Mahbubul Hoque, the founder chancellor of the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM) has been conferred with the Governor’s Excellence Award.

Hoque has been awarded for his pioneering and outstanding contribution in the field of higher and technical education in Meghalaya.

State governor Satya Pal Malik conferred the award to Hoque at the Raj Bhawan in Shillong on Friday.

Addressing the gathering on the occasion, Hoque thanked the people of the state for believing in him and the government for conferring the award on him.

Hoque has struggled throughout his life from selling home-grown vegetables in village markets to founding as many as eight institutions.

Over 5000 students from the northeast as well as various other parts of the country are currently studying in the USTM. In the first batch, Hoque had only 28 students at the centre. But the numbers kept growing each year. By 2006, the centre had as many as 3,500 students. Over the years, the number of staff also increased.