PROFESSOR OLAYINKA OLUSOLA OMIGBODUN
Professor Olayinka Olusola Omigbodun, the first Nigerian female Professor of Psychiatry who is also a Consultant and Head of Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, University College Hospital, Ibadan is our WCW today.
Professor Olayinka Olusola Omigbodun was recently announced as the first female Provost of the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan.
Professor Olayinka Olusola Omigbodun is the pioneer director of the Center for Child & Adolescent mental health, Ibadan, which is the only center in sub-Saharan Africa, that offers this training. The program has birthed over 100 professionals from 14 African countries & all geopolitical regions of Nigeria.
Professor Olayinka began a career in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and mental health in 1986 at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan. She had her residency training in General Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Lancaster Moor Hospital, Lancaster at the Queen’s Park Hospital, Blackburn, in the United Kingdom.
Furthermore, Professor Olayinka had training in Family Therapy at the Department of Family Studies, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and was also a visiting scholar at the University of Pennsylvania’s Bipolar Research Unit. She studied at the Nuffield Institute for Health, University of Leeds where she had her master’s in Public Health in 1999. Through the University of Ibadan MacArthur Foundation-funded Staff Development Program, she furthered her studies in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Greenwood Institute for Child Health, University of Leicester, United Kingdom in 2004.
Prior to her emergence as the first female Provost of the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Professor Olayinka presented her manifesto during an online community forum tagged, “Voice of the Next Provost”. The Community Forum was an interactive session with the candidates for the office of the provost, which was moderated by the Director, UI Advancement Centre, Adebowale Adeosun, a communication, and legal expert.
In her presentation, Professor Olayinka noted that she had laudable plans to move the College forward adding,
“I care passionately about this institution and desire to see it reach greater height”.
In furtherance of her presentation, she stated that,
“My proposed agenda to move COMUI forward is in eight parts, which can be summed by the acronym: T.O.G.E.T.H.E.R. T stands for togetherness through conversations and collaboration, O, for optimizing staff productivity and welfare, G, for getting our students ready for the global stage, E, for espousing an international outlook, T, for teaming up with UCH and other parts of UI for greater impact, H, for harnessing the power of our alumni, E, for enlarging COMUI’s financial purse, and R, for reaching out to the community”.
Professor Olayinka Olusola Omigbodun will serve as Provost of the College for a term of four years beginning from August 1, 2020, to July 31, 2024.