Manjur Ahmed Chowdhury

Chowdhury was born in Datta Para, Shibchar Upazila, Madaripur District.^[4] He graduated from Dhaka College.^[4] He completed his undergrad in Zoology and masters in Entomology from the University of Dhaka.^[4] He conducted research at the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission.^[4] He completed his PhD at the University of Georgia.^[4]

Chowdhury joined the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission as a scientific officer.^[4] He was a fellow at the International Atomic Energy Agency.^[4] In 1989, he returned to Bangladesh and launched SAFEWAY, a pest control company.^[4] He worked at University of Dhaka, and Jahangirnagar University.^[4] In 2005, he lived in New York City.^[5]

Chowdhury was the President of Zoological Society of Bangladesh.^[4] He was the Chairman of Al-Helal Printing and Publishers Limited, which published the now defunct The Bangladesh Observer, which was the oldest English language newspaper at the time of its closing in 2010.^[6]

In February 2022, Chowdhury, was appointed chairman of National River Conservation Commission.^[7][8] In September 2023, Chowdhury said interference from the government and lack of cooperation was making the commission ineffective.^[9] Chowdhury blamed Dipu Moni, Minister of Education and member of parliament, for getting the Chandpur District Commissioner and a Hilsa fish researcher removed.^[9][10] He called for the jailing of Atiqul Islam, Mayor of North Dhaka City, and Taqsem A Khan, managing director of Dhaka WASA, for failing in their duties to protect rivers.^[10][11] He also criticized the budget of 50 million BDT as being insufficient.^[9] On 18 October 2023, the government of Bangladesh removed him citing "public interest".^[7][8] The removal was criticized by Transparency International Bangladesh saying it contradicted governments commitment to protect rivers.^[7] The Daily Star wrote a critical editorial against his removal.^[12]