Md. Tofazzal Islam

Md. Tofazzal Islam (Bengali: মোঃ তোফাজ্জল ইসলাম; born December 20, 1966) is an ecological chemist, educator, and author from Bangladesh. He is now a professor of the Department of Biotechnology of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University (BSMRAU), Gazipur. He joined Bangladesh Open University (BOU) as a lecturer in 1994 and became an assistant, associate and full professor in 1997, 2004 and 2010, respectively. He joined BSMRAU on July 1, 2010 as a professor and head of the Department of Biotechnology.^[1]

Early life and education

Tofazzal Islam was born in 1966 in Shashai village of Brahmanbaria District in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh. His father, Bazlur Rahman, is a farmer and mother, Khaleda Khanom is a house wife. He witnessed the atrocities of Pakistan armies during liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971, which delayed starting of his primary education. He started his primary education from Grade 2 at a newly established primary school at Shashai. As the elder son, during his primary and secondary education, he participated with his parents for maintaining the family from production of crops. He was a meritorious student in his schools and never stood second from Grade 2-10. He passed SSC and HSC from Satbarga High School and Brahmanbaria Government College, respectively securing First Division in both cases.

He obtained B Sc Ag (Hon) and M Sc (Ag) in agricultural chemistry from Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU). He secured First Position in the First Class in both the cases in order of merit. He did M Sc in ecological chemistry (1999) and PhD in applied bioscience (2002) from Hokkaido University, Japan.

Personal life

Tofazzal Islam married Hasna Hena Begum in 1995. She is currently serving as the Senior Specialist (Soil and Environment) of the Waste Concern, Bangladesh. They have one son - Tahsin Islam Sakif who was born in July 2, 1997. Hasna Hena did her PhD in plant physiology at Hokkaido University in 2003.

Research accomplishments

Tofazzal Islam has been working on ecological chemistry of Peronosporomycete phytopathogens and applied phytochemistry since 1997. His MS and PhD theses were involved in understanding cell biology of flagellar motility, taxis, viability and differentiation of zoospores of the oomycete phytopathogens when interacting with host and nonhost plant secondary metabolites. He elucidated mechanisms of damping-off disease control in spinach and sugar beet by Lysobacter sp. SB-K88. He has awarded a fellowship (2003–2005) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) to work on ‘signaling systems between root and rhizoplane microorganisms including oomycetes and their agricultural usage’ at the said laboratory of Hokkaido University.

Tofazzal Islam published more than 100 research papers in national and international peer-reviewed journals and books series, more than 150 articles in national dailies and periodicals, seven books. Most of his fundamental research contributions have been published in some world-leading international journals and reviews such as -

Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Cell Motility and the Cytoskeleton, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Phytochemistry, Phytopathology, Plant and Soil, Biological Control, European Journal of Plant Pathology, Bioscience, Biotechnology and Biochemistry, Journal of Pesticide Science, Journal of Basic Microbiology, World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology, The Journal of Antibiotics, Journal of General Plant Pathology and so on.

His one of the pioneer researchers in open and distance learning (ODL) in Bangladesh. As the founder teacher, he significantly contributed to the establishment of School of Agriculture and Rural Development at Bangladesh Open University. His research book titled "Information and Communication Technology in Education" published by Paragon Enterprises Ltd. in Bangla language has been well accepted by readers and elites. Recently, he co-edited a book Effectively Implementing Information Communication Technology in Higher Education in the Asia-Pacific Region with Jim Peterson, Okhwa Lee, and Matthew Piscioneri.

He presented research findings and chaired sessions in many international conferences/symposia in the US, UK, Germany, Japan, Italy, Netherlands, Malaysia, China, Nepal, India, and Jamaica.

Islam worked as an Alexander von Humboldt fellow (2007–2009) at Georg-August-Universitat Goettingen, Germany with Andreas von Tiedemann in the Division of Plant Pathology and Plant Protection.^[2] His research interests are concentrated in understanding the underlying molecular mechanism of asexual sporulation in peronosporomycetes and signal transduction pathways of chemotaxis and differentiation of zoospores.

Area of specialization and research interests

• Molecular Plant-Oomycte Interaction
• Applied and Environmental Microbiology
• Ecological Chemistry
• Plant probiotics and their usage as biofertilizers and biopesticides

Administrative, academic and other position (leadership)

• Member, Board of Governors (BOG, highest authority of BOU), Bangladesh Open University (BOU), 1997–98.
• Member, Academic Council (2010), BOU.
• Dean (in charge), School of Agriculture and Rural Development, BOU in 1996.
• Vice-President (elected), Shaheed Nazmul Ahsan Hall Sangsad (1991–92), BAU.
• General Secretary, Executive Committee of Bangladesh Open University Teachers Association (BOUTA), 1995–96.
• Member, Bangladesh Federation of University Teachers Association in 1995–96.
• Member, Executive Committee of BOUTA in 1996–97, 2002–03, 2010–11.
• Head (July 2010 to July 2012), Department of Biotechnology, BSMRAU, Gazipur, Bangladesh.^[1]
• Member (July 2010 to date), Academic Council, BSMRAU, Gazipur, Bangladesh.
• Member (July 2010 to date), Academic Council, Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science & Technology University, Bangladesh.
• Member (October 2010 to date), Executive Committee, School of Life Science, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet], Bangladesh.
• Director (July 2012 to date), Outreach Program, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University (BSMRAU), Gazipur, Bangladesh
• Syndicate Member, Sylhet Agricultural University (SAU), Sylhet, Bangladesh

