Abel Adekola
Abel Adekola is an academic and university administrator specializing in international business and management. He has held faculty and administrative positions at Wilkes University and the University of Wisconsin–Stout, and has published on international business, globalization, economic development, and internationalization of higher education.
Early life and education
Adekola migrated to the United States on December 1, 1979, from Lagos Nigeria as a student at Miami-Dade Community College.
Adekola earned an Associate of Arts degree from Miami Dade College in 1981, a Bachelor of Business Administration from Florida International University in 1983, and a Master of Business Administration from Barry University in 1985. He received a Doctor of Business Administration from Nova Southeastern University in 1992.
He subsequently completed professional programs at Oxford University and Harvard University, including an Oxford University Round Table fellowship in 2004 and certificate programs at Harvard in 2012 and 2014.
University of Wisconsin–Stout
Adekola joined the University of Wisconsin–Stout in 1995 as an associate professor of international business. He later became a professor and served as dean and Dahlgren Distinguished Professor of the College of Management from 2011 to 2016. He also served as chair of the Department of Business and as director of the university's Office of International Education.
His academic work at UW–Stout focused on international management, strategic management, and related areas of business education. He was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship for academic work at ISM University of Management and Economics in Lithuania.
He also received Centers for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) grant for Faculty Development in International Business (FDIB) to gain firsthand knowledge of how business is conducted in Vietnam by visiting Hanoi and Ho ChiMin City, Vietnam in 2010
CIBER was created by Congress under the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 to increase and promote the nation's capacity for international understanding and competitiveness.
Wilkes University
Adekola joined Wilkes University in 2016 as a professor of international business and Dean of Jay S. Sidhu School of Business and Leadership subsequently served as the Inaugural dean of the College of Business and Engineering after a strategic merger of the Business and the Engineering Schools. He has also held the Allan P. Kirby Jr. Distinguished Professorship of Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship.
As dean, he was involved in the development and administration of the university's business and engineering programs, including accreditation activities involving the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), and the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET).
Research and publications
Adekola's research concerns international business and management, globalization, economic development, cross-cultural management, and internationalization of higher education.
His books include ''Gateway to Personal Investment: An American Dream'' (1996) , ''Global Business Management: A Cross-Cultural Perspective'' (2008), co-authored with Bruno S. Sergi, and ''Global South Leadership Styles: Strategies for Navigating Emerging Markets'' (2024), co-authored with Maria Pearl, Bruno S. Sergi, and R. Muszynski III.