New IRSG secretary-general brings sustainability, circular economy experience

The International Rubber Study Group (IRSG) has named Professor Joseph Adelegan as its new secretary-general. Professor Adelegan officially took on his new role on 1 December 2022. IRSG describes Professor Adelegan as “a C-Suite Executive and an international development expert”. A Professor of Practice of Environmental Science and Engineering and a practitioner-scholar in management with over three decades of professional experience across 20 African Countries, Europe and United States, his work spans several organizations including the United Nations, development finance institutions, international organizations, government, non-governmental organizations, education, innovation and research institutions.

Prof. Adelegan’s resume reveals “extensive experience in the sustainable investment, disruptive innovation and circular economy of the elastomer products”. Specifically, he has held senior roles at the United Nations as the team lead for the Global Circular Economy Program of the United Nations Technology Innovation Lab at the first European Lab in Finland and as a senior advisor at the United Nations Office of Project Services in Denmark.

He was a Member of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council, Geneva, Switzerland and Non-Executive Director of the European Sustainable Development Organization among others. And he was a Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering at Universities in Africa, Europe and North America.

IRSG reports that Prof. Adelegan has earned two doctorates – Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) from the Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, United States; and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the Nigerian Premier University of Ibadan. He is an alumnus of a number of executive programs including the United Nations University, Tokyo, Japan; the University of California, Berkeley, United States; Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California, United States; John F. Kennedy School of Government and the Harvard Business School, Harvard University.