After eight-year hiatus, JU elects deans for six faculties

After an eight-year hiatus, Jahangirnagar University (JU) saw the election of deans for its six faculties through direct voting by faculty members. 

Polling took place on Wednesday from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, followed by the announcement of results at 4:00 pm by the election returning officer and university registrar Abu Hasan.

Dr M Abdur Rab of the Mathematics Department emerged as the new Dean of the Faculty of Mathematical and Physical Sciences with 69 votes. Among the other contenders in this faculty, Professor Farid Ahmad from the Department of Physics garnered 57 votes, while Prof Dr Tapan Kumar Saha from the Department of Chemistry received 25 votes.

Professor Bashir Ahmed from the Department of Government and Politics clinched victory in the Faculty of Social Sciences with 58 votes, outperforming his closest competitor, Professor Dr Khandaker M Ashraful Munim from the Economics Department, who received 42 votes.

Meanwhile, Professor Dr Md Mozammel Hoque from the Department of Archeology secured victory as the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities with a total of 94 votes, surpassing his closest competitor, Dr Arifa Sultana, a professor of history, who received 60 votes.

In the Faculty of Biological Sciences, Professor Md Nuhu Alam secured the position of Dean with 59 votes, surpassing Professor Sohel Ahmed from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, who garnered 41 votes.

Additionally, Nigar Sultana, Professor of the Marketing Department in the Business Studies Faculty and Tapos Kumar Das, Associate Professor of the Law and Justice Department in the Faculty of Law, were elected as Deans uncontested.

Dr M Abdur Rab, the newly elected Dean of the Faculty of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, expressed gratitude to his colleagues, stating, "I extend my gratitude to all my colleagues for their support. I am committed to furthering the university's progress in education and research, and I look forward to everyone's cooperation in this endeavour."

During the results announcement, Abu Hasan, the returning officer and university registrar, said, "The Deans of the faculties have been elected in accordance with Section 26 (5) of the Jahangirnagar University Act 1973 and the relevant clauses/sub-sections of the statutes, ordinances, and rules pertaining to elections."

He extended gratitude to all the voters for ensuring a smooth voting process.

A total of 505 teachers participated in voting.

The previous dean election at the university took place on May 10th, 2016.