Biographical Description for The HistoryMakers® Video Oral History with Ilesanmi Adesida

PERSON Adesida, Ilesanmi , 1949- Alternative Names: Adesida, Ilesanmi , 1949-

Life Dates: -

Place of Birth: Ifon, Ondo State, Nigeria Residence:

Occupations: Electrical Engineer Biographical Note

Electrical engineer Ilesanmi Adesida was born in 1949 in Ifon, Ondo, Nigeria. He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D degrees in from the University of California at Berkeley in 1974, 1975, and 1979, respectively Adesida was awarded an IBM postdoctoral fellowship from 1979 to 1981.

Upon graduation, Adesida served as a research associate in the Cornell Nanofabrication Facility and the School of Electrical Engineering at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY from 1979 to 1984. He then returned to Africa and accepted a position as the head of the electrical engineering department at Abubakar Tafawa Belewa University in Bauchi, Nigeria. In 1987, Adesida returned to the United States and worked at the University of Illinois, Urbana- Champaign as a professor of electrical and computer engineering. In 1994, he was appointed as a research professor for the Coordinated Science Laboratory and as a professor in the Beckman Institute of Advanced Science and Technology. Adesida went on to serve in numerous academic and research capacities at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He became the director of the Micro and Laboratory in 2000 and served there for five years. In 2001, he was appointed as the director of the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology and as a professor of and engineering at the University of Illinois, Urbana- Champaign

From 1997 to 2002, he served as the IEEE Electron Device Society Distinguished Lecturer. In 2003, Adesida was named the Donald Biggar Willet Professor of Engineering; and, in 2005, he was appointed as dean of the College of Engineering in 2005. During his tenure, Adesida served as a mentor as well as a research manager where he guided the education of nineteen post-doctoral fellows and conferred thirty-four Ph.D. degrees upon his students. In addition, he supervised numerous undergraduate research projects. In 2012, Adesida was named provost and vice chancellor for Academic Affairs and remained in his appointment as the Donald Biggar Willett Professor of Engineering.

In 1988, Adesida became a member of the Bohmische Physical Society. He is also a member of the National Academy of Engineering; the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society; the Nigerian Academy of Engineering; the Materials Research Society; and, the Society for Engineering Education. In 1996, he won the Best Paper Award at the Micro- and Nano-Engineering Conference. He served as a president of the IEEE Electron Device Society. Aesida is an elected Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the American Vacuum Society, and the Optical Society of America (OSA).

Ilesanmi Adesida was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on June 7, 2013.

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