Adesida, Ilesanmi

Ilesanmi Adesida is an experienced academic administrator and is currently the University Provost and Acting President at Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan where he oversees the institution’s strategy, the entire academic and research programs, including innovative strategic initiatives, awarding of research grants as well as overseeing the creation and implementation of quality assurance programs. Prior to his present appointment, he served as the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). He also served as the Dean of the College of Engineering and the Director of Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory at UIUC.

Professor Adesida received his BS, MS, and PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. He has also worked as a Postdoctoral Associate and Visiting Assistant Professor at Cornell University and served as the Head of the Electrical Engineering Department at Tafawa Balewa University in Nigeria. During his tenure as a faculty and administrator at UIUC, he was instrumental in creating many programs including the iFoundry for Innovation in Engineering Education, Illinois First-Year Engineering Experience (iFEX), Applied Research Institute, Advanced Digital Systems Center in Singapore, Siebel Center for Design, and the first Engineering-Based Medical School – Carle-Illinois College of Medicine.

In his research activities, he has made important contributions to the science and technology of nanofabrication and high-speed electronic devices. He supervised over 75 graduate students and postdocs, published over 350 refereed papers, and presented over 250 conference papers including plenary talks. He has mentored and continues to mentor many students and faculty members including women and underrepresented minority groups. Many of his mentees have gone all over the world to become successful educators, start-up founders, and excellent academic administrators in top universities.

He has served as the President of the IEEE Electron Device Society (EDS). He is a Fellow of the IEEE, AAAS, AVS, OSA, and MRS. He won the Oakley Kunde Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Education and was named a University Scholar at UIUC. He was also named an Outstanding Alumnus of the EECS Department at UC Berkeley. He was honored with the IEEE EDS Distinguished Service Award. He won the 2016 TMS John Bardeen Award for sustained contributions to compound semiconductor processing and leadership in nanofabrication, and the 2022 EDUCATION Award of the IEEE Electron Devices Society for outstanding contributions to international education, mentoring, and diversity in the field of electron devices. He has also served on many academic and industry Advisory Boards all around the world; and he is an elected member of the National Academy for Engineering.