EHIME ALEX, Lagos
Dr Benjamin Ola Akande, a Nigerian, was appointed the 9th President of Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont on April 21, 2020.
Welcoming Dr Akande, a visionary leader with global perspective, the Chairman, Champlain College Board of Trustees, Charlie Kittredge said, “…We look forward to welcoming Dr Akande to Champlain and supporting his work to advance the College’s strategic position and build on the strength of our distinctive academic offerings.”
The Champlain College is one of America’s most innovative Colleges, a private college in Burlington, Vermont.
Founded in 1878, Champlain offers on-campus undergraduate and online undergraduate courses through Champlain College Online, along with online certificate and degree programs and master’s degree programs, in more than 80 subject areas.
Champlain enrolls 2,200 undergraduate students on its Burlington, Vermont campus from 44 states and 17 countries.
As the newly designated president of Champlain College, Dr Akande will officially assume office come July 1, 2020, taking over from Dr Laurie Quinn who held the position as Interim President and will be returning to her role as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academics at the conclusion of her term on June 30, 2020.
“It’s my honor to congratulate and warmly welcome Dr. Akande to lead the Champlain community as our next President. Complex times test great leaders, and we are fortunate to be a strong community with a great new leader transitioning in at this time. I’ll be proud to serve on Dr. Akande’s team and to chart Champlain’s future together,” Dr Laurie Quinn cordially welcomed him.
Dr Akande is a Nigerian-American citizen. Born in Nigeria, he left for the United States at the age of 17 to pursue a college degree. His parents, Samuel and Comfort Ola Akande, held a deep respect for and belief in the value of the American higher education system which served as an inspiration to Akande, whose professional success is motivated by the power of education to change lives.
Akande holds a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Oklahoma and completed post-doctoral studies at JFK School of Government at Harvard University and Saïd Business School at Oxford University.
He is a respected economist, scholar educator, and global consultant to Fortune 500 companies and higher education institutions in the areas of strategy, leadership development, corporate responsibility, and market positioning.
A results-oriented leader, Dr Akande is admired for his ability to connect with diverse constituencies at all levels within public, private, and non-profit sectors. He possesses a wealth of business skills, honed by decades of experience working for and leading entrepreneurial and mission-driven organizations. He implements strategic initiatives with confidence and expertise, and knows how to balance business goals with a mission.
An engaging and compelling communicator, Dr Akande is regularly sought out as a commentator by national media. He has appeared on Anderson Cooper 360, CBS Evening News and St. Louis affiliates of FOX, ABC and NBC. His commentaries have appeared in USA TODAY, Financial Times, and on public radio’s Marketplace.
From 2000-2015, Dr Akande served as a tenured Professor of Economics and Dean of the George Herbert Walker School of Business and Technology at Webster University in St. Louis.
He is credited with building the school’s reputation, and positioning it as a globally relevant business school. He developed numerous corporate-donor partnerships which helped to secure the largest donation in the University’s history. In a more specific term, he was instrumental in securing the $10 million naming gift, the largest in the institution’s history.
In 2015 through 2017, he served as the 21st President of Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. He was the first person of colour to helm the storied 168-year-old institution. As President, he made substantial gains in developing the infrastructure necessary to ensure the college’s long-term sustainability. This included transforming academic offerings, outreach, budgeting, financial modelling, marketing and rebranding, communication and institutional advancement.
Dr Akande also served, from April 2018 to April 2020, as Assistant Vice-Chancellor of International Programs-Africa, Director of the Africa Initiative, and Associate Director of the Global Health Center at Washington University in St. Louis. He also chaired Washington University’s International Travel Oversight Committee (ITOC).
He served as a Director of Ralcorp Holdings, Inc., a $5 billion publicly traded manufacturer of high-quality private food labels, including Post, and has consulted for Anheuser-Busch, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Voith, SeaWorld, and many other corporations.
Akande is indeed an agent of change and a visionary leader with a global perspective. Expectations are high as he mounts his new position at Champlain College. Never mind, Dr Akande has already earned for himself the trust and support of the Champlain Community to deliver on his new role, advance the College’s strategic position and build on the strength of its distinctive academic offerings. His enterprising mind-set and commitment to student success is anticipated to be essential as he leads Champlain College in an evolving higher education landscape.
Named one of the city’s “Most Influential Leaders” by the St. Louis Business Journal, Dr Akande is an accomplished economist and scholar educator, as well as a recognized civic and business leader. He currently serves as the Assistant Vice Chancellor for International Affairs–Africa, and the Associate Director of the Global Health Center at Washington University in St. Louis.
Akande’s words of acceptance for the job tell much of his readiness to lead one of America’s Most Innovative Colleges. He expressed: “I am humbled and honored by the opportunity to lead Champlain College during this period of great transformation and even greater opportunity. While the challenges we currently face as global citizens are daunting, they also sharpen our focus and urge us both individually and as a community, to lead from wherever we are. The commitment to educating adaptable thinkers, daring change-makers and inclusive innovators who shape professions and inspire communities is what sets Champlain College apart. I look forward to taking this journey with you and thank you for the trust you have placed in me to further Champlain College’s mission together.”
The journey to naming Akande as the 9th President of Champlain College was the result of an extensive national search conducted by a broadly representative search committee comprised of students, faculty, staff, Trustees, and a local community member. As gathered, the committee was supported by Koya Leadership Partners, an executive search firm specializing in mission-driven organizations, who quite frankly sees Dr Akande as an exceptional President to be for an exceptional College.
Dr Akande currently serves on the Board of Argent Capital, a $4 billion asset management company. He is a member of the Board of Enterprise Bank & Trust ($5 billion assets), serving on the Regulatory and Compliance Committee. He serves on the non-profit boards of the Saint Louis Club, The MUNY, Missouri Charter Public School Association, and Forest Park Forever—one of the nation’s largest public parks—where he chairs the Development Committee and serves on the Executive Committee. In addition, Dr Akande is a member of the Danforth Plant Science Center Leadership Council. He is on the Advisory Board of FDC Fundação Dom Cabral, the top-ranked business school in Brazil.
For more than thirty years as a professor and leader, Dr Akande has worked to transform public and private institutions and organizations for the better. He is passionately committed to the success of people in organizations and takes pride in nurturing, mentoring, and inspiring students and colleagues, as well as other leaders. With the experience to recognize when to take calculated risks and the confidence to make tough business decisions, Dr Akande believes the future belongs to those who can see it.
A happy man and great achiever to be reckoned with, Dr Akande is married to his wife, Bola, a pharmacist and entrepreneur, and they are blessed with three adult daughters. All accolades to Dr Akande as the 9th President of Champlain College!
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