The Board of Trustees of Lighthouse University, located in Evbuobanosa, Edo State, has announced the appointment of Anthony Agboizebeta Imianvan as the pioneer vice-chancellor of the institution. The announcement was made in a statement signed by the University’s directorate of information.
Imianvan, a professor of Computer Science with research interests in artificial intelligence (AI), software engineering, programming, and bio-medical computing, previously served as the head of the Department of Computer Science at the University of Benin between 2017 and 2018.
Lighthouse University, a privately-owned institution situated in the Evbuobanosa community along the Benin–Agbor Expressway in Orhionmwon Local Government Area of Edo State, was recently granted full-fledged university status by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Felix Omobude, the chancellor and chairman of the board of trustees of Lighthouse University, expressed his vision for the institution, stating, "The Lighthouse University will be home where great scholars are born and world changers are created and empowered. I also expect that life-changing innovations will begin to emerge from the university in the foreseeable future."
Omobude, who is also the immediate past national president of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), welcomed Imianvan into the Lighthouse family. He commended him for his past services to the Lighthouse Polytechnic and his support in the process that led to the government's approval of the University.
The chancellor reaffirmed his commitment to the actualisation of the vision of the University, pledging his support to the vice chancellor in realising the objectives that have been carefully set out to help achieve the vision of the institution’s founders.
Imianvan, who has over 70 publications in local and foreign journals, has served as an external examiner for post-graduate degree programmes across different universities. He has been an Assessor to various Universities on the appointment of Professors of Computer Science. He has also served as Chairman or member of Ad-hoc accreditation panels set up by the National University Commission (NUC) to evaluate programmes of different universities in the country seeking accreditation.
Imianvan earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Computer Science from the University of Benin, with a PhD from the Federal University of Technology, Akure. He is a member of the Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria; the Nigeria Computer Society; the Association of Computing Machinery, USA; and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, USA.
According to the statement, his research interest was found to align with the vision of Lighthouse University “to be the foremost hands-on institution in providing relevant solutions to challenges that confront humanity while upholding the right moral and spiritual values.” This appointment marks a significant milestone in the journey of Lighthouse University and is expected to steer the institution towards achieving its vision and mission.