[2][3][4] Akhter was born on 1 May 1956 to a Bengali family of Muslim Chowdhuries in Eidgaon, Cox's Bazar subdivision, Chittagong District, East Pakistan.

[9] Akhter was appointed the first female vice chancellor of the University of Chittagong on 3 November 2019.

[9] In November 2020, she was nominated for the Begum Rokeya Padak and received it in December from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

[12] Akhter's office was vandalized in January 2023 by Bangladesh Chhatra League activists led by its University of Chittagong unit President Moynul Hasan for not recruiting Raihan Ahmed, a Bangladesh Chhatra League activist, as a faculty.

[13] Akhter was married to Major (Retired) Latiful Alam Chowdhury.