Benjamin Akande

Benjamin Ola Akande is an American academic and professor. He is the 21st president of Westminister College in Fulton, Missouri.

Benjamin Ola Akande was born in Nigeria in 1962. He moved to the United States to further his education in 1979 and earned a bachelor's degree in Business Administration at Wayland Baptist University. He proceeded to University of Oklahoma where he completed his master's degrees and a Ph.D. in Economics. He also completed post-doctoral studies at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and the Saïd School of Business at Oxford University.

In 2000, Akande was appointed as professor of economics and dean of the George Herbert Walker School of Business & Technology at Webster University, and Webster University’s Chief of the Office of Corporate Partnerships where he was instrumental for developing and nurturing many corporate and donor partnerships. On July 1, 2015, He became the first black president of Westminster University. Akande has been a consultant to several multinational companies focusing on areas of corporate strategy and responsibility, leadership development and market positioning. He is also a well known commentator on economic and policy issues. He has appeared in NPR Marketplace Public Radio, Anderson Cooper 360 and CBS Evening News. He has been a consultant to the World Bank and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

Benjamin is married to Bola Taiwo-Akande. They have three daughters.