Educator makes the grade
By: Amanda King
Issue date: 4/3/08 Section: News
In the School of Business and Technology, jazz wafts out of the dean's office as faculty are arriving for work. The bright major chords have become part of Dean Benjamin Ola Akande's morning routine during his eight-year tenure at Webster University.
But Akande's morning was kick-started on a Friday in late February when he opened his copy of the St. Louis Business Journal to find his own portrait staring him in the face. The quarter-page photo and short biography placed Akande among those the Business Journal had deemed St. Louis' most influential educators.
"When you look at what WU has done - they're a global university. Dean Akande has been a big proponent of that (and of) the expansion of the business school," said Rob Hurtt, special section editor for the St. Louis Business Journal.
St. Louis University President Rev. Lawrence Biondi and Chancellor Thomas George of the University of Missouri, St. Louis, were also included in the publication's Top 10.
Akande called the honor rejuvenating because it reaffirmed his work on behalf of WU.
"I don't see it as a personal recognition, but I see it more as a recognition for WU in terms of what we mean to this community," Akande said. "I believe that any university that wants to be relevant in a community literally has to become one with that community. So, I have spent the last eight years of my tenure at WU trying to become a part of the ecosystem of the community we call St. Louis."
Akande's efforts to ingrain himself in the community are evident in his crowded schedule. He served on the board of trustees for the Black Repertory Theatre and currently holds a similar position at his daughters' school, Mary Institute Country Day School.
But this businessman also has a literary side. Akande hosts his BizTalk book club in conjunction with the university and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Each month, he reviews a book in the newspaper and hosts an online chat about it via WU's Web site. Akande traces his fondness for writing to his upbringing in Nigeria, where he saw his first article published in The Daily Sketch.
But Akande's morning was kick-started on a Friday in late February when he opened his copy of the St. Louis Business Journal to find his own portrait staring him in the face. The quarter-page photo and short biography placed Akande among those the Business Journal had deemed St. Louis' most influential educators.
"When you look at what WU has done - they're a global university. Dean Akande has been a big proponent of that (and of) the expansion of the business school," said Rob Hurtt, special section editor for the St. Louis Business Journal.
St. Louis University President Rev. Lawrence Biondi and Chancellor Thomas George of the University of Missouri, St. Louis, were also included in the publication's Top 10.
Akande called the honor rejuvenating because it reaffirmed his work on behalf of WU.
"I don't see it as a personal recognition, but I see it more as a recognition for WU in terms of what we mean to this community," Akande said. "I believe that any university that wants to be relevant in a community literally has to become one with that community. So, I have spent the last eight years of my tenure at WU trying to become a part of the ecosystem of the community we call St. Louis."
Akande's efforts to ingrain himself in the community are evident in his crowded schedule. He served on the board of trustees for the Black Repertory Theatre and currently holds a similar position at his daughters' school, Mary Institute Country Day School.
But this businessman also has a literary side. Akande hosts his BizTalk book club in conjunction with the university and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Each month, he reviews a book in the newspaper and hosts an online chat about it via WU's Web site. Akande traces his fondness for writing to his upbringing in Nigeria, where he saw his first article published in The Daily Sketch.
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