Professor Dr. Md. Kamal Uddin

PhD (Kyushu University, Japan) | Professor of Psychology, University of Dhaka

Phone: +880 1713 456 644 | Email: mu_psy@du.ac.bd | ORCID: 0000-0003-2033-8933

Professor Dr. Md. Kamal Uddin was born on March 11, 1968, in Village Kadirabad, Mehendiganj Upazila, Barisal, Bangladesh. He completed his B.Sc. (Honors) in Psychology in 1990 and M.Sc. in Clinical Psychology in 1991, both from the University of Dhaka, with First Class First distinction. His M.Sc. results earned him two of the University's highest honors — the Professor M. U. Ahmed Gold Medal and the University of Dhaka Book Prize. He subsequently earned his PhD in Experimental Psychology from Kyushu University, Japan (2006), funded by the prestigious Monbukagakusho (MEXT) Scholarship, completing a dissertation comprising seven experimental studies titled "Attention and Bias in Visuomotor Localization." He furthered his postdoctoral training at the University of Padova, Italy, under the European ERASMUS MUNDUS Action 2 Fellowship (2013), thereby cementing his standing as a scholar.

Dr. Kamal has been a faculty member at the Department of Psychology, University of Dhaka, since 1998, advancing from Lecturer to Professor (2013–present) — the department's highest academic rank. He served as Chairman of the Department (2021–2024), leading curriculum reform, institutional quality assurance, and research capacity-building initiatives that strengthened its position as Bangladesh's foremost center of psychological education. He has additionally served as Adjunct Faculty at Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP), teaching Business Research Methodology and Advanced Research Methodology at MBA, MPhil, and PhD levels; at Aviation and Aerospace University (AAUB), teaching Human Factors in Aviation; and at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), East West University (EWU), Eastern University (EU), and several other universities — reflecting a breadth of academic engagement that spans psychology, business, engineering, and aviation contexts. Earlier in his career, he also served as Assistant Director at Bangladesh Bank (1996–1998), gaining first-hand experience in organizational and human resource management before returning to academic life.

Over nearly three decades, Dr. Kamal has taught an extensive portfolio of courses across undergraduate, graduate, MPhil, and PhD levels, including Forensic Psychology, Experimental Psychology, Abnormal Psychology, Basic and Advanced Psychometrics, Research Methodology and Statistics, School Psychology, Positive Psychology, Aviation Psychology, Physiological Psychology, and Psychoeducational Assessment, among others. As a research supervisor, he has guided over 44 MS students and supervised six completed PhD dissertations, with several more currently in progress — including candidates from the Bangladesh Army, Bangladesh Navy, public universities, and medical institutions. He has served as external PhD examiner for 23 theses across universities in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, and has been a Convener or Member of syllabus committees for multiple universities, shaping psychology education at the national level. Dr. Kamal is also the founder of the MS program in School Psychology at the University of Dhaka, a program he conceived and developed from its inception.

Dr. Kamal is among Bangladesh's most prolific and internationally cited psychologists. His publication record includes 100 research papers across 42 peer-reviewed national and international journals, three books (two edited, one co-authored), and one book chapter — with additional manuscripts in preparation. His work has accumulated over 1,026 Google Scholar citations, with a Google Scholar h-index of 17, a Scopus h-index of 10, and a Web of Science h-index of 8. His articles appear in premier outlets such as PLOS ONE, Scientific Data, Royal Society Open Science, Personality and Individual Differences, Current Psychology, BMJ Open, International Journal of Psychology, Social Indicators Research, Journal of Child and Family Studies, Vision Research, Spatial Vision, and Cross-Cultural Research, among many others. As Principal Investigator, he has led over 15 funded research projects supported by the University Grants Commission, the Ministry of Education, the University of Dhaka, and international collaborators, including the Ronald and Nancy Rohner Center at the University of Connecticut, USA. His research domains span psychometrics, interpersonal acceptance-rejection, school and child psychology, mental health, educational assessment, and perceptual psychology

