Prof. Dr. Francisco Komlavi Seddoh

Francisco Komlavi Seddoh became Honorary Full Professor at the University of Lomé, Togo, in 2006 after serving as Honorary Rector of the University since 1995. In 1994 and 1995 he was Minister of Education and Scientific Research. From 1986 to 1994 he was Rector and President of the Board of the University of Benin, Togo. From 1979 to 1986 he was Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education and Scientific Research. He was Director of the Institute of Educational Sciences at the University of Benin (prior to which he was Deputy Director) and Head of the Department of Geology at the University.

Prof. Dr. Komlavi Seddoh has had a distinguished career at UNESCO, serving as Director of the Division of Higher Education from 1999 to 2004, as well as having been Chief of Section, Education Sciences, in the Division of Higher Education; Team Leader of the Cross-Cutting Project on Remote Sensing in Africa; Chargé de Mission of the Bureau of Field Coordination; Chargé de Mission of Africa Department; and Chairman of the Working Group on Reconstruction in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Summit of the Great Lakes Region. Prof. Seddoh also served as interim Director in different UNESCO offices in Africa: Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, BREDA, the Regional Office for Education in Dakar, Senegal, and Maputo in Mozambique.

He has chaired or been a member of numerous scientific councils and international committees; has published extensively in the fields of earth sciences, higher education and research; and is the recipient of numerous regional and international honours. He holds a Doctorat d’Etat in Natural Sciences from the University of Dijon.