Akin L. Mabogunje, Chancellor of Bells University of Technology, Ota and Chairman of the Lagos Megacity Development Authority, was former Executive Chairman of the Development Policy Centre, Ibadan, Dean of the Faculty of the Social Sciences, Director of the Planning Studies Programme and Professor of Geography of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Born 18 October, 1931, he received his University education at both the University College, Ibadan and the University College, London. He graduated Bachelors of Arts (General) in 1953, Bachelor of Arts (Honours Geography) in 1956 and Doctor of Philosophy (1961) in Geography from the University of London and taught for many years at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He also taught in a number of Universities outside Nigeria, notably in Britain, Sweden, Brazil and the United States. In the latter country, he was the Melville Herskovits Distinguished Professor of African Studies for the session 1978-79. Professionally, Mabogunje had been active within the International Geographical Union. After serving three terms as Vice President of that international organization, he was elected its President for the period 1980-84. At different times, he has been consultant to the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements, all of whom decided to celebrate his 75 th birthday in Abuja in October 2006.

Mabogunje retired from the services of the University of Ibadan in 1981 to set up with his late colleague, Professor Ojetunji Aboyade, a private consultancy firm in policy research and development management. Later, they both established the Development Policy Centre in 1994, from which he retired as Executive Chairman in 2003. Within the private sector, he was invited to serve on the board of a number of companies including the Unity Bank Plc.

Mabogunje has also served in a number of public sector positions in Nigeria. Notable among these are as Chairman of the Western State Forestry Commission (1968-74), Chairman, National Council for Management Development (1976-79), Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Counci of the Ogun State University (1982-91), Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Nigerian National Merit Award Endowment Fund (1989-94), Vice Chairman of the Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure in the Office of the President (1986-91), Executive Chairman of the National Board for Community Banks (1991-1994), Chairman of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (2002-2007), and Chancellor, Bells University of Technology since 2005.

Not unexpectedly, Mabogunje has been the recipient of numerous honours both within and outside Nigeria. He is one of the very earliest recipients in 1980 of the Nigerian National Order of Merit (NNOM), the highest national award for distinguished contribution to the academic and intellectual life of the country. More recently in 2001, he was also the recipient of the national honours of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON). He has been honoured with honorary doctorate degrees by the Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden (1973), Michigan State University, East Lansing (1976), University of Benin, Benin-City (1995) and the Ogun State University, Ago-Iwoye (1996). He is the first African to be elected Foreign Associate of the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1999 and is the recipient of numerous research medals from international professional associations.

Mabogunje has published extensively especially in his field of urban and regional development. Among his many publications are Urbanization in Nigeria (University of London Press, 1968), Regional Planning and National Development in Africa (Ibadan University Press, 1977), The Development Process: A Spatial Perspective (Hutchinson University Library Press, 1980 and Unwin Hyman Press, 1989) and State of the Earth: Contemporary Geographic Perspectives (Blackwell Publishers/UNESCO, 1997). He is married to Honourable Justice Titilola Mabogunje and the marriage is blessed with five children.