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Nigerian professor to teach and encourage faculty research
Lincoln University hosts Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence Philip Adetiloye this year as part of the State Department’s Fulbright Visiting Scholar Program.
Lincoln University, Pa. – Lincoln University has been selected to host a Fulbright Scholar from Nigeria. Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence Philip Adetiloye, an expert in crop production systems from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta in Nigeria, was awarded the grant from the U.S. State Department’s Fulbright Visiting Scholar Program.
Lincoln University is one of only 33 institutions in 2016-17 selected to take part in the Fulbright Scholar Program, which aims to help universities internationalize programs, develop curricula and faculty, and diversify student and faculty experiences.
During the academic year, Adetiloye will work across Lincoln University’s departments and curricula, from teaching undergraduate courses to advising on curriculum and faculty development. Lincoln will gain from Adetiloye’s expertise provided and in return he gains experience in U.S. higher education.
Adetiloye said in an interview that a major component of his plans include assisting professors with research, from developing proposals to editing papers. He said when professors do original research, they strengthen their teaching.
“A professor can’t make scientific innovation if he or she doesn’t do research,” Adetiloye said.
Lincoln University Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence Philip Adetiloye (left) displays books he has authored. Adetiloye is pictured with Emmanuel Babatunde, the Lincoln professor who will primarily with Adetiloye.
Lincoln Professor Emmanuel Babatunde, who will primarily work with Adetiloye, said he views bringing a Scholar in Residence to Lincoln as something that will have a broad impact on the University’s academic standing and “will improve the research profile at Lincoln.”
The Fulbright program encourages Lincoln, as the host institution, to include Adetiloye in campus and community activities, such as participating in special lecture series or speaking engagements before local community groups.
Adetiloye will be incorporated into the faculty for the year, attending faculty meetings and other activities that permanent Lincoln faculty members participate in,
Adetiloye is co-teaching two courses this fall: Political Anthropology of Africa with Babatunde and Introduction to Theology with Dr. Gwinyai Muzorewa. In the spring, he will teach with Dr. Darryl Poe, Babatunde, and Muzorewa a new course titled The Unification of Science and Religion.
Babatunde is organizing several public lectures with Adetiloye. The first lecture on “Prospects and Challenges of Unification of Science and Religion” will be held on Lincoln’s main campus December 1 at 11 a.m. in the Grim Hall auditorium. He will speak at the University of Delaware on November 7 at 12:20 p.m. in 202 Old College Building on “The Politics of Food and Health for the Center of Global and Area Studies.” A third lecture on “The Challenges of Post-Colonial National Development in Nigeria: Implications for Africans in Diaspora” will be held at Lincoln’s University City location at 5 p.m. on Feb. 3, 2017.
Born in Ise-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria, Adetiloye attended Notre Dame Secondary School, Usi-Ekiti where he obtained his School Certificate in 1970. He attended the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1976 and a doctorate in 1980. As a student, he won a Ford Foundation award for doctoral research at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Ibadan, Nigeria.
He studies spirituality in science and the gaps in knowledge. His books cover topics on; creation, evolution, nature, God and the Devil, good and evil from the African perspective.
Adetiloye’s scholarly work has brought him to the United States several times, including as a USAID/USDA visiting scientist to the USDA laboratory at Beltsville, Maryland in 1992.
The author of 10 books, six of which were written on religion and science, his most recent book titled: “The Devil's Template: Revelations on the most secret cult ever,” was the fourth book in a series for the Foundation for Advancement of Culture and Science (Published by Pronoun, 231 p, $9.99).
In a joint interview, Babatunde and Adetiloye expressed appreciation for help with the Fulbright application process to retired Lincoln Professor Kenneth Van Dover, former Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs Denise Wilbur, Cecilia P. Kocinski-Mulder of the Council for International Exchange of Scholars in New York, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Consulate in Lagos, Nigeria, and Lincoln University’s administrators, deans, and faculty.
Adetiloye, along with his wife and two school-age children are residing on campus this year.
Article and photos by Shelley Mix, Office of Communications & Public Relations