After an intensive selection process, the owners of Ajayi Crowther University (ACU), Oyo, announced Professor Timothy Abiodun Adebayo as the institution’s fourth Vice-Chancellor on September 17, 2020.
Adebayo, a former Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, is also a professor of Entomology and Pesticide Toxicology.
Who is Prof. Adebayo?
Born into the family of the Adebayos on a Christmas day – December 25 – in 1962, Timothy Abiodun hails from Esa-Oke (a town in the old Oyo State) now under Obokun Local Government Area of Osun State, Southwest Nigeria.
Academic and professional career
The young Adebayo attended both elementary and secondary school in his hometown before being offered admission to study Plant Science at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, where he earned a B.Sc. in Plant Science in 1988. He returned to his alma mater in 1992 to pursue an M.Sc. in Plant Science.
After completing his M.Sc., Adebayo joined the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, as an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Agronomy.
He later enrolled at LAUTECH for a Ph.D., and in 2003, at the age of 41, he was awarded a Ph.D. in Entomology. Adebayo would go on to become the Head of the Department of Agronomy.
By the time Timothy Adebayo celebrated his 44th birthday on December 25, 2006, he had already been promoted to Full Professor by LAUTECH.
Previous academic positions
Apart from being a member of several academic committees from within LAUTECH, some of the positions he held before his appointment as DVC of the institution are:
-Head, Department of Agronomy,
-LAUTECH Coordinator of Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES)
-Admission Committee Chairman of LAUTECH
-Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics) of LAUTECH, during the tenure of Prof. Adeniyi Gbadegesin.
Prof. Adebayo spearheaded the admission committee that conducted the post-UTME for applicants and released the results just a few hours after they completed the CBT exams—a first of its kind in the history of LAUTECH.
Former candidate for LAUTECH VC
In July 2018, when the management of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, announced a vacancy for the position VC in LAUTECH, Timothy Adebayo, a professor of Entomology and Pesticide Toxicology, was among more than ten academic giants who applied for the prestigious role.
Insiders within the institution disclosed that the selection process was highly politicized, but this did not deter Adebayo, a former Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the institution, from congratulating Ologunde, the preferred candidate.
Other contestants for the position included Prof. Idowu Adetunji, Prof. Joseph Abayomi, Prof. Ismail Oladosu, and Prof. Femi Fadiora, among others.
While the Esa-Oke-born agriculture researcher was congratulating Prof. Ologunde, little did he know that God was already preparing a better place for him, where his efforts would be more appreciated than in the highly politicized environment surrounding the Vice-Chancellorship of the jointly owned university.
Research works
Adebayo’s works range from toxicology, pesticide, and entomology among others, most of which have been published in local and international journals.
Some of his research publications include:
-Comparative study of toxicity of some essential oils to larvae of three mosquito species
-Effect of Floods Explosion and Chemical Action on Fish Farming in Ibadan Metropolis, Oyo State, Nigeria
-Determination of Organochlorine Pesticide Residues in Dried Cocoa
-Preservation of smoked African catfish, clarias gariepinus burchell against dermestes maculatus de geer (Coleoptera: Dermestidae) using neem seed oil-iodized salt mixtures
-Efficacy of plant extracts in the control of rodent infestations and their effects on the nutritional contents of sweet potato tuber
-Bioactivity and effects of spraying interval of selected plant extracts for control of pre-flowering insect pests of watermelon (Citrulus lanatus[Thunb.] Matsum. & Nakai)
Emergence as ACU 4th Vice-Chancellor
The owners of the institution, the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, announced a vacancy for which Adebayo was among the applicants shortlisted for an interview. His impressive academic record and notable achievements played a key role in his eventual selection.
By September 17, 2020, the Chairman, Governing Council of Ajayi Crowther University Chief Wole Olanipekun, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), announced Prof Timothy Adebayo as the fourth Vice-Chancellor of ACU, succeeding Prof. Dapo Folorunsho Asaju, whose tenure ended on October 1, 2020.
The position is a 5-year term.
Congratulations to the Osun-born academician.