The Presidency University Foundation, a group of 30 teachers, leaders of business and industry, and retired government officers, came together and petitioned the government for a permit to establish and operate Presidency University. On July 21, 2003, the Ministry of Education (MoE) of the Government of Bangladesh (GoB), in keeping with the Private University Act 1992, authorized the establishment and operation of Presidency University. Thereafter, Presidency University opened its door to students in September of 2003. The Principal Sponsor of Presidency University is Mr. Muslehuddin Ahmad, a former Secretary and Ambassador of Bangladesh. Indeed it is he who first came out with the proposal to establish a private university in Bangladesh in 1988. On the basis of an article, The Private University in Bangladesh, an initial proposal, by Junaid K. Ahmad, which was published first on February 2, 1988 in Bidesh Bangla, a magazine published in California, USA.