Olatunde Rom KALILU

Profile of Professor Olatunde Rom KALILU

Razzaq Olatunde Rom Kalilu, Professor of Art and Art History, studied at the prestigious University of Ife and the University of Ibadan. His career development is extensive, having worked in the advertising sector and the primary, secondary, polytechnic and college of education schools system before joining LAUTECH where he became a professor in 1999.

He is a prodigious scholar with pioneering groundbreaking achievements. Two of his books, the first on-campus cultism inspired the National Association of Nigerian Students anti-cultism activities of the late 1990s. He originated new approaches that transformed art practice and its scholarship in Nigeria, evolved Nigeria’s first B.Tech degree programme in Fine/Applied Arts in 1992, developed Nigeria’s first curricula for postgraduate diploma and master and doctor of philosophy degrees in studio the aspect of Fine/Applied Arts, pioneered the inclusion of Digital Art in tertiary education curriculum in Nigeria and is the fons-et-origo of Form and Material Technology in Fine Art. He trained Nigeria’s first hearing-impaired Art Historian (2004). He produced Nigeria’s first M.Tech degrees in Drawing (2011) and Communication Design (2015), Nigeria’s first PhDs in Environmental and Industrial Sculpture (2012) and Ceramics and Glass (2015), the global first PhD in Form and Material Technology in Fine Art (2014), and Nigeria’s first Military Artist with a Ph.D. degree (2017).

His administrative and leadership experiences are intense. He was Vice President of Fine Arts Students Association; Branch and Zonal Chairman of SSATHURAI; Head of Department; Dean of Faculty, Chairman; Committee of Deans; Chairman, Committee of Deans and Provosts; and Deputy Vice-Chancellor of LAUTECH among numerous other responsibilities. He is among the extremely few numbers of scholars consistently invited to participate, over the last seven years, in the QS World University Rankings and the Times Higher Education University Rankings.  

Beyond academics, his community service is wide-ranging. He has been involved, since 1990, in Federal Road Safety Corps activities at operational and scholarly levels. He is a Justice of the Peace. He also developed the framework for the Oyo State scholarship scheme as a member of the Oyo State Scholarship Board between 2008 and 2011 among such other services.

Professor Rom Kalilu is a recipient of many international prizes and awards, which include: the Gold Medal in the 1978-1979 All-Africa Painting Contest; Elected Membership of the New York Academy of Sciences; The National Arts Wizard Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Art History in 1997; Merit Prize in International Postage Stamp Design Contest in 1997; the Outstanding People of the 20^th Century Outstanding Achievement Medal in 2000; Twentieth Century Achievement Award in 2000; selection as one of the 1000 Leaders of World Influence for the 21th century in year 2000; the distinguished and exceptional Universal Award of Accomplishment in 2000; Development in Nigeria Merit Award in 2006;  and Form and Material Technology Icon award in 2009. A Fellow of the Society of Nigerian Artists and member of several organizations, which include the International Association of Astronomical Artists, Professor Rom Kalilu is happily married and the marriage is blessed with children.