Dr. Kamal has translated his academic expertise into sustained, high-impact applied work as a Consultant Psychometrician and Psychologist across government, industry, and international development sectors. Most prominently, he served as Consultant Psychometrician for all three cohorts of psychometric testing (2021–2023) for the Dhaka Metro Rail operator selection — one of Bangladesh's largest infrastructure projects — ensuring rigorous psychological standards in the assessment process. He has been engaged as Consultant for a World Bank analytical project on Mental Health, Health, Nutrition, and Population (2023); as Advisor for a BPRM-funded evaluation on inclusive services for persons with disabilities in the Rohingya camps of Cox's Bazar (Handicap International); and as Consultant Psychometrician for a Japan–Bangladesh cross-cultural psychometric project with Maritore Co., Ltd., Japan (2025). Earlier engagements include psychological assessment of job satisfaction at United Power Generation & Distribution Company Limited; consultancy for ILO's Hazardous Child Labor Validation Project (2007–2008); and human resource advisory and selection testing at Delta Life Insurance Company Limited (2008–2009). He has also delivered specialist psychometric training to the Inter Services Selection Board (ISSB) of the Bangladesh Armed Forces (2018) and served as Consultant Psychologist on a child labor elimination project for POPI/ILO (2011) — underscoring the exceptional range of his applied contributions.

Dr. Kamal is a founding architect of Bangladesh's organized psychology sector. He is the Founding President of both the Bangladesh Psychometric Society (BPS) and the Bangladesh School Psychology Society (BSPS). He currently serves as Secretary General of the Bangladesh Psychological Association (BPA) — having previously held the positions of Vice President, Joint Secretary General, and Joint Secretary of the same body. At the regional level, he has served as Vice President of the Asia Pacific School Psychology Association (APSPA) and now serves as its International Coordinator (2026–present). He is Chief Editor of the Bangladesh Journal of Psychology; Member of the Editorial Board of Family Relations: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied Family Science; and Member of the International Editorial Board of the Iranian Journal of Organizational Psychology. He is a Life Member of APSPA, BSPS, and BPA, a member of ISIPAR (USA), and an International Affiliate of the American Psychological Association (APA). He has reviewed manuscripts for over a dozen journals and served on grant review panels for the University Grants Commission, the Bangladesh Medical Research Council, and the Ministry of Education.

Dr. Kamal is a scholar of global reach, having delivered keynote speeches, invited lectures, and workshops in 19 countries — including Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, India, Greece, Italy, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Sri Lanka, South Korea, China, Turkey, Pakistan, Nepal, France, Qatar, and Singapore. He has been honored with the ISPA–InSPA Leadership Award (2019) by the International and Indian School Psychology Associations for outstanding contributions to school psychology, and the Award of Honor from the National Association of Psychological Science (NAPS), India (2015). He received travel fellowships and awards from the European Conference on Visual Perception, the Asian Conference on Vision, Kyushu University's Center of Excellence, and ISIPAR. His name appears in both the WHO'S WHO in the World® (23rd edition, 2006) and the inaugural WHO'S WHO in Asia® (2006). In July 2025, he completed the prestigious Capstone Course at the National Defence College (NDC), Bangladesh — an elite program for senior civil, military, and corporate leaders focused on strategic leadership, national security, and governance — a recognition of his standing as a national thought leader whose expertise extends well beyond the academy.

Beyond his scientific and professional life, Dr. Kamal is an accomplished lyricist whose compositions reflect the richness of the Bengali literary and musical tradition. His work features in albums including Mohua and Borsha, available on the YouTube channel "A Mystic Bird". This creative dimension speaks to the rare wholeness of a scholar who unites rigorous empirical thinking with genuine artistic sensibility — a quality that enriches both his teaching and his broader intellectual life. His contributions to the arts stand as a testament to the depth and diversity of a life devoted not only to science but also to the full range of human expression.