Prof. Folasade Ogunsola, a professor of microbiology, has been elected as the 13th Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG).
The microbiologist has now made history by becoming the institution’s first female vice chancellor since its founding in 1962.
Ogunsola will officially take over when Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, the present VC, leaves office on November 11.
Her contenders were Professors Abayomi Akinyeye, Department of History, Faculty of Arts; Mathew Ilori and Adeyinka Adekunle, Department of Microbiology, and Botany, Faculty of Sciences. Imran Smith, from the faculty of law; Timothy Nubi, from the estate management department of the faculty of environmental sciences; Ayo Olowe, from the finance department of the faculty of management sciences.
The researcher, 64, works as a clinical microbiology and infection control consultant at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH).
The new VC is a medical microbiologist with a Ph.D., an MSc in medical microbiology with distinction, and a Diploma in Biomedical Techniques from Cardiff’s University of Wales College of Medicine.
In 2020, during the university’s turmoil following the Vice Chancellor’s expulsion by the University Council, Ogunsola also served as UNILAG’s Acting Vice Chancellor for a brief period.
She was the first and only woman to serve as provost of the university’s college of medicine.
She is the only person to have served for three terms as a member of the governing council.
Ogunsola has 142 articles under her belt and co-authored four books. She has also won several awards from national and international organizations.
The distinguished don has supervised or co-directed 61 master’s students and eight doctorate students.
