North South University (NSU), the first private university in Bangladesh, was established in 1992 by the then Foundation for Promotion of Education and Research (FPER) - a charitable, non-profit, non-commercial and non-political organization. The FPER later was renamed as the NSU Foundation and is presently called the North South Foundation for Education and Research.

The Foundation comprises a group of eminent industrialists, prominent patrons of education, notable philanthropists, widely experienced academics and senior civil servants of the country. In the early 1990s, they had a dream to set up a world-class university as a center of excellence in higher education in the private sector. Their dedication, tireless efforts, and hard work paved the way for approval of the establishment of NSU. Since, at that time, there was no relevant law in the country to set up and operate a university in the private sector, they took the entire burden and extended their best efforts in assisting the then government in formulating the relevant law and enacting it.

Subsequently, the government, pursuant to the newly enacted law i.e. the Private University Act (PUA)-1992 (now repealed by PUA-2010), approved the establishment of NSU. The University was formally inaugurated by the then Prime Minister of Bangladesh on 10 February 1993 and was started its journey in a very modest way.

Later, in 2012, the NSU Foundation, in the light of the PUA 2010 and as instructed by the Ministry of Education and the University Grants Commission, formed the NSU Trust with the same group of people in the Foundation and vested the entire management and administration of NSU in its Board of Trustees (BOT). The honorable President of the People's Republic of Bangladesh is the Chancellor of NSU.