The board of trustees of Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont, has appointed Benjamin Ola. Akande as the ninth president of the educational institution. He will take office on July 1.
Champlain College is a private liberal arts institution that enrolls 3,800 undergraduate students and more than 700 graduate students, according to the latest data supplied to the U.S. Department of Education. African Americans make up 8 percent of the undergraduate student body.
“I am humbled and honored by the opportunity to lead Champlain College during this period of great transformation and even greater opportunity. While the challenges we currently face as global citizens are daunting, they also sharpen our focus and urge us both individually and as a community, to lead from wherever we are,” said Dr. Akande. “The commitment to educating adaptable thinkers, daring change-makers, and inclusive innovators who shape professions and inspire communities is what sets Champlain College apart. I look forward to taking this journey with you and thank you for the trust you have placed in me to further Champlain College’s mission together.”
Dr. Akande currently serves as the assistant vice chancellor for international affairs–Africa, and as associate director of the Global Health Center at Washington University in St. Louis. From 2015 to 2017, he was president of Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. Dr. Akande served as a tenured professor of economics and dean of the George Herbert Walker School of Business and Technology at Webster University in St. Louis from 2000-2015.
Dr. Akande is a Nigerian-born American citizen. He came to the United States to study at Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, Texas. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in business administration, Dr. Akande went on to earn a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Oklahoma.
