Professor Felix Kolawole Salako, the Sixth Substantive Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) and a Fellow of the Soil Science Society of Nigeria (FSSSN), was born on April 18, 1961. He attended the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, between 1978 and 1983, to study Agriculture (Soil Science Option). He emerged the best graduating student of his Department in 1983, with a BAgric (Soil Science), Second Class Upper Division. After his National Youth Service at the Department of Soil Science, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, he returned to Nsukka and graduated with an MSc Degree (Soil Physics/Soil Conservation) in 1986.
Prof Salako began his career in 1987 as a Consulting Soil Scientist at TCI Associates, Ibadan. He later proceeded to the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan in 1989 to manage, first, an International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)/United Nations University project located inside Okomu Oil Palm Company, Okomu Forest Reserve, Edo State as a Resident Research Associate. He eventually worked on different research projects in International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan for eleven years (1989-2000),
Prof Salako joined the services of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), in 2000 as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Soil Science and Land Management (SSLM): formerly, Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Mechanisation. Apart from teaching courses at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, he has supervised more than 45 undergraduate projects and more than 30 postgraduate theses. He was an Acting Head of Department of Soil Science and Land Management from February 2001 to December 2006. He became a Professor of Soil Physics in 2006, and he has to his credit, more than 90 publications in learned journals, book chapters, conference proceedings and technical reports.
Prof Salako was re-appointed Head of Soil Science and Land Management (SSLM), between January and March 2008 after a year of sabbatical leave at the University of Venice, Venice, Italy. In March 2008. He was appointed the Director, Agricultural Media Resources and Extension Centre (AMREC), a position he held till March 2011. He became the Pioneer Director, Community-Based Farming Scheme (COBFAS), from March 2011 to September 2011. He moved on to become the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Development) in September 2011 and spent two-terms of two years each till December 2015.
Prof Salako was listed in Marquis Who-is-Who in Science and Engineering, Eighth Edition, 2005-2006 for Outstanding Achievements. He has won many research-support grants, which included the Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) and the Training and Research in Italian Laboratories (TRIL), of the Abdus Salaam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Italy. He participated actively from 2016 to 2020 in the African Cassava Agronomy Initiative (ACAI), as the southwest coordinator under the auspices of Training and Research in Italian Laboratories (TRIL), Ibadan. He is also a member of several Professional Societies and was once an Associate Editor for the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, Iowa, USA. He was also recently conferred with the Fellowship of the Agricultural Society of Nigeria (FASN).
Prof Salako focused his research over the years on: (1) Rainfall Erosivity and Soil Conservation, (2) Soil Water Flux and Evapotranspiration, and (3) Soil Water Management using Agronomic Practices and Improved Fallow Systems. He has been involved in Rural Community Development projects all over Nigeria. Some of these activities led to his being honoured with chieftaincy titles. He is also very active in the activities around his private residences. Prof Salako is a Deacon at Livingspring Chapel, Abeokuta. He reads intensively and extensively. For leisure, he listens to different genres of music.
