BRAC University celebrates Sir Fazle Hasan Abed’s life, legacy and values
BRAC University celebrated the 89th birthday of its founder, Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, on its Merul Badda campus in Dhaka today (27 April 2025) through several events reflecting on his life, legacy and values.
The day's celebrations started with female football players of BRAC University playing a special memorial match. Titled " Possibility," this football game was a tribute to Sir Fazle's lifelong commitment to women's empowerment and his belief that every woman deserves the opportunity to grow, thrive, and succeed.Afterwards, a photo exhibition titled "Shopno Jatra- A Life of Impact" opened for visitors.
The exhibition featured photos highlighting significant moments of Sir Fazle's lifetime, starting from his return to a newly independent Bangladesh after the Liberation War to aid the refugees by establishing BRAC.
The photos also depict moments of his engagements with people to develop their capacity to manage their lives better and beat poverty. The exhibition also showcased occasions when he was honoured with numerous national and international awards for his outstanding contributions to Bangladesh's development.
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The exhibition also featured the Independence Award, the highest civilian honour in the country. The Bangladesh government posthumously awarded Sir Fazle the award on 25 March 2025 in recognition of his lifelong commitment to social development and nation-building.
In the afternoon, some of Sir Fazle's closest friends and colleagues, who also shared his dreams and passion for music, came together in a heartfelt session titled "Abed Bhai — A Remarkable Luminary Born Once in an Era", reminiscing about the times they spent with him.
Sir Fazle was very interested in architecture and music and always supported anything that brought good. Abul Khair Litu, Chairman of Bengal Group and an avid promoter of Bangladesh's arts, spoke at the event.
Umme Sharmin Kabir, Founder of the social organization Wreetu, informed how BRAC initiatives and scholarships enabled her to complete her schooling alongside higher education at BRAC University.
Litu, Kabir, Tamara Hasan Abed, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of BRAC University, Professor Syed Ferhat Anwar, Vice-Chancellor, Lady Syeda Sarwat Abed, Founder and Adviser of the BRAC Institute of Languages, and Registrar Dave Dowland presented the Champions Trophy of the morning's football match.
Luva Nahid Choudhury, singer and Director General of Bengal Foundation, sang some songs of Atul Prasad Sen, Rajanikanta Sen and Dwijendralal Ray.
Six students of Bengal Parampara Sangeetalay also kept the audience enthralled for an hour or so playing classical musical instruments.
The event was moderated by Khairul Basher, Director of Communications at BRAC University.
