Professor Jacob Kehinde Olupona has made the country proud by getting elected into the American Academy of Arts and Science.
In 2000, Olupona received an honorary doctorate in divinity from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland
The Ondo State-born professor received his BA from the University of Nigeria and his MA and Ph.D. from Boston University, Massachusetts.
Professor Olupona is among the 269 new fellows announced recently on the website of the prestigious Academy.
Prof Olupona’s previous awards include the Guggenheim Fellowship for Humanities in the United States and Canada.
He was elected under the category of the study of religion.
Academy President David W. Oxtoby and Chair of the Board of Directors Nancy C. Andrews announced that 269 outstanding individuals were elected to the Academy in 2023.
The new members are listed below, starting with a complete list alphabetically followed by members organised by area and specialty. International Honorary Members are indicated with (IHM) after their names.
An online directory provides information about members from 1780 to members elected last year.
Olupona is a professor of African religious traditions at the Harvard Divinity School with a joint appointment as professor of African and African-American studies in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University.
The Ondo state born scholar joined Harvard after serving as a professor at the University of California, Davis.
He has served on the editorial boards of three journals and as president of the African Association for the Study of Religion.
