Ilesanmi Adesida

Who is Ilesanmi Adesida?

Ilesanmi Adesida is a naturalized American physicist of Nigerian descent. He is the Donald Biggar Willett Professor of Engineering and the Dean, College of Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and since 2007, a member of the board of Fluor Corporation. In May 2012, the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois selected Adesida to be the next vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost of the Urbana campus; he will assume his new position on August 15, 2012.

Adesida's field of academic research is nanotechnology with special emphasis on high speed devices used in communications. He has held posts as director of the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, director of the Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory, professor of materials science and engineering, professor of electrical and computer engineering, professor of the Beckman Institute of Advanced Science and Technology and research professor of the Coordinated Science Laboratory, all at the University of Illinois. Adesida earned his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in electrical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.