Islam, Nurul1
Islam, Nurul1 (1928-2013) physician and national professor. He was born on 1 April 1928 in the village Mohammadpur of Chandanaish Upazila, Chittagong District, to Syedur Rahman and Gulmeher Begum. His father was a school teacher.
He passed Matriculation from Gachbaria Nityananda Gourachandra Model government. Secondary School and ISc from Calcutta Islamia Science College in 1943 and 1945 respectively. He obtained MB degree from Calcutta National Medical College in 1951, completed MRCP in 1954 and TDD (Diploma in Tuberculosis Diseases) in 1955 from University of Wales.
After returning home, Islam first joined the Mitford Hospital and thereafter Dhaka Medical College as an Associate Professor in 1958 and Chittagong Medical College as Professor in 1962. He was the founder Director of the Institute of Postgraduate Medicine Research (IPGMR), which was later on renamed as Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU). He was the first Dean of the Faculty of Postgraduate Medicine, University of Dhaka. In 1989, Islam established the Institute of Applied Health and Science (IAHS) at Chittagong, which was later renamed as University of Science and Technology Chittagong (USTC).
Islam founded Islamic Medical Mission, Janasheba Foundation and Adhunik (an anti-tobacco organization) being recognized by the WHO. He formulated ‘The Bangladesh National Drug Policy 1982’. He served as the first Chairman of Bangladesh National AIDS Committee and National Drug Administration Committee.
He received the Independence Award (Swadinata Padak) in 1997 from the Government of Bangladesh in recognition of his services to the nation. He was also bestowed with many other awards, namely ‘President's Gold Medal’ (1963), ‘Fazlul Haque Memorial Award’ (1982), ‘Academy Gold Medal by Bangladesh Academy of Sciences’ (1982), ‘WHO Commemorative Medal’ (1990, 1992), ‘Gold Medal from Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh’ (1999).
In 1987, he was honored by the Bangladesh government by declaring him as a National Professor. Islam wrote 27 books and over 100 articles in international medical journals.
He died on 24 January 2013 in Chittagong and was buried at the USTC campus. [MKI Quayyum Choudhury]
