Yorubas who have made us proud

Nigerian becomes first black VC in American varsity


A United States of America-based Nigerian lecturer, Prof. Ilesanmi Adesida, has become the first black man to be appointed the Provost/Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, United States of America.

Born in 1949 at Ifon, a town in Ondo State, Adesida, a professor of Electronic Engineering with outstanding works in nanotechnology, was appointed by the search committee of the institution on May 31, this year.

His appointment, according to a statement placed on the website of the institution, took effect from August 15 this year.

Before his appointment, Adesida was the Dean, College of Engineering of the institution.

According to the university’s Vice-President and Chancellor, Dr. Phyllis Wise, Adesida succeeds Linda P.B. Katehi-Tseregounis, who last served the role on a permanent basis.

Senior campus administrators who served in the position on an interim basis after Dr. Katehi-Tseregounis’ departure were Robert Easter and Richard Wheeler.

Adesida, a former Head of Department, Electrical Engineering, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, Bauchi State, will oversee the institution’s academic programmes, policies and priorities, which have been designed to ensure the quality of the educational experience for students and to sustain an environment that encourages and supports academic excellence. He was at ABTU between 1985 and 1987.

But now as the chief academic officer of UI, Adesida will work closely with the Chancellor, other vice-chancellors, the deans of academic colleges and other units, academic staff, the Faculty Senate, and various committees in setting overall academic priorities for the university.

The university has a budget of $1.5b with more than $400m in research expenditures. There are 42,000 students and 3,000 faculty members. The university is renowned for its interdisciplinary collaborations, advances in human understanding, community outreach, global partnerships, and life-changing scientific developments.

By his appointment, Adesida, who graduated with a Bachelors of Science, Master’s and PhD in electrical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 1974, 1975 and 1979 respectively, will become one of the highest paid academics in the US.

According to UI’s Vice-President and the Chancellor, Dr. Phyllis Wise, the cerebral don will earn $430,000 per annum, about N67.51m. With this amount, Adesida’s annual salary is $30,000 higher than President Barrack Obama, who earns $400,000 per year.

Commenting on his appointment, Adesida, who is now a naturalised American, was quoted by a news agency as expressing happiness at the university’s gesture.

Adesida said, “I’m honoured and humbled to be selected as vice-chancellor/provost of this great campus (university). This is something I take very seriously. I know how to work very hard and I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and get the job done.”

According to the website of the university, Adesida is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Vacuum Society, and the Optical Society of America. He is also the past-president of IEEE Electron Devices Society.

His outstanding work in the field of Nanotechnology has received much acclaim in the scientific community. He has developed a body of work in the processing of semiconductors and other materials at the nanometer-scale level.

After his studies, he worked in various capacities at what is now known as the Cornell Nanofabrication Facility and the School of Electrical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.

In June 2005, Adesida became the 13th dean since the inception of the College of Engineering in 1870.

He joined UI as a faculty member in 1988 and he is currently the Donald Biggar Willett Professor of Engineering, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, and Director of the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology.

Adesida has previously served as the Director of the Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory and the Associate Director for education of the NSF Engineering Research Centre for Compound Semiconductor Microelectronics.

According to the university’s website, Adesida’s research interests include nanofabrication processes and ultra-high-speed optoelectronics.

He also has extensive experience in development of novel processes for wide band gap materials such as silicon carbide and gallium nitride. He has also worked on ultra-high-speed photo detectors and photo receivers in various materials systems.

Adesida has chaired many international conferences, including serving as the Programme and General Chair of the Electronic Materials Conference, 2000-2003. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Vacuum Society and Optical Society of America. He is past-president of IEEE Electron Devices Society, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering.

According to an appointment notice on the institution’s website, Adesida will also continue as Donald Biggar Willett Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, non-tenured, on an academic year service basis, on zero per cent time, with an increment of $5,000, effective August 16, 2012, for a total annual salary of $430,000.

“In addition, Adesida will continue to hold the following appointments on terms which were effective August 16, 2011: Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering, on indefinite tenure, on an academic year service basis, on zero per cent time, non-salaried; Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering, non-tenured, on an academic year service basis, on zero per cent time, non-salaried; Professor, Coordinated Science Laboratory, College of Engineering, non-tenured, on an academic year service basis, on zero per cent time, non-salaried; Research Professor, Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory, College of Engineering, non-tenured, on an academic year service basis, on zero per cent time, non-salaried; Institute Affiliate, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, office of the VC for Research, non-tenured, on an academic year service basis, on zero per cent time, non-salaried; and Institute Affiliate, Institute of Genomic Biology.”

