The Governing Council of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, Oyo State, has appointed renowned Professor of Art and Art History, Razaq Olatunde Rom Kalilu, as the new Acting Vice-Chancellor of the Institution for six months.
He joined the services of LAUTECH on September 1, 1992 and was pronounced a Professor of Arts and Arts History in the Department of Fine and Applied Arts, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, twenty-four years ago on October 1, 1999. His appointment as Acting Vice-Chancellor for the next six months, takes effect from June 12, 2023.
Trained at the prestigious University of Ife and the University of Ibadan, he is a polymath and specialist in Form and Material Technology, beyond being known as a specialist in Painting, Digital and Electronic Art.
Kalilu has a career development that is robust, traversing the advertising, primary, secondary, college of education, polytechnic education systems before joining the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology in 1992.
He is a prodigious scholar with pioneering groundbreaking achievements. Two of his books, the first on campus cultism inspired the National Association of Nigerian Students anti-cultism activities of the late 1990s. He originated new approaches that transformed art practice and its scholarship in Nigeria, evolved Nigeria’s first B.Tech degree programme in Fine and Applied Arts in 1992, developed Nigeria’s first curricula for postgraduate diploma and Master and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in studio, the aspect of Fine and Applied Arts, pioneered the inclusion of Digital Art in tertiary education curriculum in Nigeria and is the fons-et-origo of Form and Material Technology in Fine Art.
Professor Kalilu is on record as having trained Nigeria’s first hearing-impaired Art Historian (2004). He also:
produced Nigeria’s first M.Tech degrees in Drawing (2011) and Communication Design (2015);
Nigeria’s first PhDs in Environmental and Industrial Sculpture (2012) and Ceramics and Glass (2015);
the global first PhD in Form and Material Technology in Fine Art (2014); and;
Nigeria’s first Military Artist with a Ph.D. degree (2017).
He can never be described as an administrative featherweight having served as:
√ Vice President of Fine Arts Students Association; Branch and Zonal Chairman of SSATHURAI;
√ Head of Department; Dean of Faculty, Chairman, Committee of Deans; Chairman, Committee of Deans and Provosts; and
√ Deputy Vice-Chancellor of LAUTECH among numerous other responsibilities.
He is among the extremely few numbers of scholars consistently invited to participate, over the last seven years, in the QS World University Rankings and the Times Higher Education University Rankings.
Professor Rom Kalilu is a recipient of many international prizes and awards, which include: the Gold Medal in the 1978-1979 All-Africa Painting Contest; Elected Membership of the New York Academy of Sciences; The National Arts Wizard Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Art History in 1997; Merit Prize in International Postage Stamp Design Contest in 1997; the Outstanding People of the 20th Century Outstanding Achievement Medal in 2000; Twentieth Century Achievement Award in 2000; selection as one of the 1000 Leaders of World Influence for the 21th century in year 2000; the distinguished and exceptional Universal Award of Accomplishment in 2000; Development in Nigeria Merit Award in 2006; and Form and Material Technology Icon award in 2009. A Fellow of the Society of Nigerian Artists and member of several organizations, which include the International Association of Astronomical Artists, Professor Rom Kalilu is happily married and the marriage is blessed with children.
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