departmental level, Rosebush Professorship Award at the university level, and was recognised twice by American Political Science Association for Excellence in Teaching and Research.

Recognising  his contributions to political science focusing mainly on South Asia,  the Foreign Affairs Committee of US Congress invited him to testify in a  Congressional Hearing (100th Congress) on Democratisation of Bangladesh  and Afghanistan in 1988. He was also involved with several professional and academic groups, organised and chaired many national and international conferences and was active in South Asian studies out of the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He was the chairman of RC 37 of International Political Science Association. He had many publications to his credit and was a strong contributor to the International Political Science Association as well as a contributor to the Asian Studies Journal, and provided regular commentary interviews on Voice of America.

Khan had authored 10 books, 20 book  chapters and over 50 scholarly articles in regional and international  journals, including: "Leadership in the Least Developed Nation:  Bangladesh (Syracuse University, 1983)", "Martial Law to Martial Law:  Leadership Crisis in Bangladesh (UPL, 1984)", "The Third World  Charismat: Sheikh Mujib and the Struggle for Freedom (UPL, 1996)" and  "SAARC and the Superpowers (UPL, 1991)". In 2010, Khan edited a volume of selected papers presented at a conference on Bangladesh at Harvard University, USA, published by UPL.

Khan had a vibrant personality and always radiated positivity. His passions included music, photography, travel, and he loved to sing Tagore songs.

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