Professor Olusola Oyewole is the Secretary-General of the Association of African Universities (AAU), with Headquarters in Accra, Ghana. He is a Professor of Food Science and Technology (Food Microbiology and Biotechnology). He was the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria, from May 2012 to May 2017. Professor Olusola Oyewole has over 36 six years’ experience working in the African higher education space and has over 100 scholarly publications to his credit. He previously served as a Senior Expert (Quality Assurance, Mobility and Scholarships) at the Department of Human Resources, Science and Technology of the African Union Commission in Ethiopia, Addis-Ababa, from 2009 to 2010.
Prior to joining the African Union Commission, Prof. Oyewole was the Coordinator of the British Government’s sponsored project on the “Mobilization of Regional Initiatives for the revitalization of higher education in Africa”, at the Association of African Universities (AAU), Accra, Ghana, from 2007 to 2009. His assignment involved the promotion and management of African continental research networking and research programs for development. He once served as the Project Officer of a World Bank project on “Quality Assurance for African Higher Education systems” at the Association of African Universities (2006 – 2009).
Prof. Olusola Oyewole has worked in national, regional and continental organizations and has experience in coordinating multinational research and development programmes. He has track records and experience in International and Inter-Governmental Relations, Advocacy and Lobbying for Research and Research Funding.
Over the course of his career, Prof. Oyewole developed strong interest and substantial expertise in various aspects of higher education including Leadership, Quality Assurance, Internationalization, Harmonisation, Accreditation and the African Credit Systems. He is currently the sub-cluster coordinator of the African Union Commission’s Continental Education Strategy for Education in Africa (CESA) on Research and Graduate Studies.
At the African Union, Prof. Olusola Oyewole was charged with the Coordination of the Mwalimu Nyerere Scheme, which featured various programmes including the African Quality Rating Mechanisms (AQRM) scheme, the Mwalimu Nyerere Scholarship program, and the African – EU-ACP Mobility scheme. He is currently a member of the Advisory Group of the OECD Programme on Innovation, Higher Education and Research for Development, and the Tuning Africa Quality Assurance programme.
