Meet Nigerian-Born Professor Adesida, First Black VC Of University Of Illinois

SEYI GESINDE reports the recent appointment of a Nigerian-born scholar, Professor Ilesanmi Adesida, as the Vice Chancellor and Provost, University of Illinois, United States.
A Nigerian, Professor Ilesanmi Adesida has been appointed as the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost, University of Illinois (U and I), Urbana-Champaign, United States.
Ilesanmi, a physicist, who is now a naturalised American and a Donald Biggar Willett Professor of Engineering, until his appointment was the Dean, College of Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign campus.
It was in May this year, the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois selected him as the next Vice Chancellor for academic affairs and Provost of the University of Illinois, Urbana Campus and he has assumed office since August 15.
Born in Nigeria, Ilesanmi bagged his undergraduate and graduate degrees in Engineering from the University of California-Berkeley, United States.
Before travelling abroad, he was a professor at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University in Nigeria and later at Cornell University in New York.
Thereafter, in 1987, Ilesanmi joined the University of Illinois as an Electrical and Computer Engineering professor.

As a Engineering professor, the new Vice Chancellor is an expert in the processing of semiconductors and other materials at the nanometer-scale level and in ultra-high-speed heterostructure field-effect transistors – the sort of transistors used in cell-phones, fiber optics communications, deep space communications, and other applications.
In academic research, he majors in nanotechnology with special emphasis on high speed devices used in communications.
Over the years, his contributions are said to have provided insights into the limits of advanced lithography and other nanofabrication techniques.
At Illinois, Ilesanmi worked as a researcher and Dean of the College of Engineering for a period of seven years.
Besides being a Dean at Illionis, he was equally a Director of the Centre for Nanoscale Science and Technology and Director of the Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory.
There, he also served as a professor of materials science and engineering, professor of electrical and computer engineering, professor of the Beckman Institute of Advanced Science and Technology and research professor of the Coordinated Science Laboratory.
As a Dean, he was described as the master of the game. On duty, he was seen as someone who “knows more than a little about what makes physical systems work.”
Though he was commended for a good work, but to to Ilesanmi, being an engineer gives him the opportunity to “look at the big system and then break it down to bite-size,” as that is was he perceives to be the duty of engineers.
He described engineers as a people who “are optimistic in one sense, but also skeptical.” In short, Ilesanmi believes that with a full understanding of what the system is, “the process can’t paralyse you.”
In essence, this “systems view” is what the News Bureau of U and I, a public affairs division of the Illinois said:  “will serve the Vice Chancellor well in his new position, considering the crux of it involves making operational processes easier for professors in all disciplines to navigate, as well as fostering bold new interdisciplinary connections that lead to real-world application.”
Ilesanmi, speaking after his appointment was quoted by the News Bureau of the institution as saying: “The provost has to work with everybody and play to the strengths of this campus. I believe everyone who walks through that door is very important. When the professors are successful, the students are successful, then, we are successful in our mission.
“I’m very excited about how we address the critical issues of undergraduate education as we move into the future.
“I know a lot about engineering, but in this position I’m the student. There is a lot of people with deep knowledge on this campus and I’m seeking their advice.
“I’ve been meeting a lot of people on campus. As Provost, you see a lot more (broadly) than you see as a Dean. We have challenges in funding, but there also are tremendous opportunities in terms of excellence. Whatever we do, we want to be excellent at it. That’s the aspiration I’m hearing from people on campus.

“The questions we have to be asking are, ‘What are the opportunities? What are the challenges?’ It will be a difficult time for those (institutions) that can’t navigate it. We have to be very strategic and deliberative about what we’re doing.
“As an institution, we have the option to choose our comprehensiveness. We must examine the range of activities taking place across campus and the resources in place to support those activities,” the provost was quoted to have said.
Ilesanmi believes that “the newness of campus leadership, as well as changes across the campus, can be turned into a positive power for the university’s future.”
Also, he is hopeful the changes during his tenure will usher in an era of stability that will lead to solid planning and the development of successful strategies.
The entire university community is now looking forward to a new dawn at Illinois, especially now that they have a leader who sees himself as “an agent of considerate and thoughtful change,” who is “committed to excellence, diversity and shared governance.”
Source Tribune News Paper