# Jagannath University

Jagannath University (JnU) (Bengali: জগন্নাথ বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়) is a public university located in Sadarghat, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Founded as Dhaka Brahma School in 1858 and renamed Jagannath School in 1872, and later renamed Jagannath College in 1884, the institution was taken over by the Pakistani government in 1968, while Bangladesh was still a part of Pakistan. It opened graduate and post-graduate programmes in 1975 and was approved as a full public university in 2005.
In 2022, Jagannath University opened its first residential hall, for female residents only. The university is in the southern part of Dhaka city near the River Buriganga and a new campus of approximately 81 ha (200 acres) is being built at Keraniganj. Total campus area is more than 85 ha (210 acres) with three campuses and a women's residence hall.

## History

Dinanath Sen, Prabhaticharan Roy, Anathbandhu Mallik, and Brajasundar Kaitra founded Dhaka Brahma School in 1858, and the university's history began there. The name Jagannath School was given by Kishorilal Chowdhury, the Zamindar of Baliati in Manikganj, who took over the school in 1872 and renamed it after his father.
In 1884, it was raised to a second-grade college. Law was one of the first courses introduced. A common management committee administered the school and college until 1887, when the school section was separated to form the independent Kishore Jubilee School, now known as K. L. Jubilee School. The college administration was transferred to a board of trustees in 1907. In the following year, it became a first-grade college.
The college started with 48 students. In five years, the roll rose to 396. In 1910, Raja Manmath Roy Chowdhury, the Zamindar of Santosh, Tangail, affiliated the Pramath-Manmath College of Tangail with Jagannath College. With the establishment of the University of Dhaka in 1921, it stopped admission to degree courses and was renamed Jagannath Intermediate College. This status was changed after 28 years in 1949 when it reopened degree classes. The college was taken over by the government in 1968.
Jagannath College opened honours and masters programmes in 1975. That year, the government took over it again and transformed it into a postgraduate college. In 1982, the college closed its programmes at the intermediate level. It introduced evening shifts in 1992.
It was transformed into Jagannath University in 2005 by passage in the national parliament of the Jagannath University Act-2005.

## Ranking

In 2022, The ranking position of Jagannath University is 3399. While the top position from Bangladesh is 1468, the Department of Chemistry ranked 1st among all the universities of Bangladesh according to SCIMAGO Institution ranking. (All information is updated in July 2022 edition)

## Academics

Jagannath University has 36 departments under seven faculties and two Institutes. Every department follows the semester system. As of November 2020 there are 960 teachers and 19,088 students in Honours, Masters, M.Phil. and Ph.D. programmes.

## Faculties

There are six faculties, 36 departments, and two institutes at Jagannath University.

### Faculty of Life and Earth Sciences

* Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
* Department of Microbiology
* Department of Pharmacy
* Department of Zoology
* Department of Botany
* Department of Psychology
* Department of Geography and Environment
* Department of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology

### Faculty of Science

* Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE)
* Department of Mathematics
* Department of Chemistry
* Department of Physics
* Department of Statistics

### Faculty of Business Studies

* Department of Finance
* Department of Management Studies
* Department of Marketing
* Department of Accounting and Information Systems

### Faculty of Arts

* Department of Bengali
* Department of English
* Department of History
* Department of Philosophy
* Department of Islamic History and Culture
* Department of Islamic Studies
* Department of Theatre
* Institute of Education Research
* Institute of Modern Languages

### Faculty of Law

* Department of Law
* Department of Land Management and Law

### Faculty of Social Science

* Department of Sociology
* Department of Anthropology
* Department of Economics
* Department of Political Science
* Department of Public Administration
* Department of Social Work
* Department of Mass Communication and Journalism
* Department of Film and Television

### Faculty of Fine Arts

* Department of Fine Arts
* Department of Drama and Dramatics
* Department of Music

## List of vice chancellors

| No | Name | From | To |
| 1. | A. K. M. Sirazul Islam Khan | 8 February 2006 | 26 July 2008 |
| 2. | Abu Hossain Siddique | 2008 | 2009 |
| 3. | Mesbah Uddin Ahmed | 2009 | 19 March 2013 |
| 4. | Mijanur Rahman | 20 March 2013 | 19 March 2021 |
| 5. | Kamaluddin Ahmed (acting) | 20 March 2021 | 31 May 2021 |
| 6. | Md. Imdadul Hoque | 1 June 2021 | 11 November 2023 |
| 7. | Sadeka Halim | 30 November 2023 | 11 August 2024 |
| 8. | Md. Rezaul Karim | 18 September 2024 | |

## Notable alumni

The teachers and students of the then college took an active part in the Language Movement of the early 1950s, the mass movements of the 1960s and the Bangladesh War of Independence in 1971.
* Commander BDF Sector 11 – M. Hamidullah Khan Bir Protik – Bangladesh War of Independence 1971.
* Rafiq Uddin Ahmed- protester killed during the Bengali Language Movement that took place in East Pakistan (currently Bangladesh) in 1952. He is considered a martyr in Bangladesh.
* Sergeant Zahurul Haq - was a Pakistan Air Force sergeant. He was among the 35 persons accused in the Agartala Conspiracy Case in 1969. He received the Independence Day Award from the Government of Bangladesh in 2018. Sergeant Zahurul Haq Hall of the University of Dhaka is named after him. BAF Zahurul Haq base, a Bangladesh Air Force base is named after him.
* Bhanu Bandopadhyay- an Indian actor, known for his work in Bengali cinema. He acted in over 300 movies, in numerous plays, and frequently performed on the radio.
* Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury – Freedom Fighter of Crack Platoon, Bangladeshi Minister, Member of Parliament, Bangladesh Awami League leader
* Abdul Hamid – sports organizer and sports journalist
* Bhabatosh Dutta – economist
* Premendra Mitra – writer and poet
* Anisuzzaman – educationist, researcher
* Nurul Alam Khan – educationist, mathematician
* Kaliprasanna Vidyaratna – Sanskrit scholar, author
* Haider Hussain – singer
* ATM Shamsuzzaman - actor
* Brojen Das – swimmer, the first Indian to swim the English channel
* Imdadul Haq Milan – novelist and editor
* Mohammed Nasim – Bangladeshi minister
* Mustafa Kamal, former Chief Justice of Bangladesh and Chairman of Law Commission
* Ajit Dutta - Bengali writer & poet
* Arfin Rumey – Singer and Actor
* Chinghla Mong Chowdhury Mari – footballer
* Amer Khan – footballer
* Zahirul Haque – footballer
* Zakaria Pintoo – footballer
* Pratap Shankar Hazra – footballer
* Shohidul Islam - Bangladeshi Cricketer
* Ajit Krishna Basu - Indian writer and magician
* B. Roy Chowdhury - footballer and politician