On Monday, July 1, 2024, Professor Jacinta Opara was inaugurated as the second substantive Vice Chancellor of Dominican University, Ibadan, Nigeria being the first female to attain such height in the institution.
CEOAFRICA gathers and presents a brief profile of the first female Vice Chancellor of Dominican University, Ibadan:
Opara, a leading African scholar and woman scientist, is a full Professor of Environmental and Biological Sciences for about 25 years. She has held appointments at several institutions across Africa, America, Europe and Asia such as serving as a Head of Department, Dean, Director and Deputy Vice Chancellor in the university system.
She is Fellow of Chartered Institute of Administration and Chairman of the Governing Council of Institute of Policy Management Development. Professor Opara has worked on several international projects, partnership initiatives and human capacity-building programmes with a wide range of stakeholders. She has organized several international conferences, seminars and workshops across the globe. She is Editor in Chief of Journal of Health and Environmental Studies, Editor in Chief of Metropolitan Journal of Science and Technology and serves on the editorial board of over 30 international journals.
The VC has received several awards, fellowships and grants including the Erasmus Mundus of the European Commission, Brussels Belgium and the prestigious IATEL Award for Academic Excellence in 2015. She maintains consulting status with several local and international agencies in the areas of environment, health, gender, human rights, peace and security, sexuality, education, human capacity building and community development.
Till her appointment as Vice Chancellor, Opara is a Fellow of the African Sexuality Leadership Development funded by Ford Foundation and a Delegate/Resource Person/Consultant of the 2008 UN World Women ́s Day of the Women International League on Peace and Freedom(WILPF),Geneva-Switzerland; United Nations PANAFCON Summit on Water, Sanitation and Human Settlement, Addis Ababa-Ethiopia; 2004 UN World Habitat Day(UNHABITAT), Nairobi-Kenya; UNU-EHS Project on Environment, Forced Migration and Social Vulnerability, Bonn-Germany; UNU-WIDER Project on Country Role Models, Helsinki-Finland and the 2008 Women`s World in Madrid-Spain. She has over 150 publications and speaks English and Spanish.
In her inaugural address as the new VC of Dominican University titled “Our Future is Bright; the Sky is our Limit”, Prof. Opara promised to ensure the provision of quality education and academic excellence in the institution, stating her plans to build on the vision of the school, which is to provide quality education.
Being a leading international environmental scholar, scientist, educator, health researcher, consultant and development activist with the combined power of management and human rights, Opara promised to use her experience and connections both locally and internationally to move the institution to the next level. She also highlighted her plans to ensure collaboration with international organizations to ensure the university becomes a center of excellence, stressing on expanding the academic programmes of the institution to accommodate more courses that will attract students both locally and internationally.
Established in 2016, the Dominican University, Ibadan is a private higher education institution located in the metropolis of Ibadan, Oyo State. Officially recognized by the National Universities Commission of Nigeria, the institution is a coeducational Nigerian higher education institution formally affiliated with the Christian-Catholic religion. It offers courses and programs leading to officially recognized higher education degrees such as bachelor's degrees in several areas of study. DU also provides several academic and non-academic facilities and services to students including a library, housing, sports facilities, as well as administrative services.
