Dr. M.A. Rouf
Born in Bangladesh on March 2, 1933, Dr. Mohammed A. Rouf graduated with honors from the University of Dacca, Bangladesh, with a BS degree in biology, chemistry and physics and an MS degree in botany. He taught biology for two years at the Government College of Sylhet, Bangladesh. While pursuing post-graduate studies he was a research assistant in bacteriology at the University of California, Davis, where he earned an MA degree in microbiology. Dr. Rouf was a teaching and research assistant in bacteriology and research assistant in physics at Washington State University, where he received his Ph.D. in bacteriology/biochemistry and accepted a faculty position as a bacteriologist.
He joined the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh faculty as an assistant professor in 1964 and was promoted to full professor in 1968. During his tenure at UW Oshkosh he received federal, state and privately funded grants for his research, including a National Science Foundation faculty fellowship, the UW Oshkosh James F. Duncan Research Award and multiple other UW Oshkosh and UW-System grants. His research interests included microbial metabolism, biotechnology, and food and industrial microbiology. Dr. Rouf held leadership positions in many professional organizations, served on numerous University committees, presented numerous scientific papers at professional meetings, published two laboratory books, and wrote a chapter in a published microbiology book. He provided consulting services to corporations throughout the Midwest and other parts of the country and served as chairman of the UW Oshkosh department of biology and microbiology for many years. He was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology in 1976. He was also director of research at Biomedica, Inc. in Neenah and later operated Rouf Lab LLC in Appleton for many years – even after his retirement from the University. Dr. Rouf retired from UW Oshkosh in 1998 after 34 years of service.
Dr. Rouf established the Dr. M.A. Rouf Microbiology Scholarship in 2020 so that students would be able to receive tuition assistance and help in a field to which he dedicated his life. He also established the Reena Rouf English Scholarship in 2020 in memory of his wife’s love of education, English, and writing.
Reena Rouf’s original name was Shirin Sarwar. She was born in Rajshahi, Bangladesh on July 4, 1938 and passed away on October 14, 2019. She graduated with honors from the University of Calcutta, India, with a BS degree in geography and an MA degree in English. Reena taught English in India and Bangladesh at the high school and college levels. After moving to the United States in 1972, she earned a secondary teaching certificate from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh and was a substitute teacher in the Oshkosh Area School District. She also taught English composition at the University of Wisconsin Center-Menasha and was an academic staff lecturer in the UW Oshkosh English Department from 1988 to 1999. Mohammed and Reena had two children, Arman and Alia.