A renowned Chartered Geophysicist, Teacher-of-Teachers, Administrator, and immediate Past President of the Nigerian Academy of Science, Emeritus Professor Kalu Mosto Onuoha obtained his tertiary education in Hungary and Germany. Among other qualifications, he holds the M.Sc. in Geophysics (with Distinction); a Ph.D. degree (summa cum laude) in Geophysics; and a Post-Doctorate Fellowship, also in Geophysics.
Our Celebrant joined the Department of Geology at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) in September 1980, attaining the position of Full Professor in 1988. In his several decades of service to academia, he fulfilled several roles as a Teacher, Researcher, and Administrator. He also has a rare record of having variously occupied three endowed Professorial Chairs: ExxonMobil’s Chair of Petroleum Geology at the University of Calabar (1991–1992), Shell/NNPC Chair in Geology (UNN, 2003–2012), and the Petroleum Technology Development Fund’s Chair of Petroleum Geology, also at UNN (2013–2017).
Over the years, Professor Mosto Onuoha sustained a very active research profile, grooming several postgraduate students, a good number of whom now hold top positions in the oil and gas industry as well as in academia within and outside the country. His research interests include the characterisation of petroleum reservoirs, tectono-physics, and the mitigation of natural and man-made hazards in Nigeria and West, Central Africa.
He formally retired from full-time service at UNN in July 2017 and was deservedly honoured with the status of Emeritus Professor of that great institution a few months later.
Professor Mosto Onuoha has made tremendous impact on and off campus, as it were. He was engaged as the pioneer Vice-Chairman (Scientific Innovation) of the African Scientific Research & Innovation Council—an agency of the African Union established in 2018. On leave of absence between 1996 and 2002, he served as Technology Development Adviser (Sub-Surface Development Services) at the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited in Port Harcourt.
Similarly, our Celebrant has been active on the Boards of many national and international professional organisations; Governing Councils of several Nigerian universities; and quite a number of Ministerial and other Federal Government ad-hoc and standing committees.
Co-author of the classic Basic Science Development in Nigeria, Professor Mosto Onuoha has, to his credit, numerous other research papers, including academic and scholarly publications, special public lectures, and keynote addresses.
Our Celebrant’s services to academia and societal development have attracted recognitions. Among these are: Fellow (and President), Nigerian Academy of Science; Fellow, Nigerian Mining & Geosciences Society; and Fellow (and Member—Board of Trustees and Advisory Council), Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists. He is also a Member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the Society of Exploration Geophysicists, USA.
Aside from his induction into the special class of “Emeritus Professor,” his many other awards include the “Chief M.O. Feyide Medal” for excellent and consistent contribution to the field of Petroleum Geology in Africa, and the “Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe Prize” for consistently advancing and promoting the study of the Earth Sciences—both from the Mining & Geosciences Society.
He is married with children.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we respectfully invite Emeritus Professor Kalu Mosto Onuoha to receive the Hallmarks of Labour Role Model Award for Outstanding Contributions in the Field of Science.
Accept our congratulations, Sir!