Mohammed Akhlaqur Rahman PhD '62
Mohammed Akhlaqur Rahman, PhD ’62 Courtesy Tahmina Rahman
Mohammed Akhlaqur Rahman was the first South Asian graduate student at SHASS, earning his PhD in Economics in 1962. Rahman came from Syhlet (then East Pakistan, now Bangladesh).
Akhlaqur Rahman Phd'62 Thesis: .http://Partition, integration, economic growth, and interregional trade: a study in the growth of interwing trade in Pakistan
Mohammed Akhlaqur Rahman came to MIT from East Pakistan where he had played a significant role in the 1952 Bangla language movement, insisting on the importance of Bangla being the mother tongue of his compatriots. On his return, Rahman became an inspiring leader in the country’s independence movement and one of Bangladesh’s most respected economists. He was imprisoned during the 1971 war that led to the liberation of Bangladesh. Aspiring to impact the lives of all those suffering with poverty, Rahman joined the Bangladesh Inland Water and Transport Authority in Dhaka as a Director of Planning and Research. He later established the Engineering and Planning Ltd, a consulting firm that was deeply involved in several building projects in Bangladesh.
" [Rahman] lived for the people of Bangladesh. He fell for them. " - Tahmina Rahman, daughter of Mohammed Akhlaqur Rahman