Rev. Fr. Professor Anthony Alaba Akinwale, OP was born in Lagos on June 10, 1962. He is fluent in Yoruba, English and French, with reading knowledge of Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, and Spanish and Hausa.
He, was appointed as the third substantive Vice-Chancellor of Augustine University on September 1, 2025
His leadership background includes:
- Rev. Fr. Professor Anthony Alaba Akinwale, O. P studied Philosophy at the Seminary of Ss Peter and Paul, Bodija, Ibadan.
- A Dominican priest of the Order of Preachers
- OP, he was ordained in 1987.
- He has Bachelor of Theology (Universite Catholique de Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo;
- Master of Arts in Theology (College Universitaire des Dominicains, Ottawa, Canada);
- Licentiate in Theology (College Universitaire des Dominicains, Ottawa, Canada);
- Doctor of Philosophy in Theology (Boston College, USA).
- Fr. Akinwale began his university teaching career at Boston College in 1993 and became member of the faculty at the Dominican Institute, Ibadan (an affiliate school of the University of Ibadan) in 1996:
- Professor of Systematic Theology and Thomistic Studies since 2006.
- Visiting Professor at Institut Saint Thomas d’Aquin de Yamoussoukro, Cote d’Ivoire (an affiliate of the Universite Catholique d’Afrique de l’Ouest, Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.
- Pioneer Dean of Studies at the Dominican Institute, Ibadan (1996-2000).
- President, Dominican Institute, Ibadan (2004-2016) and during his tenure the Dominican Institute received full accreditation of its Philosophy programme from the National Universities Commission for two consecutive times and full accreditation of its pontifical Theology programme.
- Scholar of national and international repute and a proponent of quality education.
- Past President of the Catholic Theological Association of Nigeria (2001-2004).
- Past Editor-in-Chief of the Nigerian Journal of Theology (1999-2002).
- Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Inculturation Theology of the Catholic Institute of West Africa, Port Harcourt since 2000.
- Fellow of the DePaul University Centre for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology in Chicago since 2014.
- A consultant to the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (1999-2001).
- Consultant to the Nigerian Anglican Roman Catholic Commission since 2004, and to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (2007-2015).
- Chairman of the Planning and Implementation Committee of the then proposed Dominican University (2013- 2017)
- Member, Board of Advisors of Nova et Vetera, an international academic journal of Ave Maria University in Florida, USA.
- Member, Board of Advisors of the Abuja Journal of Philosophy and Theology.
- Member, Permanent Commission for the Promotion of Intellectual Life in the Order of Preachers, a Commission of eight professors in the Dominican Order chosen from around the world to advise the Master of the Order on issues relating to the Order’s universities.
- Founder of Patristic Association of Nigeria, Dominican University Ibadan.
- Chairman of the Editorial Board of Catholic Weekly Independent newspaper and an unwavering writer since 2008 of the popular and widely-read column “Thought for the Week” in the Catholic Weekly Independent newspaper.
- Nationally and internationally known author of three books, co-editor of three, author of over 100 academic essays and conference papers covering the areas of religion, theology, philosophy, politics, education and development.
- Pioneer Vice-Chancellor of Dominican University, Ibadan (2017-2022)
- Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Augustine University (2023-present)
- Extensive teaching and research in theology and philosophy
Rev. Fr. Professor Anthony Alaba Akinwale, OP is a Catholic priest of the Dominican Order with distinguished credentials in Systematic Theology and Thomistic Philosophy. He holds professorial rank and brings decades of academic and administrative experience to the role.
