7-15-03
VISITING SCHOLAR STRENGTHENS U.S.-BANGLADESH TIES
Dr. Syed Ferhat Anwar, a professor and acting vice chancellor at East West University in Dhaka, Bangladesh, is visiting Penn State Erie this summer to strengthen existing relationships and create new ones that will benefit his university and his nation.
Anwar, a former student of Dr. Syed Saad Andaleeb, professor of marketing in the Sam and Irene Black School of Business, is collaborating with Andaleeb on research relating to small business growth in his country. This is his second visit to Erie, and he is encouraged by the number of people here who have expressed an interest in helping improve education and opportunity in Bangladesh.
"Bangladesh is a nation of nearly 140 million people in an area that is similar in size to Wisconsin," said Anwar. "Even though we are small geographically, people still do their best to live together and help each other. We are a hardworking people, with about 60 percent of employment in small businesses."
Anwar attended and taught at the Institute of Business Administration at the University of Dhaka, where he met Andaleeb in 1994. Nearly two years ago he moved to East West University, a private university in Dhaka.
Anwar has two areas of concern with higher education in Bangladesh: lack of faculty research, and brain drain. Because there are no strong academic libraries there, little faculty research has been done to improve the quality of life in the crowded cities. In addition, over the past decade, he has seen a steady outflow of top students.
"There are forty-eight private universities in Dhaka," Anwar said. "Many of them are small and serve as recruiting organizations for universities abroad. Many of our top students end up in universities in the United States, Canada, Australia, and England. We need to find ways to get those students back and to keep future students from leaving."
According to Anwar, there are fifty seats each year for the bachelor's in business administration program at the Institute for Business Administration at the University of Dhaka (a public university), and 6,000 applicants. Public universities are almost free, but private universities, where students have a better chance for admission, are very expensive.
"The people of Bangladesh are creative and hardworking people," said Anwar, "because that's what it takes to survive. But they are also a very hospitable and friendly people, with empty pockets and big hearts.
"The people of the west don't know about Bangladesh, but that is where the future lies, even for the United States. We need to learn more about each other."
Dr. Anwar will be at Penn State Erie until July 25, 2003.
Contact: Loretta Brandon 814-898-6063 (O) e-mail: lzb6@psu.edu