Award and prizes

• Food and Agriculture Award 2011 from CSRL (campaign for sustainable livelihoods), Oxfam and GROW for outstanding contribution to agriculture.
• University Grants Commission (UGC) Award 2008 for the second time (award received in May 2011) for outstanding fundamental research discoveries in Agricultural Sciences.
• Georg Forster Research Award and Fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany (2007-2009)
• UGC Research Award 2004 from the University Grants Commission (UGC), Dhaka, Bangladesh for fundamental research accomplishments in agricultural science.
• Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Agrochemistry (JSBBA) Best Young Scientist Award 2003 for significant research discovery in Ecochemical Interactions between Plants and Phytopathogenic Peronosporomycetes.
• JSPS Foreign Researcher Fellowship for Postdoctoral Research at Hokkaido University from April 2003 to March 2005
• Monbukagakusho Scholarship for MS and Ph D Study at Hokkaido University (1997–2002).
• Gold Medal from the Honorable President of Bangladesh and the Chancellor of BAU Prof. Iazuddin Ahmed for securing first position in M. Sc. (Ag.) among all students in all the department of the Faculty of Agriculture with more than 75% marks in 1989 (held in 1995).
• BAU Chancellor's Prize from the Honorable Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia for securing First Position in the First Class in B. Sc. Ag. (Hons.) in 1988 (held in 1991).
• Prof. Karim Memorial Award in 1992.
• University Grants Commission Merit Scholarship in 1990.
• Commonwealth Academic Fellowship of UK in 2012^[3]
• Bangladesh Academy of Sciences Gold Medal 2011^[4][5]

Live Interview

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zt3EaaP1kLk&fb_action_ids=10202883147300821&fb_action_types=yt-fb-app%3Aupload&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6Qt_Srw7MA&fb_action_ids=10202882145315772&fb_action_types=yt-fb-app%3Aupload_ne
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLXBM6QyKz0&fb_action_ids=10202884699859634&fb_action_types=yt-fb-app%3Aupload_ne

Selected Works

• —— (2010). "Challenges and Opportunities for Teaching Laboratory Sciences at a Distance in a Developing Country". In Kennepohl, Dietmar; Shaw, Lawton. Accessible Elements: Teaching Science Online and at a Distance. Edmonton: AU Press. ISBN 978-1-897425-47-3.
• —— (2011). "Potentials for Biological Control of Plant Diseases by Lysobacter spp., with Special Reference to Strain SB-K88". In Maheshwari, D. K. Bacteria in Agrobiology: Plant Growth Responses. Berlin: Springer. ISBN 978-3-642-20332-9.
• ——; Hossain, Md. Motaher (2012). "Plant Probiotics in Phosphorus Nutrition in Crops, with Special Reference to Rice". In Maheshwari, D. K. Bacteria in Agrobiology: Plant Probiotics. Berlin: Springer. ISBN 978-3-642-27515-9.
• Siddiqui, Md. Nurealam; Islam, Md. Tofazzal (2012). Nigella sativa supplemented feed for poultry. Saarbrücken: Lap Lambert Academic Publishing. ISBN 978-3-659-18798-8.
• —— (2013). Bioactive Compounds toward Zoospores of Aphanomyces cochlioides. Saarbrücken: Lap Lambert Academic Publishing. ISBN 978-3-659-46622-9.
• Mia, Md. Abdul Baset; Hossain, Md. Motaher; Shamsuddin, Zulkifli Haji; Islam, Md. Tofazzal (2013). "Plant-Associated Bacteria in Nitrogen Nutrition in Crops, with Special Reference to Rice and Banana". In Maheshwari, D. K. Bacteria in Agrobiology: Crop Productivity. Berlin: Springer. ISBN 978-3-642-37241-4.
• ——; Hossain, Md. Motaher (2013). "Biological Control of Peronosporomycete Phytopathogen by Bacterial Antagonist". In Maheshwari, D. K. Bacteria in Agrobiology: Disease Management. Berlin: Springer. ISBN 978-3-642-33639-3.
• Sarker, Aniruddha; Islam, Md. Tofazzal (2014). Phosphate Solubilizing Rhizobacteria in Phosphorus Nutrition of Wheat. Saarbrücken: Lap Lambert Academic Publishing. ISBN 978-3-659-52892-7.

References

1. "Curriculum Vitae of Md. Tofazzal Islam, Ph D" (PDF). Department of Biotechnology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University.
2. "Prof. Dr. Md. Tofazzal Islam". Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
3. "Dr Tofazzal awarded Commonwealth fellowship". Bangla News 24. 9 July 2012.
4. "Academy Gold Medal Award". Bangladesh Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
5. "Tofazzal Islam to get BAS gold medal & award". Dhaka Tribune. 19 January 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2015.