SUST professor first Bangladeshi to get US-based anthropology award 

Professor AKM Mazharul Islam, an anthropologist with the Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST), has become the first Bangladeshi to receive the Pelto International Award in recognition of his contributions in the field of applied anthropology. 

The US-based Society for Applied Anthropology has been providing the award every year since 2012 and Mazharul has received the award for the year 2023, says a press release. The award aims to support the development of applied social sciences in low- and middle-income countries while bolstering cooperation among global anthropologists. 

Mazharul is currently serving as the executive director of the Institute of Applied Anthropology and a faculty member of the Department of Anthropology, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology.

Born in Gazipur in 1974, Mazharul has also taught at the US-based Minnesota State University, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh University of Professionals and the Brac University. He studied at University of Dhaka, Minnesota State University and John Hopkins University. 

He has authored 15 books and 35 of his research papers have been published in international journals. He is a member of American Anthropological Association, Asiatic Society etc.