Many of you, by now, must have already heard about the sad demise of Dr. A. K. Md. Ehsanes Saleh, on September 3, 2023, at the age of 91, in the comfort of his loving family. A Bangladeshi Canadian, Dr. Saleh was Professor Emeritus and Distinguished Research Professor with Carleton University’s School of Mathematics and Statistics, and an Honorary Member of the Statistical Society of Canada.
Having earned his Ph.D. from the University of Western Ontario, Dr. Saleh has made a landmark contribution to the development of the statistical sciences with over 300 journal articles and 6 textbooks in his field. He is the founder of the Graduate Program in Statistics and Probability at Carleton University and has supervised 30 Masters, 15 Ph.D., and 7 post-doctoral students who, in turn, are now doing the same.
Given his high academic excellence, Dr. Saleh was the only statistician of Bangladeshi origin to become a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, the first Fellow of the American Statistical Association, and the first Honorary Member of the Statistical Society of Canada. He was also an elected member of the International Statistical Institute, a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society, and a Fellow of the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences.
Again, Dr. Saleh was also a Eugene Lukacs Distinguished (Visiting) Professor at Bowling Green State University, Ohio, and an Adjunct Professor, at Kansas University Medical Centre, Kansas, USA. As a dedicated professor, he has taught/held seminars at numerous institutions such as the University of Toronto, Simon Fraser University, University of California at Berkeley, Stanford University, MIT, Australian National University, University of Southern Queensland, Australia, University of Yokohama, Charles University (Prague), Banach Centre (Poland), Kuwait University and the University of Dhaka, and Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh.
Over the years, Professor Saleh received numerous awards for his contribution to his field of specialization. He remains an exception in that he has been recognized both in Bangladesh and Canada and many other countries in the world. The following are worth mentioning: 25 Years of Excellence Award; NSERC; Gold Medal for Best Statistics Book; Islamic Society of Statistical Science; Pride of Bangladesh Award; Federation of Bangladeshi Association of North America; Fellow, American Statistical Association; Ogawa Award, Journal of Japan Statistical Society; Scholastic Achievement Award, Faculty of Science, Carleton University; Gold Medal Award, ISRT, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Even though Professor Saleh was rooted in Canada, he did not forget his country of birth which he visited every few years. He also served as Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Statistical Research, ISRT, Dhaka University. A philanthropist by nature, Professor Saleh also provided scholarships to a number of students by running a “star search” programme that allowed him to identify talented students to study Statistics. Internationally known, Professor Saleh remains a shining example of a successful immigrant of Bangladeshi origin who contributed to his country of birth as well as his country of adoption.
Those who came to know Professor Saleh, or know him socially in various capacities, hold him in esteem for, to them, he was impressive without showiness, emphatic in his admonition, and grand in his simplicity. Today Professor Saleh’s students are scattered all over the world. They maintain that as a professional he would go straight to the point by touching not on the tangential part but more on the substantive part. At the risk of using an often-quoted attribute, I must say, that Dr. Ehsanes Saleh was many in one: a successful professor, a renowned scholar who had contributed to learned journals, a respected community member, and, above all a gentleman and a family man.
Professor Saleh was a patriot who loved Bangladesh, the country in which he was born and raised, and Canada, the country where he lived, worked, and contributed. He demonstrated his love for Bangladesh when in 1971, the West Pakistani military attacked the Bengalis in the name of restoration of law and order. On sundry occasions, he recalled how shocked he was by the trauma of the military brutality. Like other Bengalis in the Ottawa area, he vehemently condemned the genocidal attacks on the Bengalis and spent a great deal of time raising awareness among his colleagues and neighbours about the tragedy that was unfolding. He also recalled and regretted that he had to move to Vancouver that year and could not participate in demonstrations to his full satisfaction. Nevertheless, he remembered the donations that he made a couple of times for the hapless Bengali refugees in India.
Professor Saleh was first and foremost, a family man who loved his wife Shahidara, children, and grandchildren. His love and respect for his life partner, Shahidara Saleh, were such that he founded the Shahidara Saleh Trust Fund for scholarships for graduate students of the Department of Statistics and Institute of Statistical Research and Training, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
I was fortunate to know Professor Saleh and his wife intimately by way of our matrimonial family ties, particularly since 1976, the year I came to Ottawa. However, I met him first back in 1962 when I was barely 13. Dr. Saleh’s wife, Shahidara Saleh (our Moti Apa), is my brother-in-law’s younger sister; I used to call him Dulabhai. Thus, it is needless to mention how the news of his demise saddened me. Nonetheless, writing about him is a privilege; but it is also an opportunity for me to revisit some fond memories amidst sorrows and griefs.
As I tried to write down my inmost feelings, I stumbled and agonized over every word. True, having sat down to recall my knowledge of Professor Saleh and his deep love and affection for his life-partner and their children and grandchildren, I hope I have been able to express my pent-up feelings in a tangible way for those who might be interested to take a glance through my recollection of him. Though I found it hard to write, it was good that I did write despite the pain and the difficulty that I had suffered. I must say, it was a healing experience, after all. My humble attempt has come to some fruition for me as it has helped me express my feelings of loss and grief that I was having trouble with having known no other avenue to channel them.
We may all try to take comfort in the fact that Professor Saleh’s memory will always remain with us. He was the kind of person who never craved a plaque or any formal recognition although everyone around admired him for his fervent commitment to conducting research in his area of specialty. His life remains to all those who knew him as a magnificent gripping story of a Statistician who won the respect and admiration of colleagues and thousands of students scattered all around the globe.
Finally, let us remind ourselves what the Holy Qur’an says: “Every soul will taste of death. And you will be paid on the Day of Resurrection only that which you have fairly earned. Whoso is removed from the Fire and is made to enter paradise, he indeed is triumphant. The life of this world is but the comfort of illusion.” (Al Qur’an 3:185).
Let us also remind ourselves of one of the great gifts of religion and spiritual traditions – our faith in the afterlife. This remains a valuable, important inner resource, one that brings comfort and a sense that the one we love still lives, albeit in a different form. May Allah SWT, reward Dulabhai for his good deeds, forgive him for his shortcomings, and accord him the highest place in Jannat ul firdaus.
I also ask Allah to give Sabr Jamil (patience) to the family and to us all guidance to the Right Path. Ameen!
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A Canadian of Bangladeshi origin, Mustafa Chowdhury has graduate degrees in English Literature, Library & Information Science, and Canadian History. During his lengthy career of 34 years in Canada’s federal public service, he worked for a number of key federal departments. Chowdhury is the recipient of several awards for his contributions to the public service and to his profession. Over the years Chowdhury has written many articles on Equity, Diversity and Multiculturalism. His first book titled ’71-er Judhoshishu: Obidito Itihash was first published by Academic Press and Publishers Library, Bangladesh, in 2015. His second book, Picking Up the Pieces: 1971 War Babies’ Odyssey from Bangladesh to Canada, was published by Xlibris, Bloomington, Indiana, USA in 2015.
Mustafa Chowdhury
Mustafa Chowdhury has authored the following books: ’71-er Judhoshishu: Obidito Itihash; UNCONDITIONAL LOVE: Story of 1971 War Babies; Picking Up the Pieces: 1971 War Babies’ Odyssey from Bangladesh to Canada.
A Canadian of Bangladeshi origin, Mustafa Chowdhury has graduate degrees in English Literature, Library & Information Science, and Canadian History. During his lengthy career of 34 years in Canada’s federal public service, he worked for a number of key federal departments.
