Brief biography – Dapo Ladimeji
His academic career started early when Dennis Brutus, who had been offered a professorship at Northwestern in Chicago, recommended him as a replacement for a lecture series in London that he was to give at what is now University of Westminster. The university accepted the offer perhaps without realising their new lecturer was a teenager who had yet to go to university let alone graduate. The series was a success and the university sought to put him on a permanent position at which point they learnt he was by then a first year undergraduate at Cambridge University. He was appointed and taught for over 10 years. In context: Cambridge University allowed him to supervise final year students in African literature even though he was a first year undergraduate.
He published many articles as an undergraduate including one in the prime professional philosophy journal, ‘Philosophy’, which was praised by a Nobel scientist Dr Medawar, as the best on the subject.
While a student at Cambridge he was appointed to the Editorial board of several journals: ‘Transition’ with Wole Soyinka, and ‘Race and Class’, Journal of Institute of Race Relations, London and began reviewing for ‘New Society’.
He later left academia to become a chartered accountant and the first Black partner (International tax partner) in a City of London professional firm. He subsequently setup his own practice.