Born in 1934 in Dhaka, Shaikh Maqsood Ali had his early education at Calcutta, India where he could witness the dynamics and aspirations of the Indian Independence struggle against the British Raj at its last phase. He obtained an M.A. (Econ) in 1956 from the University of Dhaka, an M.A. (Econ) in 1964 from the University of Manchester, UK, and a Ph.D. in 1972 from the University of Leeds, UK. He was a Lecturer of Economics at the University of Dhaka during 1957-1959. In 1959, he joined the Civil Service of Former Pakistan and served in several Ministries, field administration, higher training institutions, and the Planning Commission in Bangladesh. During this period as well as after retirement (1992), he worked in several committees and commissions on planning, development and administration. In particular, he was a Member of the Independent South Asian Commission for Poverty Alleviation and Convener, the National Task Force for Poverty Alleviation in Bangladesh. His specialisation has been in the fields of Integrated Social Mobilisation, South Asian Values and Pro-Poor Development Paradigms. He has several publications in international books and journals in the areas of his specialisation.