IT’S OFFICIAL : UI unveils new VC, Adebowale

The Governing Council of the University of Ibadan (UI) has approved the appointment of Professor Kayode Oyebode Adebowale as the 13th Vice-Chancellor with effect from 01 November, 2021.

Prof. Adebowale was born on 11 January, 1962 in Ibadan. He hails from Laniisa Compound, Ita Okoro, Isale Ijebu, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria.

A proud alumnus of the University of Ibadan, he completed his B.Sc in Chemistry in 1984; M.Sc in Industrial Chemistry in 1986 and Ph.D in 1991.

The new Vice-Chancellor began his academic career at the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) in October, 1991, as a Lecturer Grade II. He returned to the University of Ibadan in 1999 as a Senior Lecturer and rose through the ranks to become a Professor in October 2006. He had post-doctoral experience in Germany and Italy.

His cognate administrative experience includes: Dean, Faculty of Science, 2009-2011; Director Special Duties Office of the Vice-Chancellor, 2015-2017 and two-term Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration), 2018 to date.

He has supervised many B.Sc and M.Sc projects and 16 doctoral students many of whom are Professors in Nigerian Universities and abroad. He has published over 140 peer reviewed articles in peer-reviewed national and international journals with *one Patent* to his credit.

Prof. Adebowale has served as a reviewer to Journal of Hazardous Materials, Chemistry and Ecology, African Journal of Biotechnology, Journal of Environmental Management, Food Research International, Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, Thermochimica Acta, Biochemical Engineering, Carbohydrate Polymers, Food Research International, International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, and European Journal of Food Research.

His research areas include: Production, optimisation and improvement of yield of ethanol and citric acid from the fermentation media; Thermo-catalytic conversion of wastes and biomass into useful industrial feed stocks; Composition and possible industrial utilisation of seeds, seed oils as industrial raw materials; Rheological and baking properties of non-wheat flours; Physicochemical, functional properties and retrogradation behaviour of native and modified starches and protein concentrate of underutilized legumes and cereals; Synthesis, the kinetics of production characterisation of oil-modified alkyd resin; Kinetic and thermodynamic studies of the adsorption of metals and organic materials on kaolinite clay and Fuzzy logic modelling of environmental compartments.

He received the International Foundation for Science (IFS) Grant amounting to 12,000 US Dollars, 2002; the African Union Kwame Nkrumah Continental Scientific Award for Science, Technology and Innovation in the sum of 100,000 US Dollars, 2014 and Lead Researcher of the Alexander von Humboldt Humboldt Kolleg Regional and Expert Conference on “Climate Change and Sustainable Development: Cultural and Techno-Environmental Responses in West Africa”, worth EUR 27,000.00, among others.

As a researcher on SCOPUS, he has been cited 3,227 times in 2,494 articles with an h-index of 36.

On Google scholar, he has been cited 6,922 times in 3,812 articles with an i10 index of 80 and an H-index of 43.

He is a Fellow of the following learned societies: Science Association of Nigeria; Chemical Society of Nigeria; Polymer Institute of Nigeria; and the Nigerian Academy of Science.

Outside the shores of the country, he is a Fellow Royal Society of Chemistry (UK); African Academy of Science (Kenya), and Alexander von Humboldt (Germany).

He attended the Senior Executive Course (SEC) 39, 2017 of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Jos, leading to the award of mni.

He is happily married with three children.

The new Vice-Chancellor succeeds Professor Abel Idowu Olayinka, whose tenure ended on November 30, 2020.