Mohammad Ataul Karim is a Bangladeshi American scientist and higher education administrator, with expertise in electro-optical systems, optical computing, and pattern recognition. Ataul Karim is ranked amongst the top 50 researchers who contributed most to journal Applied Optics in its 50-year history. Ataul Karim served as provost, executive vice chancellor and chief operating officer of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth between June 2013 – 2020, and was for 9 years the first vice president for research of Old Dominion University (ODU) in Norfolk, Virginia.