Amanullah Ahmed was born in 1931 in a village in Cooch Behar, presently a district of West Bengal, India. He obtained his M.A. degree (1953) in English from the University of Dhaka. Having taught English at a number of colleges including Carmichael College, Rangpur and Rajshahi Government Colleges he joined the English Department, at Rajshahi University in 1958 where he worked until 1996. He went to England in 1963 and did an M.A. in English at Leicester University in 1965. Professor Ahmed was Vice-Chancellor of Rajshahi University (1988-92) and Pro Vice-Chancellor of the same institution (1985-88). He also served for about three years (1999-2002) as Vice-Chancellor of Queens University, in Dhaka. He has written and published extensively in journals and national newspapers.