Both Olupona and Pate were among the 269 outstanding individuals recently announced as new fellows of the prestigious Academy.
Academy President, David Oxtoby, and Chair of the Board of Directors, Nancy Andrews, made the announcement of the 2023 list of recipients of the honours, who will be inducted on September 29 with the formal ceremony slated for September 30.
In a statement issued by Tinubu’s media office on Sunday, the President-elect commended both Olupona, a professor in the field of Religious Studies, and Pate, a professor of Public Health Leadership in the Department of Global Health and Population at Harvard University, for their outstanding contributions to knowledge production and humanity.
Olupona, a former lecturer at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, was elected under the category of the study of religion.
Pate, on the other hand, was Minister of State for Health in the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Tinubu said, “I congratulate the Nigerian Harvard University Professor, Jacob Olupona, for his outstanding academic achievement. To have been elected into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences is no mean achievement, which is a testament to his high academic quality and deep knowledge.
“This comes as no surprise to me. The fact that he knows his onion is easily evident in conversations with him and Prof. Olupona and I have had several intellectual encounters. Olupona has not only done remarkably well for himself and the Ivory Tower, he has also made Nigeria and indeed Africa proud.
“Pate too has had a distinguished career in public service in Nigeria as Chief Executive of National Primary Health Agency and later as Minister of State for Health from where he proceeded to join the World Bank and now at Harvard University. His global reputation as a professor of Practice in Public Health continues to bring honour and prestige to our country.
“Their accomplishment is a testament to the great Nigerian spirit and to what is possible and achievable given the right academic environment, something which, in my agenda for Renewed Hope for Nigerians, I promised to provide and sustain during my presidency.”
