AFIT Dean Receives Career Achievement in Government Award Published Nov. 19, 2021 By Katie Scott Air Force Institute of Technology WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- Dr. Adedeji Badiru, dean of the Air Force Institute of Technology’s Graduate School of Engineering and Management, was selected to receive the Career Achievement in Government Award from Career Communications Group, publisher of U.S. Black Engineer and Information Technology magazine. The peer-reviewed award will be presented in Feb. 2022 at the 36th BEYA STEM Conference in Washington, D.C. The goal of the Black Engineer of the Year Awards conference is to create connections between minority students, educators, and STEM professionals while facilitating partnerships with individuals and their local STEM resources. “Dean Badiru’s unique approach to unity at AFIT, as well as the many communities he serves, has enhanced the community by shifting the mindset toward embracing diversity. His contributions span decades of important and impactful writings, theory and model formation, philanthropic endeavors, and so much more,” said Dr. Walter Jones, director and chancellor of the Air Force Institute of Technology. “I am delighted and honored to be selected for this prestigious award,” said Badiru. “The platform of reaching this pinnacle of an external recognition is not based on what I have done alone or by myself. Rather, it is the result of many years of consistent teamwork support from all my coworkers across the board. All the people that I have worked with over the years have been a source of inspiration and motivation for me. An equal measure of credit goes to my AFIT colleagues for creating an environment where great things can be accomplished.” Badiru’s career as an industrial engineer extends over 35 years. He joined the Graduate School of Engineering and Management in 2006 as the head of the Systems and Engineering Management department. He was promoted to the school’s dean in 2013 where he is responsible for planning, directing, and controlling operations related to granting doctoral and master’s degrees, professional continuing cyber education, and research and development programs. A prolific author, Badiru has written or co-authored over 35 books, more than 30 book chapters, over 130 journal and magazine articles, and more than 200 conference presentations. His areas of interest include mathematical modeling, project modeling and analysis, economic analysis, systems engineering, and efficiency/productivity analysis and improvement. Badiru earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering, master’s degrees in mathematics and industrial engineering from Tennessee Technological University, and a doctoral degree in industrial engineering from the University of Central Florida. He is a registered professional engineer and a certified Project Management Professional. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Industrial & Systems Engineering and a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering. He is a member of several professional associations and scholastic honor societies including the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences and the American Society for Engineering Education. Badiru is active in his local community as part of the Beavercreek Environmental Advisory Board. He has also served multiple roles for the Egbe Omo of Yoruba of Greater Miami Valley including president, publicity manager, and newsletter editor. In 2006, he and his wife endowed two perpetual undergraduate scholarships at their alma mater, Tennessee Technological University, with the intent to reduce the equity gap for historically marginalized students at an institutional level. In 2021, he extended his philanthropy to establish the Professor Adedeji Bodunde Badiru Prize for Best Graduating Student in Systems Engineering at the University of Lagos, Nigeria.