The government on Monday appointed Dhaka University Professor Shamsad Mortuza as the vice-chancellor of the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB).
The Secondary and Higher Education Division under the Education Ministry issued a circular confirming the appointment. Citing Section 31(1) of the Private University Act-2010, the circular stated that Mortuza, a professor in Dhaka University’s English Department, will serve as ULAB VC for four years.
The circular outlined the terms of his appointment. His tenure will begin on the day he joins, and the president, also the university’s chancellor, may revoke it if necessary. Mortuza will receive a fixed salary from ULAB along with other benefits corresponding to his current post and will perform his duties as per the Private University Act-2010.
Shamsad Mortuza is an academic administrator, educator, poet, translator, and columnist. He currently serves as a professor of English at Dhaka University and previously held the post of pro-vice-chancellor at ULAB from 2018 to 2022.
He has taught at multiple universities, including his alma mater, Jahangirnagar University. He attended the University of Arizona as a Fulbright scholar and earned a PhD in English from Birkbeck College, University of London, for his dissertation on The Figure of the Shaman in Contemporary British Poetry. In 2013, he joined UCLA as a senior Fulbright postdoctoral fellow.
Mortuza has authored six books and contributed 30 articles and book chapters.