Muhammad Samad was born in a remote village of Jamalpur District of Bangladesh in 1956. He earned his Bachelor of Social Science with honors and master's degrees in Social Welfare, mostly known as Social Work, from the Institute of Social Welfare and Research (ISWR), University of Dhaka in 1978 and 1979 respectively. He completed his Ph. D on the participation of the rural poor in development programs of government and NGOs in Bangladesh in 1995. Dr. Muhammad Samad worked as visiting professor at Winona State University (WSU), Minnesota, USA in 2005 and 2009 respectively. He worked as Fellow of Katherine A. Kendall Institute of International Social Work Education, CSWE, Washington DC, USA in 2009. Currently Dr. Muhammad Samad is the Pro-Vice Chancellor at the University of Dhaka. Prior to this, he served as the Vice Chancellor, University of Information Technology