Emeritus Professor Dr Shahjahan Khan of the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ), Australia, received Australia’s most prestigious civilian award, the Order of Australia Medal, on Australia Day 2026. The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia conferred this award for Professor Khan’s significant and sustained contribution to the Australian community over the last three decades, and congratulated him for this remarkable contribution to Australia.

The Order of Australia Medal is the highest system of civilian honour in Australia, recognising citizens for outstanding achievement and service.

In addition to making outstanding contributions to his home city of Toowoomba and the state of Queensland in different capacities, he made remarkable contribution in Australia, and beyond, through the promotion of multiculturalism as a uniting strength of diverse communities to live in peace and harmony with respect and dignity. Professor Khan has previously received the prestigious Cultural Diversity Ambassador Award of Queensland Government; the Queensland Police Service Award for community service; the Diversity and Inclusion Award of UniSQ, Australia; and the Multicultural Service Award of Queensland, Australia.

Professor Khan is an Emeritus Professor of UniSQ, Australia. He served as the Vice Chancellor of the Asian University of Bangladesh, Dhaka, from 2022–26. He has also worked in the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh as well as universities in Canada, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman. As the President of the Islamic Countries Society of Statistical Sciences (ISOSS) he organised successful international conferences in Malaysia, Egypt, Qatar, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia.

Professor Khan is an elected Fellow of the UK Royal Statistical Society and the Bangladesh Society of Private University Academics; an elected member of the International Statistical Institute; a member of the IMS and the Statistical Society of Australia Inc; and a life member of the Bangladesh Statistical Association and the Islamic Countries Society of Statistical Sciences.