Published : 13 Mar 2025, 11:34 PM
Former Dhaka University vice-chancellor Prof AAMS Arefin Siddique has died while on life support for the past week after suffering a major stroke.
He was 71.
Doctors at Ibrahim Cardiac Hospital and Research Institute declared his death at 10:40pm on Thursday.
Dr Mohammad Nazirul Hossain, a professor in the hospital’s Neuroscience Unit, confirmed the news to bdnews24.com, saying: "He was on life support, and there were multiple contributing factors to his passing."
Prof Arefin had been receiving treatment in the hospital’s intensive care unit since Mar 6 following the stroke.
His condition deteriorated, and he was placed on life support as his health continued to decline.
He was a faculty member of Dhaka University’s mass communication and journalism department.
He previously served as the president and general secretary of the Dhaka University Teachers’ Association.
On Jul 15, 2020, he was appointed chairman of the state news-agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, or BSS, board of directors.
In 2009, Prof Arefin became the 27th vice-chancellor of Dhaka University.
Although his ancestral home is in Narsingdi’s Raipura, he was born in Dhaka on Oct 23, 1953.
He completed his Master’s in journalism at Dhaka University and earned a PhD from the University of Mysore in India in 1985.