By Francine Parker
Staff writer

Basheer Khumawala has received numerous awards throughout his 44-year academic career, but, perhaps, none as unique as the one bestowed by Houston City Council - a day named in his honor.

The John & Rebecca Moores Professor and Bauer Faculty Fellow said he is grateful to Mayor Bill White and city council for declaring Feb. 24, 2004, “Dr. Basheer Khumawala Day.” The proclamation pays tribute to his professional achievements and community service.

“The honor is not to me as an individual, but to the university and its mission and the city and its goal of creating harmony between people of different races, nationalities and faiths,” Khumawala said.

He recalls leaving his hometown, Ahmedabad, which is now the second largest city in western India, to pursue a career in the United States.

“Like any young man, I hoped to get an education and make a better life,” he said.

Khumawala also aspired to make a contribution to society - a philosophy his parents instilled in him and a lesson he learned growing up in a city, which is closely associated with Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi, who led the movement of nonviolence in the fight for India’s independence from the United Kingdom, established an “ashram,” a religious retreat, in Ahmedabad in 1915.

In 1963, Khumawala arrived in the United States after receiving a bachelor’s of science degree in mathematics from India’s St. Xavier’s College and a master’s of science degree in statistics from Gujart University, also in India. He earned a master’s of science degree and a doctoral degree, both in industrial administration, from Purdue University.

Khumawala’s career then took him to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he achieved full professor status in just eight years. Then, in 1978, Khumawala and his wife, Saleha, found their home at UH’s C.T. Bauer College of Business Administration.

“I have received so much support from the administration, colleagues and students that it is like a real family,” he said.

A father of two, Khumawala noted that one member of this “family” is also with him every day at UH and at home. His wife is an associate professor of accountancy and taxation.

“My wife is not only behind me, but she is in front of me and beside me,” he said, adding that her and their children’s support are instrumental in his success on and off campus.

Khumawala’s academic achievements at UH include serving as chair of the Department of Systems and Strategy and coordinator of the operations management doctoral program and of the operations management faculty. He also was the Marvin Hurley Professor in the business college, president of the Operations Research/Management Science group in Houston and president of Global Manufacturing Research Group. Khumawala also has done associate editorships of such prestigious journals as “Management Science and Decision Science.” He was made Fellow of Decision Science Institute in 1994 and Fellow of the Pan Pacific Business Association in 2001.

His dedication to UH and his students can be traced back to his desire to learn as a child.

“My mother couldn’t read, and my father wasn’t a high school graduate. Yet, they struggled hard to see that their children were educated,” he said. “It’s a great blessing and an honor for me to have received my education.”

Khumawala carries that same philosophy of caring off campus. In his spare time, he works with numerous community and nonprofit organizations. Along with other business college faculty, another project he is working on is to provide business education to inmates.

Yet, despite his accomplishments, Khumawala remains a modest man, repeating many times that the city’s proclamation is “a tribute to those who have supported me. I’m grateful to the Almighty, my family, my mentors, my students, my friends, the University of Houston and the city of Houston for their support.”