Dr. Amin Uddin Sarkar

Amin U. Sarkar, Ph.D. (University of California at Berkeley) is currently Dean, College of Business and Technology, Black Hills State University, USA. He was a professor of economics and chairman (1997-2004) of the Department of Economics at State University of New York (SUNY) at Fredonia and Department of Economics, Finance & Marketing at Georgia College & State University. He also taught economics at the University of California at Berkeley (1988-89). Before he moved to California in 1980, Dr. Sarkar was Deputy Chief of Bangladesh Planning Commission. He worked in the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN and East Pakistan Forest Industries Development Corporation. He was a also a visiting professor of economics (Summer Sessions) at Berkeley (1989-1997). Dr. Sarkar attended leadership institutes of Cornell University and Stanford University.

At Tashkent State Economic University (TSEU) in Uzbekistan, Dr. Sarkar was an American Fulbright professor (1997). He reviewed the system of higher education there and recommended for admitting college/university students after 12 grade (instead of 10 grade of the Soviet system) in school and for four year bachelor degree programs, like in the U.S. He also revised the BBA and MBA curriculum at TSEU. On his another Fulbright assignment at Tashkent (1999), he observed the implementation of his advice throughout the country. The TSEU Rector and Vice-Rector at that time were the minister and vice minister of education in Ujbekistan.

Dr. Sarkar's teaching areas are managerial economics, economic development, and natural resource and environmental economics & policy. He wrote many reports and papers on topics related to sustainable development, third world debt, market efficiency, and timber market analysis. His research work primarily appeared in academic journals of the U.S. and U.K. They include the Journal of Economics, Agricultural Economics, Journal of Environment & Development, Journal of Environmental Management, Energy- the International Journal, Futures- the Journal of Policy and Forecasting, Development, Ecological Economics, Resource Management & Optimization, International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Journal of World Forest Resource Management, The Environmentalist, and China Report: the Journal of East Asian Studies.

At national and international conferences and meetings, Dr. Sarkar presented numerous papers. His recent presentations in developing countries include Indian Institute of Management (IIM) at Calcutta, UAS Bangalore, Osmania University at Hyderabad, Tlemcen University in Algeria, Sousse University in Tunisia, National University of Singapore, University of Malay at Kuala Lampur, Ramkhamhaeng and Thamarsett universities in Bangkok, Dacca University (IBA), and IUBAT in Dacca.

One of his papers (in Journal of Bangladesh Studies 4(2) 24-36, 2003 published at Pennsylvania State University, USA) deals with the development problems of Bangladesh. According to the paper, although Bangladesh has had a glorious past, it is one of the most underdeveloped countries in the world. It is lagging behind its neighbors in terms of human development index. The paper attempts to identify the major causes of underdevelopment, analyzes policy options in view of principles of sustainable economic growth and development, and recommends education reform as the number one choice that is politically feasible. Continuation and strengthening of the highly centralized colonial administrative, judiciary and educational system; government owned corporations of finance and industry; poor infrastructure, natural resource depletion and environmental degradation, political instabilities, high level of corruption and unhealthy business environment are considered the primary sources of underdevelopment. The paper presents guidelines for decentralized governance with clear demarcation of jurisdictions, privatization of all government corporations in support of competitive markets, and education reform. In addition to requiring mass education, it argues for the production and export (after meeting domestic requirements) of highly qualified professionals with strong foundation of liberal arts and sciences. It suggests focus on finance, management, computers, engineering and technology, medicine, dentistry and nursing where there exists a worldwide high demand. The proposed level of decentralization and privatization may not be politically feasible and fully realizable in Bangladesh as these measures are against the interest of the ruling elites. A reform of higher education (with English as a medium of instruction) involving competition from private institutions seems to be a feasible option in the short run.

Dr. Sarkar was born on November 1, 1945 in Ratanpur, about a mile west of Munshignoj town. He attended Ratanpur Primary School for his elementary education, Munshigonj High School for matriculation (1961), Haragonga College for HSC (1963), Dacca University for B.Sc (Hons.) and M.Sc. (1967). At Dacca university, his professors includeed Drs. B. Karim and Iaj Uddin Ahmed. He scored highest marks at Haragonga College for his HSC. He began his career as a forest officer in Chittagng after his Superior Forest Service training (1967-69) at Pakistan Forest College, Peshawar. For his M.A. and Ph.D., Dr. Sarkar studied economics at UC Berkeley in California. Four of the Berkeley economics professors received Nobel prize and two of them were Dr. Sarkar's direct professors.

While a student at Dacca University (1963-67), Dr. Sarkar was a radio news-reader and a TV presenter. He was an elected cultural secretary of Dacca Hall. He was also an actor in stage-dramas with Abdullah Al Mamoon, Ramendu Majumdar, Enamul Huq, Iqbal Bahar Choudhury, Lily Chowdhury, Dilara Hashem, and many other famous performers. His first drama was Mahua at Haragonga College. In this respect he was a pioneer from Munshigonj before Abdus Sattar (Tota), Telly Samad, Babul Akhtar, and others emerged in radio and TV.

Dr. Sarkar is married to Quamrun Amin, an M.A. in Economics from Dacca University. She served as a YWCA director in the USA. They have two sons: Nisar and Yasir. Nisar is now the Vice President of RCN Chemicals, Inc. in New York and he is a chemical engineer with a master degree from the Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania. The younger Yasir is in the U.S. Air Force in Virginia. Dr. Sarkar set up a scholarship fund at Munshigonj High School in the names of his parents, Late Aftab Uddin Sarkar and Zahuran Nessa Khan. Since 1980, he and his family have been living in the U.S.A. Dr. Sarkar can be contacted at aminsarkar@bhsu.edu or the website www.bhsu.edu