Episode 34: Khaleda Ekram
The time was August 5th, 1950. The place, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Khaleda Ekram was born. Growing up she loved to draw and paint so her parents enrolled her in an art school. Even though Khaleda wanted to study architecture, her father wanted her to study engineering therefore Khaleda took entrance exams to both schools. She was 3rd out of 2,000 engineering exam takers and 5th out of 700 for architecture. In the end, she followed her arrow and graduated top of her class from architecture school and as the only woman in her class in 1974. A year later she worked for Parikalpak Sangstha Limited and also joined the Department of Architecture of her alma mater as a lecturer. Two years later she became an assistant professor. After that, she won the East-West Scholarship to pursue a Master’s Degree at the University of Hawaii. She said living in Hawaii she would sometimes feel like she was living in the realm of the divine making her a better architect and professor. She graduated with a Master’s in Urban and Regional Planning in 1980. Khaleda went back to be an assistant professor in BUET and got promoted to associate professor in 1986. Then in 1992, she got a Ph.D. in Architecture and Development at Lund University in Sweden and returned to teaching in BUET where she started the Gender Equality Policy Group which motivated prospective women students to study in STEM fields. Five years after she became the head of the department and two years after that the Dean of the faculty of Architecture and Planning. Throughout her career and teachings, she focused on housing, community development, urban design and planning, and gender issues. She submitted an action plan to the government for removing barriers for women in technical professions, and she was the advisor for Women Architects, Engineers, and Planners Association of Bangladesh. On September 11, 2014, the Education Ministry of Bangladesh appointed Khaleda to be the vice-chancellor of BUET. This made her the first woman to hold that position at the university and the second woman to hold the position of VC in the history of Bangladesh. She passed away on May 24, 2016, she was 66 years old.
Caryatid: Mayra Jiménez Montano
Mayra Jiménez Montano is the Dean of the School of Architecture of the University of Puerto Rico (UPR). She graduated from the School of Architecture at UPR with a Masters of Architecture in 1993, and then later she got her PhD in Visual Arts and Education from the University of Granada in 2017. She’s been teaching at the University of Puerto Rico since 1995, that’s more than two decades of molding young minds and architects. Mayra coordinates the School of Architecture summer program for high school students, as well as teaching first years and thesis students. Her passions include teaching methodologies and different ways to pursue creative research.
Agora: Gerardo Rivas
Congratulations Gerardo Rivas for releasing his solo career and single “Happy”! See link below for Happy music video and get ready to dance.
References
“Buet VC Khaleda Ekram Passes Away.” The Daily Star, 24 May 2016, www.thedailystar.net/city/buet-vc-khaleda-ekram-passes-away-1228558.
Jiménez Montano, Mayra. “MENSAJE DE LA DECANA.” Escuela de Arquitectura, 2018, earq.uprrp.edu/escuela-2/mensaje-de-la-decana-interina.
---. “Presencia de las mujeres en la educación de la arquitectura.” Fundación por la arquitectura de Puerto Rico, 29 Mar. 2021, www.fxapr.org/post/presencia-de-las-mujeres-en-la-educaci%C3%B3n-de-la-arquitectura.
Kabir, Saimum, and Dan Berman. “Life, Aspiration, Work and Contribution | Interview of Professor Khaleda Ekram.” Context BD, 26 Mar. 2020, contextbd.com/life-aspiration-work-and-contribution-interview-of-professor-khaleda-ekram.
Khan, Mizanur Rahman. “‘BUET VC Is an Abject Failure.’” Prothomalo, 27 Oct. 2019, en.prothomalo.com/opinion/%E2%80%98BUET-VC-is-an-abject-failure%E2%80%99.
“Mayra Jiménez Montano.” Escuela de Arquitectura, earq.uprrp.edu/docencia/diseno-arquitectonico/mayra-jimenez-montano. Accessed 21 Sept. 2021.
Rashid, Mashida. “Quietly They Go, the Brave.” The Daily Star, 20 June 2016, www.thedailystar.net/op-ed/quietly-they-go-the-brave-1242796.
“Seven Rings Cement Presents ‘Tribute to Legends’ AV.” YouTube, 2 Jan. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5FQcJz-XeY.
Wikipedia contributors. “Bangladesh Liberation War.” Wikipedia, 8 Sept. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh_Liberation_War.
---. “Bangladesh Liberation War.” Wikipedia, 8 Sept. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh_Liberation_War.
---. “Khaleda Ekram.” Wikipedia, 20 Aug. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khaleda_Ekram.
Images
Berman, Dan. Context, 1 June 2016, https://contextbd.com/life-aspiration-work-and-contribution-interview-of-professor-khaleda-ekram/
