Dr Chowdhury graduated from Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka, Bangladesh with a BSc (Hons.) in Economics, an MA in Economics from the University of Kiel, Germany and a PhD in Agricultural Economics from Bonn University, Germany. Prior to joining the University of Sydney, he worked for the International Food Policy Research Institute (from 2003-2006) and the World Bank (2006-2007) in Washington DC, USA.