Prof Azizur Rahman Khan: A visionary in financial studies

We learnt with great sadness that Professor Dr Md Azizur Rahman Khan, known by many as AR Khan, passed away at around 11:30am on February 16, 2024. After his retirement from the University of Dhaka (DU), he began to live in the capital's Uttara. He had been suffering from dementia for several months before his death. However, at some point, he started feeling better and began communicating with people. Having gathered strength and courage, he came to the Amar Ekushey Boi Mela with his personal attendant. After entering the book fair, he suddenly felt unwell. He was taken to the hospital, but died on the way.

Professor AR Khan attained his bachelor's and master's degrees from DU in 1969 and 1970 respectively. After that, he completed his PhD from Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, India in 1984. His area of specialisation was institutional finance for rural development.

In 1974, he became one of the four founding members of the Department of Finance—the best ranked department for the last 30 years in the Faculty of Business Studies, DU. Later in 1991, he took the initiative to expand the department to the Department of Finance and Banking, sensing the growing importance of the banking sector in Bangladesh. Finally, he established the Department of Banking in 2004, taking up the position of founding chairman. The department was extended to the Department of Banking and Insurance in 2012. Within this short span of time, it has become one of the reputed departments within the faculty and the university.

When the Department of Finance and Banking was created, most of the books were available in English and they were written in western contexts. Professor AR Khan began to write some books in Bangla, considering the Bangladeshi perspective. He also wrote a number of books in plain, easy-to-understand English for students. His books include Fundamentals of Banking, Higher Basic Banking, Bank Management, Rural Finance and Banking, Business Ethics, Entrepreneurship and Small Business, and Financing Private Sector Industries. These books are now taught at undergraduate and graduate levels.

Professor AR Khan used to take classes in the morning at around 8am. He was never late. He wanted students to be punctual as well. He gave us many examples in the class. He used to say that without effort, nothing can be attained. He would say that a date tree, for instance, does not give us the juice that it bears inside it without effort. According to him, talent is like a sharp knife which will be rusted away if not exercised. Without continuous reading, it is not possible to be knowledgeable even if someone is very talented. He taught us that efficiency without honesty is dangerous and there should be an optimal trade-off between efficiency and honesty. He motivated his students to make national policies in favour of the poor, the majority population of the country.

As most of the students of Dhaka University come from rural areas and poor families, he took care of students who faced financial and mental problems after coming to Dhaka. He worked as the local guardian of many students who are now established in different organisations.

Professor AR Khan undertook extensive research activities in his long career. He published as many as 60 research articles and monographs. His experience as chief editor extended to various reputed journals like Journal of Finance and Banking and Journal of Banking and Financial Services. I had the good fortune of getting to do research with him. I had learnt from him how to carry out a research, aligning the position of research objectives, methods and results.

During the last part of his life, he wrote many religious books which he distributed among his acquaintances. We knew little about his benevolent activities during his life. But now we recognise that he had donated a huge sum of money to educational institutions and religious organisations.

I came across Professor AR Khan when he had taught me a course at master's level. Our relationship further extended when I became his colleague in 2006. Having known him personally, it is really impossible to do justice to the contribution he made to academia and the nation in one article. Being a visionary, he could understand the importance of education in the areas of finance, banking and insurance. When the Department of Banking and Insurance was established, most of the other public universities made similar moves.

He passed away at the age of 76 and is survived by two children. At the same time, he left many bereaved colleagues, students and well-wishers. His wife predeceased him. Before his demise, he was given a formal farewell from the Department of Banking and Insurance. He attended the program with his son, daughter and grandchildren. He was very lively and expressed gratitude to us for the arrangement. He seemed quite okay then and we did not think that he would leave us so quickly. We pray to Almighty for the eternal peace of his soul.

Dr Md Main Uddin is professor and former chairman of the Department of Banking and Insurance, University of Dhaka. He can be reached at mainuddin@du.ac.bd.

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