Biography of Dr. Mir Nazrul Islam

Mir Nazrul Islam, Ph.D.

Dr. Mir Nazrul Islam was born in Barisal, Bangladesh in 1947. He received his B.Sc. (Hons) degree in 1966, and the following year the M.Sc. degree in Biochemistry and Nutrition from Dhaka University. Under the sponsorship of Ford Foundation in 1969, he enrolled in the Department of Food Science at Louisiana State University from which he received his M.S. in 1971 and Ph.D. in 1972 respectively. In recognition of his academic excellence at LSU, he was awarded the honorary citizenship and the key of the city of Baton Rouge in 1972 by the Mayor President. After teaching at Southern University for about two years, in September 1974 he joined University of Delaware as Assistant Professor of Food Science and Human Nutrition.

Initially at Delaware, his research focus was primarily food chemistry with an emphasis on food preservation. After his promotion to Associate Professor in 1979, he developed a strong interest in food technology education, research and extension activities in Latin America. Under the sponsorship of organizations such as USAID, NSF, Fulbright, and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) he has carried out professional assignments in Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, India, Ireland, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and Puerto Rico. He was promoted to full Professor in 1988 and since then maintained a strong research interest in nutraceuticals from tropical fruits, herbs and spices. During 2001-2003, Dr. Islam directed two IDB-funded projects in Panama on mangoes and papayas through the Ministry of Agriculture and the University of Panama. He has 65 publications/presentations and 1 U.S. patent.

While at Delaware, Dr. Islam served on many committees and Boards involved with international developmental activities. During 1994-95, he served as the Chairman of the Asian American and Pacific Islanders Caucus at the University of Delaware. Subsequently during 1996-98, he served as the President of Delaware - Panama Partners of the Americas. After taking an early retirement from University of Delaware in September 2002, he became very active in promoting the development of food and pharmaceutical industries geared to aging and degenerative diseases. He is a regular contributor to the Latin Food Engineering magazine, www.ingenieriadealimentos.com . He is fluent in English, Spanish and Bengali, with a reasonable command over Portuguese, Hindi, Urdu and Arabic. Taking advantage of his multilingual capabilities, during 2008 Presidential election, he actively participated in Obama campaign in Delaware, Pennsylvania and Florida. He maintains a website at, http://udel.edu/~islam.

Dr. Islam, a widower, has two sons; Jimmy and Mansoor Islam. Both graduated from the University of Delaware and are employed in the banking sector in Delaware.