Simeen Mahmud was a demographics researcher^[1][2] and the lead researcher at the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development at BRAC University.^[3][4] She was a director of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies.^[5] She was the coordinator of the Centre for Gender and Social Transformation of BRAC University.^[6] She headed the Gender Studies Cluster at BRAC University.^[7]

Mahmud was the country coordinator for the Citizenship DRC.^[8] She worked on the empowerment of women.^[9] She was a researcher of gender studies.^[10]

Mahmud's father was MN Huda, former vice president of Bangladesh and finance minister under President Ziaur Rahman, and her mother was Kulsum Huda.^[11][12] Her siblings were Mirza Najmul Huda and Zareen Huda Ahmed.^[13] She studied statistics at the University of Dhaka.^[14] She studied medical demography at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.^[15][16] She was a MacArthur Fellow at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies.^[15][13]

In 1974, Mahmud became a staff demographer at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies.^[17]

Mahmud retired from the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies in 2008.^[17] She was the director of the Population Studies Division of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies.^[17] She worked on the memoir of her father with her mother, Umme Kulsum Siddiqua Banu, who died in 2008.^[18] She was the vice-president of the Dhaka University Statistics Department Alumni Association.^[19]

Mahmud joined the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD).^[13] She wrote The fabric of accountability in Bangladesh's garment industry for Open Democracy in 2009.^[20] She signed a letter with other women researchers protesting the removal of Muhammad Yunus from Grameen Bank.^[21] The other signatories were Amena Mohsin, Farida Akhter, Firdous Azim, Hameeda Hossain, Mahera Khatun, Maleka Begum, Mahmuda Islam, Najma Siddiqui, Nashid Kamal, Perween Hasan, Rasheda K Chowdhury, Rizwana Hasan, Rounaq Jahan, Salma Ali, Salma Khan, Shaheen Anam, Shireen Huq, Tasnim Azim, and Tahrunessa Abdullah.^[21] She signed another letter in 2012 condemning the restructuring of Grameen Bank.^[22]

From 2014 to 2015, Mahmud was a member of the Economic and Political Citizenship working group at the Cord Network.^[23] She collaborated on research with Naila Kabeer.^[8] She was the coordinator of the Centre for Gender and Social Transformation BRAC University.^[24] She taught at BRAC University.^[25]

• Women and Water-Pumps in Bangladesh: The Impact of Participation in Irrigation Groups on Women's Status.^[26]

Mahmud was married to Wahiduddin Mahmud, economics professor at the University of Dhaka.^[15] They had two sons and one daughter.^[17]

Mahmud died on 18 March 2018 at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts.^[27][14]