Abiodun E. Akinwuntan, PhD

Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic, Research and Clinical Affairs at Kansas City University 

Abiodun E. Akinwuntan, PhD, MBA, MPH, MIH, FASAHP, FACRM, FAMedS, FNAP, is the provost and executive vice president for Academic, Research and Clinical Affairs at Kansas City University (KCU).

Prior to joining KCU, Akinwuntan served as the sixth dean and professor in the School of Health Professions at the University of Kansas Medical Center from 2016 to 2026. As dean, he led a period of significant growth increasing external research funding nearly 19-fold, launching eight new academic programs and three interdisciplinary degree tracks, achieving 11 consecutive years of enrollment growth and securing approximately $18 million in philanthropic support.

Akinwuntan’s research focuses on the use of virtual reality technologies to improve daily living activities for people with neurological impairments. He has published more than 110 peer-reviewed scholarly works and received funded grants totaling more than $15 million.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in physical therapy from the College of Medicine at the University of Lagos in Nigeria in 1994, followed by master’s and doctoral degrees in neurological rehabilitation from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Catholic University of Leuven) in Belgium in 2000 and 2004, respectively. He also holds a postgraduate certificate in teaching and learning in higher education from the University of East London in England, as well as master’s degrees in public health and  business administration from Augusta University, and a master’s degree in international health from the Institute of International Medicine, which he completed in 2023.

Akinwuntan is a three-time Fulbright recipient, having received a United States Fulbright Scholarship to Nigeria in 2013 and Fulbright Specialist Awards to Iceland in 2016 and South Africa in 2024.

He is a fellow of the Association of Schools Advancing Health Professions, the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine, the Academy of Medicine Specialties of Nigeria and the National Academies of Practice. He currently serves as treasurer of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and as a commissioner for the Lancet Neurology Commission on Neurorehabilitation. He previously served on the National Institutes of Health National Advisory Board on Medical Rehabilitation Research.