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Prof M Shamsher Ali, a nuclear science specialist and former vice-chancellor of Southeast University and Bangladesh Open University, has died at the age of 84.
He passed away at a hospital in Dhaka around 3:30am on Sunday, according to a post on his Facebook page.
His funeral prayer service will be held at the Baitul Aman Mosque in Dhanmondi Road No. 7 after Zuhr prayers on Sunday, according to another post.
Shamsher was born on Nov 9, 1940, in Kushtia’s Bheramara.
He received his Bachelor’s degree in Physics from Dhaka University in 1959 and his Master’s degree in 1960. He went on to teach subjects such as quantum mechanics, nuclear physics and mathematical models of physics.
From 1970-1978, he was the director of the Atomic Energy Centre in Dhaka. He also was the founding vice-chancellor of Bangladesh Open University from 1992 to 1996 and the founding vice-chancellor of Southeast University from 2002 to 2010. He also served as the president of the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences from 2004 to 2012.
Shamsher had a special interest in teaching physics in an integrated manner and in creating interest in physics and mathematics education at all levels.
In 1974, he received Dhaka University’s Hari Prasanna Roy Gold Medal for contributions to nuclear physics and was made a life-long honorary professor of physics at his alma mater.
He also received the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences Gold Medal in 1984, the TWAS-ROCASA Award in 2013 for the promotion of the public understanding of science, and was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award in Higher Education Leadership by the International Leadership Colloquium (Malaysia) in 2009.