Chattogram, Bangladesh, February 15, 2022 – The Board of Trustees of the Asian University for Women (AUW) appointed Dr. Rubana Huq as the Vice Chancellor of the University.  Dr. Huq who earned wide prominence as the first female president of the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers’ and Exporters’ Association (BGMEA), is a published poet who earned her PhD in Literature from India’s Jadavpur University.  Dr. Huq has been a trustee of AUW and, was more recently, elected as Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees.  She was instrumental in launching AUW’s Pathways for Promise program that enables exceptionally talented workers from Bangladesh’s ready-made garment (RMG) factories to enroll at AUW.  She was named as one of BBC’s top 100 women in the world in 2013 and again in 2014.  Dr. Huq is currently also a Visiting Fellow at the Stern School of Business at New York University and the Asia Center at Harvard University.

While accepting the appointment, the incoming Vice Chancellor Dr. Rubana Huq said: “To me, AUW has always been a symbol of creativity and ingenuity. The institution’s unassailable commitment to both scholarship and education, the caliber of the faculty, and the spirit of the students from all over Asia make AUW unique. ”

Dr. Huq succeeds noted political scientist Professor Nirmala Rao who retired from AUW after serving as AUW’s Vice Chancellor for five years.

Dr. Huq will be supported on the academic programs by two deans:  Dr. Beena Khurana, a cognitive psychologist with a PhD from the University of California at Berkeley who had previously been on the faculty of Cornell and Sussex Universities as well as at California Polytechnic where she directed the MBA Program and Dr. David Taylor, a historian of South Asia who served as Pro Director of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) as well as Vice Provost and Interim Provost of the Aga Khan University in Pakistan.

About Asian University for Women (AUW):

Founded in 2008 and located in Chittagong, Bangladesh, AUW is the first of its kind: a regional institution dedicated to women’s education and leadership development through liberal arts and sciences education.  It is international in outlook but rooted in the contexts and aspirations of the people of Asia. Chartered by the Parliament of Bangladesh, AUW exists solely to support a rising network of women leaders, entrepreneurs, and changemakers from across the region. It seeks out women who show significant academic achievement and potential, demonstrate courage and a sense of outrage at injustice, and are empathic to the woes of other people.

1160 students from 17 countries currently attend AUW: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Syria, Timor Leste, Vietnam, and Yemen. More than 85% of AUW students are on full or near-full scholarships funded by supporters from around the world. The University has graduated over a thousand students to date. A majority of AUW graduates secure employment in the private and public sectors in their home countries while about 25% go on to pursue graduate studies at other institutions of higher learning including Oxford, Cambridge, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, Columbia, Duke, Brandeis and Tufts, among others. To learn more about Asian University for Women, please visit https://asian-university.org.