By Ebi Perekeme

Professor Gorgewill Owunari has been announced as the 9th Vice Chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt.

The announcement was made on Friday by the Chairman of the Governing Council of the University of Port Harcourt, Senator Andrew Uchendu.

Senator Uchendu said Prof. Owunari, from the department of Pharmacology, emerged from twelve other contenders for the top job at the university.

Presenting the new VC to journalists in Port Harcourt, senator Uchendu said “I want to assure all of you that we meticulously complied with the full provisions of the act on the selection of the vice chancellor of the university.

“After interviewing about twelve of them we found three of them appoint-able.

“For the first time in my life I have received a delegation of the President to act on his behalf and on behalf of the president I want to announced to all of us that the council of the university have considered the report of the selection board and approved the appointment of Professor Georgewill Owunari as the 9th vice chancellor of the University of the Port Harcourt”.

Prof. Owunari takes over from Professor Stephen Okududu who was appointed last year on acting capacity.

Addressing journalists after he was announced as the VC, Prof. Owunari promised to carry everyone along during his time in office.

His Profile 

Prof Owunari Georgewill, who hails from Abonnema, Rivers State, graduated with an upper division second-class honours, from the University of Port Harcourt Medical School in 1990, and proceeded to do his housemanship at the UPTH after which he did his NYSC in Edo State.

He began residency training in 1993 and was employed as Lecturer 2 in Pharmacology in 1994.

He also obtained a master’s degree in pharmacology and became a professor of pharmacology on May 4, 2010. He also holds a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery, Master of Science in Pharmacology and a Doctorate of Medicine in Pharmacology and Toxicology among other qualifications. He is a professor of pharmacology, a researcher and administrator.

Membership of international bodies

He is a fellow at Royal Society of Biology, London; Member of International Association of Medical Educators, USA; Member, Society of Pediatric Oncologists, Italy; American Society of Neurochemistry; West African Society of Pharmacology; Nigerian Medical Association; Specialist Medical Doctors in Academia; Indian Society of Pharmacology; World Academy of Science; Research-in-Medicine Society; National Cancer Investigation in UK; World Health Workers without Borders; West African Society of Toxicology and fellow, Institute of Industrial Administrators.

He’s also a friend to New York Academy of Medicine and a Justice of Peace.
In 2015, he served as a commissioner, Rivers State Commission of Enquiry. Currently, he is a member of editorial board of Asian Pacific Journal.

Services to UNIPORT

In 2010, he was appointed Dean, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, NDU.

In 2012, he was elected deputy provost of UNIPORT Medical School.

In 2013, he was voted into the Governing Council of UNIPORT as Congregation Representative.

He has published a book, Reasoning in Drug Biology, over 50 original articles in many journals, over 15 abstracts and several research works which took him to many places, including Harvard.

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