Mohammad Solaiman

Mohammad Solaiman was born in 1955 into a Muslim family in the village of Masjidda in Sitakunda Upazila, Chittagong District, in what was then East Bengal. He attended Masjidda High School and passed his Higher Secondary Certificate at Sitakund Degree College in 1974.

He graduated from the University of Chittagong in 1979. He went on to earn a PhD from the University of Pune in India in 1990, and in 1999 he completed postdoctoral study at the University of Rhode Island in the United States.

Solaiman spent most of his working life in the Department of Marketing at the University of Chittagong, where he rose to become a professor and later retired. He received a Commonwealth Scholarship and a Fulbright fellowship. In the 1997 to 1998 academic year he was a Fulbright Visiting Scholar in business at the University of Rhode Island in Kingston, where his research focused on green marketing. He travelled widely to present papers, including in India, Pakistan, Malaysia, the United States, Japan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Singapore and Bhutan.

In 2017 President Abdul Hamid, in his role as chancellor of the private universities, appointed Solaiman vice-chancellor of the University of Information Technology and Sciences (UITS) in Dhaka. He served there until 2022.

He then became vice-chancellor of the University of Science and Technology Chittagong (USTC) at Foy's Lake, Chattogram, where he was also listed as a professor of business administration. Under his leadership USTC formed partnerships with professional bodies such as the Institute of Chartered Secretaries of Bangladesh and the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh, and hosted international seminars on sustainable business. He held the post until his death.

Solaiman lived in South Khulshi, Chattogram. He was survived by two sons and a daughter. He had lived with heart disease and diabetes for many years. He kept close ties to his home village in Sitakunda, where he was buried.

Mohammad Solaiman died at about 5am on Thursday 15 October 2026 in Chattogram, aged 70. According to the Daily Sun, he developed age-related complications at his residence in South Khulshi and died while being taken to hospital; Ajker Patrika reported that he died at his home. He had suffered from heart disease and diabetes for a long time. Some early reports gave his age as 80, but he was born in 1955.

The university announced his death through its assistant registrar. His first funeral prayer was arranged at the Jamiatul Falah Mosque complex after Friday prayers on 16 October, followed by a second at the South Khulshi Mosque after Asr prayers and a third on the USTC campus. He was then to be buried at his village home in Sitakunda.

The USTC Board of Trustees, syndicate, academic council, teachers, officers and staff expressed deep sorrow, describing him as a dedicated educationist, skilled administrator and sincere guardian. Southern University Bangladesh also issued a statement of mourning.

Solaiman is remembered as one of the Chittagong academics who carried the University of Chittagong's teaching tradition into Bangladesh's growing private university sector. After a long career teaching marketing, including early work on green marketing as a Fulbright scholar, he led UITS in Dhaka and then USTC in Chattogram. The USTC community said his contribution to the university's academic, research and institutional development would be remembered with deep respect, and that his dedication and leadership would remain an inspiration to its teachers, students and staff.