Prof Yunus celebrates his 85th birthday today
Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus's 85th birthday is today. He was born on June 28, 1940, in Bathua village of Hathazari upazila of Chattogram. For a decade and a half, his birthday has been celebrated globally as Social Business Day. Chief Adviser's Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam said there is no official programme to mark Prof Yunus's birthday. The birthday will not be celebrated at the government level, he said. The two-day 'Social Business Day' was inaugurated at Zirabo Social Convention Centre in Savar, Dhaka on Friday. Prof Yunus was the chief guest at the event. However, there was no arrangement to celebrate the chief adviser's birthday at the event. Economist Prof Yunus is the only Nobel laureate from Bangladesh. His microfinance banking, without collateral to alleviate poverty, has brought him worldwide fame. The Grameen Bank he founded also has won the Nobel Peace Prize. After Sheikh Hasina came to power in 2009, Prof Yunus was removed from Grameen Bank. During the Awami League regime, Prof Yunus was plagued by oblique criticism of the then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and he was sued.
When Sheikh Hasina fled on August 5 last year (2025) in the face of the student-people uprising, an interim government, led by Prof Yunus, was formed on August 8, 2025. At the request of the student leaders of the uprising, Prof Yunus took the charge of the interim government. His government is working to restore the collapsed law and order and the devastated economy. It is trying to reform various sectors including the constitution, elections, police, judiciary, and public administration. Prof Yunus's father is Dula Miah Sawdagar and mother's name is Sufia Khatun. His wife is Professor Dr. Afrozi Yunus. Prof Yunus has two daughters. Prof Yunus was a very talented student in studies. He secured 16th position out of 39,000 students in the matriculation examination from the Collegiate School in Chattogram. He studied at Chittagong College for higher secondary. After graduating in economics from Dhaka University, Prof Yunus joined Chittagong College as a lecturer in economics in 1961.
Prof Yunus received a Fulbright Scholarship to study in the United States in 1965. He obtained PhD degree in economics from the Graduate Programme in Economic Development at Vanderbilt University in 1971. Later, he joined Middle Tennessee State University in the USA as an assistant professor of economics. During the Great Liberation War in 1971, he was a member of a citizen committee in the United States.