Peckham, Stand Up!!

Boyega is repping!

I need to check that out.

Once you're from Peckham - you're basically just a Nigerian living in London, hence the place is called: little Lagos. 

Hahahaha!

Peckham the pecknizzy and narm - home of the bravehearts. 

SlimTrader CEO, Femi Akinde on why he launched the Morewardz



What if we all had Femi Akinde’s keen curiosity and willingness to effect change in certain areas of of our work? That was the question I was left with after speaking to this Nigerian engineer who is determined to get the best out of business and technology in sub-Saharan Africa. The story of the young electrical engineer, who has introduced a whole new way to establish and build customer loyalty, is only just beginning.

Morewardz club is a rewards programme featured on SlimTrader’s e-commerce platform, Mobiashara (‘more business’ in Swahili), for hotel guests in Africa who can earn points for every penny they spend in recurring stays at the hotels registered on the company’s platform. More specifically, when loyal customers earn points, they can get rewarded in three ways; airline tickets, cash and all-expense paid future stays at the hotel. “We created morewardz club to solve three client problems; how to acquire and retain customers, how to influence customer spending and how to get customers to spend more with them”, he says.

According to Akinde, it is the first of its kind in the industry as no one provides a similar loyalty programme for indigenous hotels in sub-Saharan Africa. “While I cannot name all our clients, I will say we have various hotels and guesthouses registered on our platform. We have created the platform, all the hotels need to do is make it their own by branding it with their name, for instance, Hotelnownow is one of our clients, when they utilize the loyalty programme version, they become Hotelnownow morewardz club loyalty programme”, he said.

Notably, the loyalty programme isn’t focused on ‘exclusivity’ as Akinde is determined to integrate the loyalty feature with all hotels and guest houses that are willing to be registered on the platform for free. “We need to take advantage of the untapped market, elsewhere in the world, especially in the west, hotel guests benefit from loyalty programmes. In the first quarter of 2015, 1.4 million foreigners traveled in and out of Nigeria, while in the second quarter of 2015, 1.04 million foreigners did the same thing. Most of the time, they would rather stay in international hotels due to the fact that they have loyalty programmes but local hotels do not have such and that is what we are changing”, he noted.

According to him, sub-Saharan Africa previously had no business model that rewarded travelers who stay in hotels frequently. “For instance, during the first quarter of 2015 in Nigeria alone, 2.35 million people flew in and out of various states within the country on domestic flights. Then in the second quarter of 2015, 2.37 million people did the same on local flights alone. I am thinking a great percentage of these travelers will stay in hotels, where they spend money, it is only a good business initiative to reward them for their loyalty, that’s where morewardz club comes in”, he said.

Mobiashara is not just limited to a loyalty programme, Akinde said the platform will conduct point of sale and inventory as well as facilitate transactions. “Businesses navigate the whole thing, all we do is give it out to them, we operate on a white label standard, organizations on the platform can rebrand with their name, the platform is in-built and we offer it for free”, he said. When we discuss how businesses are set up for profit and a his return on investment in between bouts of laughter, he replies, “of course they are, as an industry agnostic, SlimTrader attracts all kinds of businesses, however, for the morewardz club platform, we let our clients make their money then we get a revenue share from it, a commission of sorts.”

For Akinde, the morewardz club is just good business due to the fact that there is steady growth in the hospitality sector within sub-Saharan Africa. “In Nigeria alone, the hotel sector is worth $3 billion, which is why morewardz club will succeed. In the past, we have been encouraged by the kind of clients we work with. The feedback has been great for one reason, we are merging technology and business together, it’s not just about the money, we build relationships, we talk to our clients a lot and they love that”, he stated.

Akinde had always been curious about how technology impacts business and this interest made him quit his job at Microsoft, Seattle, Washington, to attend business school at the University of Chicago. “When I was done, I felt I had learnt enough and decided to be a part of the evolving narrative on business and technology. In the course of running SlimTrader for the past five years, I crowdsource for information to make me a better business man. The one thing that has stuck however, is the will to under-promise but over-deliver”, he concluded.


Source


Shymmex,Interloper,iyalode,Moffy,OmoOba,Iya Niyen!,Omoluabi,dansoye1,Belmot,osoronga,@quimicababes,Omo Oba of the Source,Her Highness,IrekeOnibudo,ioannes,laudate,oduabachanal,stblack,zaynie,Honorebu,

It's hard to tell nowadays because they've began islamicizing their names. Took me a while to realize that "t" after an islamic names belongs to Yorubas and that Lawal is a Yoruba name.

Anyway sha, I'm proud of my people