Togo: Adolé Isabelle Glitho, a biologist with a prolific career

Originally from Togo, Adolé Isabelle Glitho Akueson is an entomologist and professor of animal biology. President of the UNESCO Chair “Women, Science and Sustainable Water Management in West and Central Africa”, she is the recipient of the Kwame Nkrumah Science Prize awarded by the African Union.

A scientist with a rich and inspiring background! Born in Covè, Benin, in 1949, Adolé Isabelle completed all her secondary education in Benin and obtained her undergraduate degree there. In 1973, she flew to France where she obtained a Master’s degree in animal biology at the University of Burgundy in 1975. This was followed by a doctorate in 1977 on the physiology of insects.

The following year, she returned to Togo. She began her professional career at the University of Lomé as a lecturer in animal biology … In 1981, she was appointed Senior Lecturer at the same university and in 1989, she obtained a scholarship from the African Union. For two years, she moved to the University of Tours where she specialized in electron microscopy. Back to Togo in 1992, she became assistant professor at the University of Lomé and in 1998, full professor of universities.

A scientist with a prolific career

In nearly 40 years of teaching and research career, Adolé Isabelle has published more than 150 scientific articles in several fields, including bio-ecology, insect reproductive physiology, neurotoxicology, management of the resistance to insects….

She was notably a visiting professor at the University of Tours, in France, from 1993 to 2011. She was also a researcher at the University of Niamey in Niger and at the University of Ouagadougou, in Burkina Faso, from 1990 to 2015. She also held several managerial positions. From 2003 to 2006, she was chief of staff to the first president of the University of Lomé. In 2009, she became Dean of the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Lomé and Director of the Applied Entomology Laboratory. The first time a woman holds such a position in Togo.

For several years, she has been the president of the UNESCO Chair on Women, Science and Sustainable Water Management in West Africa. Through her research, she has contributed to building capacity in the sustainable management of pest populations. She has also trained more than 50 young researchers from different countries, particularly in agricultural and medical entomology.

Thanks to her scientific work, Adolé Isabelle has received several awards, including the National Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters (ANSALT) Prize and the African Union’s Kwame Nkrumah Science Prize in 2013.