News Desk: Brac founder Sir Fazle Hasan Abed passed away at a hospital in Dhaka on Friday night. He died at 8:28pm at ApolloHospital, according to Brac Executive Director. Brac will brief the media later at night. Sir Fazle founded BRAC in 1972. The organization grew to be one of the largest non-government organizations in the world. He retired from his role as the Chairperson of the governing body of Brac Bangladesh and Brac International and transitioned to the role of Chair Emeritus.

Sir Fazle has been honored with numerous national and international awards for his contributions in social development, including the LEGO Prize (2018), Laudato Si` Award (2017), Thomas Francis, Jr Medal in Global Public Health (2016), World Food Prize (2015), Spanish Order of Civil Merit (2014), Leo Tolstoy International Gold Medal (2014), WISE Prize for Education (2011) among others.

In both 2014 and 2017, he was named in Fortune Magazine`s List of the World`s 50 Greatest Leaders. He is also recognized by Ashoka as one of the `global greats` and is a founding member of its prestigious GlobalAcademy for Social Entrepreneurship. In 2009, he was appointed Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George by the British Monarchy in recognition of his services to reducing poverty in Bangladesh and internationally.

The many honorary degrees he received include those from PrincetonUniversity (2014), the University of Oxford (2009), ColumbiaUniversity (2008) and YaleUniversity (2007).

In his recent interview for the Creating Emerging Markets project at the HarvardBusinessSchool, Abed reveals his strong belief that businesses can positively impact society, that "you can do good also by doing business."

In August 2019, Abed retired as the chairperson of BRAC Bangladesh and BRAC International, and took on the position of the Chair Emeritus.

Abed was born into the wealthy Hasan family in Baniachong, Bengal Presidency, British India (now in Habiganj, Sylhet Division, Bangladesh). He passed the matriculation exam from PabnaZillaSchool and went on to complete his higher secondary education from Notre DameCollege, Dhaka.

In 1954, Abed left home at the age of 18 to attend University of Glasgow, where, in an effort to break away from tradition and do something radically different, he studied naval architecture. He realized there was little work in ship building in East Pakistan and a career in Naval Architecture would make returning home difficult. With that in mind, Abed joined the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants in London, completing his professional education in 1962.

Abed returned to East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) to join Shell Oil Company and quickly rose to head its finance division. His time at Shell exposed Abed to the inner workings of a large conglomerate and provided him with insight into corporate management, which would become invaluable to him later in life.

It was during his time at Shell that the devastating cyclone of 1970 hit the south and south-eastern coastal regions of the country, killing 300,000 people. The cyclone had a profound effect on Abed. In the face of such devastation, he said the comforts and perks of a corporate executive`s life ceased to have any attraction for him. Together with friends, Abed created HELP, an organization that provided relief and rehabilitation to the worst affected in the island of Manpura, which had lost three-quarters of its population in the disaster.

Soon after, Bangladesh`s own struggle for independence from Pakistan began and circumstances forced Abed to leave the country. He found refuge in the United Kingdom, where he set up Action Bangladesh to lobby the governments of Europe for his country`s independence.