All is now set for Professor Sunday Olusanya Olatunji (Aadam), a foremost scholar in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning at Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), Ondo State, to deliver the institution’s 53rd inaugural lecture.
The lecture, titled “Symbiosis of Mind and Machine: Harnessing AI for National Development,” will hold on Tuesday, January 13, 2026, at the University Multipurpose Hall. Proceedings are scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m., with guests expected to be seated by 1:30 p.m.
The inaugural lecture will be delivered under the chairmanship of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration), Professor Adebisi Daramola, while the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Olugbenga Ige, will preside.
Professor Olatunji, of the Department of Computing, is a distinguished academic and researcher who has carved an enviable niche in computing and artificial intelligence, both locally and internationally. He began his academic journey in 1998 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from the former Ondo State University, Ado-Ekiti. He proceeded to the University of Ibadan, where he earned a Master’s degree in Computer Science in 2002, before obtaining a second Master’s degree in Information and Computer Science from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia, in 2008. He later earned a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in 2012.
His academic career commenced in 2001 at Adekunle Ajasin University as a Graduate Assistant in the Department of Computer Science. After a distinguished scholarly career abroad, Professor Olatunji rose through the ranks and was appointed Professor in 2024.
Beyond teaching and research, he has made significant administrative contributions to the university, notably serving as the pioneer Dean of the Faculty of Computing. His areas of expertise include artificial intelligence and its applications, machine learning, data mining, forensic science and biometrics, bioinformatics and computational biology, pattern recognition, expert systems, hybrid intelligent systems, software engineering, and data science and analytics.
Professor Olatunji is a member of several reputable professional bodies, including the Society of Petroleum Engineers, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), and the International Association of Engineers (IAENG).
A prolific researcher, he has authored five books and published 107 journal articles. He has also presented scholarly papers at international conferences across Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Kuwait, Egypt, Malaysia, Cyprus, Japan, and China. In addition, he serves as an Academic Editor of the International Journal of Intelligent Information Processing (IJIIP) and an Associate Editor for reputable journals, including the International Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering (IJECE).
His scholarly excellence has earned him 43 awards and honours. Notably, he was ranked Nigeria’s number one Artificial Intelligence researcher in 2025 by the National Universities Commission (NUC). He has also been consistently listed among the Top 2% of World Scientists by Elsevier and Stanford University for five consecutive years, from 2021 to 2025.
Professor Olatunji is a multiple recipient of Research Excellence Awards from the College of Computer Science and Information Technology, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia, in recognition of his high-impact citations and top-tier scholarly publications.
The 53rd inaugural lecture is expected to provide critical insights into the role of artificial intelligence in driving national development and positioning Nigeria for global competitiveness in the digital age.
