“We always try to energize people from all
communities of faith. Because of what he did,
we complemented each other.“

After losing her beloved husband, Mr. Dewan Aftab Ahmed in April 2014, Dr. Selina Ahmed decided what better way to let his legacy live on than to give back to the institution that had given him so much joy.

“When my husband passed in 2014, I decided to establish an endowment in his honor. I felt like that was the best tribute I could give to him and my institution, Texas Southern University, where education is the key to bring changes into people’s lives.”

Dr. Ahmed and her husband had spent their lives working to better the lives of students in the Houston community.

“I saw the need to assist students who crossed my path. My late husband, who inspired me, felt the need to help them through also by buying textbooks, paying fees, and more.”

The Ahmed Family contributed $50,000 and the office of University Advancement and Development would match what they donated, totaling an endowment of $100,000.

“I realized that we could provide many scholarships for students in the HSCS department. Everything in life you need generates from HSCS department,” she said.

Four scholarships will be for students in Dietetics; Child and Family Development, Food and Nutrition, and Family endowment scholarships will serve as a lifelong legacy for the department of Human Services and Consumer Sciences in the College of Liberal Arts and Behavioral Sciences (COLABS).

When Dr. Ahmed is not busy serving students, she keeps a full schedule with a number of other activities. She is active in the Houston Bangladeshi community, served as President of the Bangladesh Association of Houston (BAH), and is currently an advisory board member of BAH. She’s also a trustee of the Bangladesh American Center (BAC). Dr. Ahmed has served as an Administrative Clinical Dietitian for Methodist Hospital and as a Research Fellow in the area of Space Nutrition at NASA Johnson Space Center and worked with former Congressman Mickey Leland to develop a Hunger Relief Program for Bangladesh, her native country. She also served as the interim director for Mickey Leland Center on World Hunger and Peace at Texas Southern University.

Dr. Ahmed established the HSCS Childhood Obesity Conference and celebrated its 15-year anniversary in 2018. Dr. Ahmed is an avid researcher for Food and Human Nutrition, having even established a proposal to develop International Food Patterns for International Space Explorers. She was funded with a $500,000 grant from NASA to TSU.