North South University (NSU), the first private university in Bangladesh, was established by NSU Foundation - a charitable, non-profit, non-commercial, non-governmental and non-political organization, comprising a group of eminent industrialists, prominent patrons of education, well-read academics, high up civil servants and notable philanthropists of the country. They dreamt a dream in the early 1990s to set up a world class university as a center of excellence in higher education in this region. Their dedication, tireless efforts and hard work paved the way for approval leading to the establishment of NSU through the NSU Foundation. The government approved the establishment of NSU in 1992 under the Private University Act (PUA)-1992 (now replaced by PUA-2010). The Foundation, later, in the light of the PUA 2010 and as instructed by the Ministry of Education and the University Grants Commission, formed the NSU Trust in 2012 and vested the entire management and administration of NSU in its Board of Trustees. The honorable President of the People's Republic of Bangladesh His Excellency Md. Abdul Hamid is the Chancellor of NSU. The Board of Trustees (BOT) is the apex policy making and approving body of the University. Mr. M.A. Kashem is the current Chairman of the BOT. The other members of the BOT are Mr. Azim Uddin Ahmed, Mr. Benajir Ahmed, Mr. Iftekharul Alam, Dr. Roushon Alam, Mr. Ragib Ali, Mr. Awal, Mr. Yussuf A. Harun, Mr. Hashem, Mr. Kalam, Mr. S.M. Kamaluddin, Mr. Abul Kashem, Mrs. Yasmin Kamal, Mrs. Rehana Rahman, Mr. A.S.F Rahman, Mr. Mohammed Shajahan, Dr. Junaid Kamal Ahmad and Mr. Mahbubar Rahman. Prof. Dr. Amin U. Sarkar, the Vice Chancellor of NSU, is the Ex-Officio Member of the BOT. The other members of the NSU Trust are Prof. Syed A. Ahad, Mrs. Shaista Ahmad, Mr. Shah Abdul Hannan, Mr. Nurul H. Khan and Dr. Mahabub Hossain. The Syndicate is the next to the BOT and is headed by the Vice Chancellor. He is also the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and is responsible for managing the administrative and academic affairs of the university, as per the Private University Act (PUA 2010) and the policy guidelines set by the BOT. The Vice Chancellor is assisted by a Pro Vice Chancellor and a Treasurer. They all are appointed by the Honorable Chancellor on recommendation of the BOT. The NSU is modeled after US universities and follows its’ academic features such as semesters, credit hours, grades etc. Its curricula of undergraduate programs such as economics, business, environment and computer science, when first introduced, were largely modeled after the curricula of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and were duly approved by the University Grants Commission (UGC) of Bangladesh, the highest accrediting authority on higher education of the country. NSU has an International Advisory Board, comprising of scholars from all over the world, to counsel and to suggest improvements on academic matters of the university. Presently, NSU is pursuing institutional and program wise accreditations from reputable accrediting bodies in the USA.
