Black History Is: Emanuel Olatunde Alaba Olanrewaju Odeku

Emanuel Olatunde Alaba Olanrewaju Odeku was the first African neurosurgeon trained in the United States.

Brain Bytes showcase essential facts about neuroscience.

Design by Adrienne Tong

Born in Nigeria, E. Latunde Odeku was the first neurosurgeon in West Africa and the first Nigerian neurosurgeon trained in the United States. Odeku traveled to the U.S. from Lagos, Nigeria, graduating from Howard University with a degree in zoology in 1950 and receiving his M.D. from their College of Medicine in 1954. He later obtained medical licensure in Canada and went to work in Nigeria as a medical officer at Lagos General Hospital.

In 1961, he returned to the U.S., completed a residency at the University of Michigan, trained in neurology at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and ultimately completed a pediatric neurosurgery residency at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. That same year, Odeku was appointed an instructor of neuroanatomy and neurosurgery at the Howard University College of Medicine. He was later appointed as a senior faculty member and became a fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

Despite being offered multiple positions in the U.S., he returned to Nigeria to ensure the people of his home country were receiving the best neurological care, becoming the first neurosurgeon in West Africa in 1962 at the University of Ibadan. From 1968 to 1971, Odeku served as the head of the Department of Surgery and the dean of the University of Ibadan College of Medicine. Odeku went on to lead the founding of the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria and West African Postgraduate Medical College.

About the Author

Cyrenna Cooper

Cyrenna Cooper is the Web Communications Specialist for BrainFacts. She graduated from George Mason University in 2017 with a degree in Communications.