Cosmos Foundation has announced the appointment of former Ambassador and Assistant Chief of Naval Staff, Bangladesh Navy Rear Admiral (retd) Abu Sayed Mohammed Abdul Awal as its Senior Fellow.

Awal was born in a noble Muslim family at Narundi in the district of Jamalpur, Bangladesh on January 1, 1957.

He joined the Bangladesh Navy in 1976 and was commissioned in the Executive Branch in 1979.

He has to his credit 36 years of leadership, management, professional, and diplomatic experience spanning a career in the Bangladesh Navy, Inter-Service Institution and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh.

Upon promotion to the rank of Rear Admiral, he served as Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Operations) and Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Personnel) in the headquarters.

Welcoming him, Chairman of Cosmos Foundation, Enayetullah Khan, said, "Rear Admiral ASMA Awal does us great honour by joining with the Cosmos Foundation. He has had an illustrious career at home and abroad. We will benefit enormously from his knowledge and experience."

Cosmos Foundation is a philanthropic arm of the Cosmos Group, registered as a trust dedicated to providing strategic insights and policy solutions to help Bangladesh chart its course towards a better future, apart from discovering, cultivating and disseminating for a global audience, the art of Bangladesh.

Read Admiral Awal commanded various types of ships of the Bangladesh Navy including Fast Attack Craft, Torpedo Boat Squadron, Large Patrol Craft, Training Ship and two Frigates and served as Commandant of the Bangladesh Naval Academy.

He held staff appointments in different Naval areas of the Bangladesh Navy and Naval Headquarters (NHQ) and served as Director of Naval Operations, Director of Naval Plans and Director of Signals in the NHQ.

Read Admiral Awal also held Operational Command of the Bangladesh Navy Fleet as COMBAN (Commodore Commanding BN Flotilla) in the rank of Commodore.

He gained extensive knowledge on military, diplomatic and political dimensions of the ethnic conflict and war against terrorism.

Read Admiral Awal was awarded with "Extra Ordinary Service Medal (OSP)" and the Bangladesh Navy's highest peacetime award "Navy Medal (NBP)" for trustworthy, courageous and dedicated service.

About Cosmos Foundation

Cosmos Foundation is a philanthropic arm of the Cosmos Group, registered as a trust dedicated to providing strategic insights and policy solutions to help Bangladesh chart its course towards a better future, apart from discovering, cultivating and disseminating for a global audience, the art of Bangladesh. Cosmos Foundation is organizing Bangladesh's first-ever festival of disabled artists in collaboration with UNESCO.

The Foundation provides direction to the Group's flagship curatorial space, Gallery Cosmos, and its pioneering printmaking studio, Atelier71, which work in tandem.

The Foundation aims to engage both local and global audiences in artistic and intellectual interventions that aim to illuminate the past, examine the present, and imagine the future.