Meet FISER Department Chair-Dr. Anisul M. Islam

Dr. Anisul M. Islam is serving in the highest academic rank of full professor of economics and currently also serving as the chairman of the FISER (Finance, Infor Systems, Economics and Risk management) department in the college of Business, University of Houston-Downtown. He joined the UHD in 1990 as an Assistant Professor of economics. During his long career at UHD, he served as Coordinator of economics program for many years since 1992 and he has also served as the Founding Coordinator of International Business degree program. Dr. Islam obtained huis M.A degree in economics from the University of Waterloo, Canada and his Ph.D. degree in economics from the University of Alberta, Canada in 1985.

He earned his B.A. (Honors) and M.A. degrees in Economics from Dhaka University (1975), M.S. degree in Economics from the University of Waterloo, Canada (1978) and Ph.D. degree in Economics from the University of Alberta, Canada (1985).Dr Islam developed and taught a number of courses at the UHD such as Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, International Business, Economic Development, Managerial Economics, Management in the Global Context, among others, at both BBA and MBA levels.

Dr. Islam is the most award-winning professor at UH-Downtown receiving all four most prestigious and highest UHD academic awards. He received the UHD Scholarly Excellence Award in 1998, the UHD Professional Service Award in 2002, the UHD Teaching Excellence Award in 2004, and Elias Deeba Award for excellence in Teaching, Service, and scholarship in 2005. In addition, Dr. Islam received many other awards and recognitions over the years from various professional organizations such as the FBD/Cengage Outstanding Educator Award in 2006 and AIBSW Outstanding Educator Award in 2009.

Furthermore, Dr. Islam served as the past President of the Southwestern Society of Economists in the U.S. and both past Chapter Chair and past President of the Academy of International Business-US Southwest Chapter. A former lecturer at the Dhaka University Economics Department (1975-1977), Dr. Islam served as faculty member in several other universities in Canada and the U.S. before joining the UH-Downtown in 1990.

As chair of the FISER department, his role is pivotal role is to supervise and manage the large and multidisciplinary department that includes finance, management information systems, economics and risk management disciplines. As chair, he serves as a liaison to facilitate communication and mediation between upper administration and faculty, staff and students. One of his primary goal is to provide strong support to faculty, staff, and students in order to promote professional growth and academic success.

Dr. Islam’s primary teaching areas include general economics, international economics, industrial economics, public finance, managerial economics, economic development, and quantitative economics. His research interests lie in the areas of international economics, international finance, economic development and industrial economics. Dr. Islam is deeply engaged and highly productive in scholarly/creativity activities. Over the years, he has co-authored several books and published numerous articles in various peer-reviewed academic journals in the area in economics, international business, and international finance. In addition, he serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the academic journal titled Journal of Global Economy, Trade, and International Business and Foreign Editor of the IST Journal of Business and Economics. In addition, he serves on the editorial boards of many peer-reviewed academic and professional journals.