Benjamin Ola. Akande, professor of economics and Dean of the George Herbert Walker School of Business and Technology at Webster University, was named the new president of Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri on Friday, May 8.
He will take office July 1, succeeding George B. Forsythe, president since 2008, who is retiring after 10 years at Westminster. Akande is the first black president of the 164-year-old college, which is best known as the site of Winston Churchill’s Iron Curtain speech on March 5, 1956.
“We’re proud to introduce Dr. Akande as president of Westminster College,” said Wallace L. Head, chairman of the Westminster Board of Trustees. “We’ve achieved our year-long goal of finding the most qualified person to lead Westminster and to continue executing our strategic plan.”
That plan, he said, includes “developing leaders for a global community by establishing one of the country’s most internationally diverse colleges, and maintaining a graduate placement rate that exceeds 95 percent.”
Westminster College is the nation’s eighth-highest ranked small liberal arts college for percentage of international students. Westminster’s nearly 1,000 students are from 28 U.S. states and 76 countries worldwide.
A Nigerian-born American citizen, Akande also leads Webster’s global Office of Corporate Partnerships. In addition, he is a globally recognized consultant to Fortune 500 companies in the areas of corporate strategy and responsibility, leadership development and market positioning.
Akande came to the U.S. to attend Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, Texas, where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. He earned his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Oklahoma and completed his post-doctoral studies at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and the Saïd School of Business at Oxford University.
Akande is a former consultant to the World Bank and the United Nations Development Program. He has appeared as a commentator on NPR Marketplace Public Radio, Anderson Cooper 360 and CBS Evening News.
Head said Akande was selected for his academic and administrative qualifications and because “he’s a results-oriented leader with strategic vision and proven experience in the areas of global strategy, marketing, and leadership.”
Akande said he proudly accepts this new challenge and looks forward to continuing Westminster’s mission.
“Westminster offers a distinctive destination for undergraduate education focused on student achievement and diversity, which are critically important,” Akande said. “We must prepare graduates to live and work in a world that is far more diverse and richer in new opportunities than ever before.”
Akande also recognized Webster University’s administration and faculty for the support and opportunity they provided the past 15 years.
He is married to Bola Taiwo-Akande, a registered pharmacist, and they have three daughters: Moyosola, Anjola and Reni. They will live in the president’s residence in Fulton but, Akande said, “We are not cutting any ties to St. Louis. No way.”
