In the realm of academia, there are those whose dedication to their craft transcends mere passion; they are driven by an insatiable thirst for knowledge and a relentless pursuit of excellence. Among them stands Professor Yekini Shehu, a prodigious Mathematics Professor at Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China, whose journey is nothing short of inspiring.

From early on, Professor Yekini Shehu exhibited an unparalleled aptitude for mathematics. His journey commenced with an innate curiosity that led him to explore the intricacies of numbers, patterns, and equations with unwavering determination. It was evident from the outset that he possessed an extraordinary gift—an intuitive understanding of mathematical concepts that belied his years.

As he delved deeper into the realm of mathematics, Professor Yekini Shehu distinguished himself through his exceptional academic performance. After graduating as the first PhD from the African University of Science and Technology, Abuja in 2013, he embarked on a path of scholarly pursuit, driven by an unyielding commitment to unravel the mysteries of the mathematical universe.

Throughout his academic career, Professor Yekini Shehu has amassed a plethora of achievements that underscore his brilliance and tenacity. His research endeavors have spanned a myriad of domains within mathematics, from abstract algebra to differential equations, demonstrating a versatility and breadth of knowledge that is truly remarkable, his main research interest is Nonlinear Operator Theory involving fixed point algorithms; variational inequality; Optimization, and variational analysis, equilibrium problems, Nonlinear Integral Equations and Numerical Analysis for optimization.

As of February 18, 2024: Professor Shehu has a citation of 1470 in MathSciNet (https://mathscinet.ams.org/mathscinet/search/author.html?mrauthid=840203), a citation of 1737 in zbmath (https://zbmath.org/authors/?q=shehu+yekini), Scopus h-index of 31 and 2920 citations (https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=24332967400).

Professor Shehu has citations of 2126 and an h-index of 30 in the Web of Science Database (https://www.webofscience.com/wos/author/record/251194,16589191).

Also, Professor Shehu has 8 highly cited papers in the Web of Science since 2019 till date (https://www.webofscience.com/wos/woscc/summary/2b5e5a81-1dc7-4afa-ba5e-56722ccc5481-700f66c6/relevance/1). In most of his research publications in these top journals, Professor Shehu is either the first author or corresponding author and he has 59 single-authored papers (https://zbmath.org/authors/?q=shehu+yekini).

 

Professor Shehu is a recipient of the prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Research Fellowship awarded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Bonn, Germany from 01 May 2016 to 30 April 2019  (https://www.mathematik.uni-wuerzburg.de/en/optimization/team/ehemalig-mitarbeiterinnen/shehu-yekini/).  Professor Shehu was one of the 19 recipients of this award in 2016 in all disciplines from Africa (212 recipients in all disciplines all over the world) and the ONLY ONE in Mathematics Category from Africa in 2016.

In June 2019, Professor Shehu got a research grant sponsored by the European Research Council (ERC) domiciled at the Institute of Science and Technology (IST), Vienna, Austria from 01 June 2019 to 30 September 2021 (https://research-explorer.ista.ac.at/groups/VlKo), where he worked on analysis and numerical implementations of accelerated methods for convex and non-convex optimization problems.

Professor Yekini Shehu has been an invited scientist to some top universities and research centers in the world. They include The Abdus Salam ICTP, Trieste, Italy (2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009); The Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, University of Pretoria, South Africa (2014); Institute of Mathematics, Julius Maximilians Universität, Würzburg, Germany (2016-2019); University of Haifa, Israel (2017); Operational Research Group, Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Southampton, United Kingdom (2018); Institute of Science of Technology (IST), Vienna, Austria (2019-2021).

Professor Shehu is an Editorial Board Member of the Fixed Point Theory and Algorithms for Sciences and Engineering, a Springer journal, where he is a Section Editor, Numerical Analysis and Optimization (https://fixedpointtheoryandalgorithms.springeropen.com/about/editorial-board). He is also an Editorial Board Member of the Journal Fixed Point Theory, An International Journal on Fixed Point Theory, Computation and Applications (Q1 JCR Category Quartile in Mathematics and Applied Mathematics) based in Romania (http://www.math.ubbcluj.ro/~nodeacj/editorial_board.htm). Recently, in February 2024, Professor Shehu was appointed as the new Editor-in-Chief of a new journal “Fixed Point Methods and Optimization” to be published by  Tulipa Opera Scholarum based in Hong Kong (https://tulipa-os.com/fpmo/editorial_board.php).

One of his papers has been recently selected by the Clarivate Web of Science as one of the "Hot Papers" in 2023 in the field of Mathematics. This hot paper was published in the past two years and received enough citations in July and August 2023 to place it in the top 0.1% of papers in the academic field of Mathematics; https://www.webofscience.com/wos/woscc/summary/6c72ddd3-89ae-493c-9b9f-e2ebf2da0876-b62ae7c0/relevance/1

Beyond his academic pursuits, Professor Yekini Shehu is deeply committed to fostering the next generation of mathematicians. As a mentor and educator, he imparts his knowledge and passion for mathematics to aspiring scholars, igniting in them the same fervor for discovery that has defined his journey.

In addition to his scholarly achievements, Professor Yekini Shehu possesses a rare combination of humility and perseverance that endears him to colleagues and peers alike. Despite his towering intellect and myriad accomplishments, he remains approachable and grounded, ever willing to lend a helping hand or offer words of encouragement to those around him.

In the annals of academia, Professor Yekini Shehu stands as a beacon of excellence—a testament to the transformative power of intellect, perseverance, and unwavering passion. His journey serves as a source of inspiration to aspiring mathematicians everywhere, reminding us that with dedication and determination, the pursuit of knowledge knows no bounds.