ufo@yorku.ca
https://profiles.laps.yorku.ca/profiles/ufo/
Akolisa Ufodike is an Associate Professor at York University, where he teaches auditing, and he also holds an appointment in the graduate program in Public Policy, Administration, and Law, where he teaches public sector finance. He holds adjunct associate professor roles at Toronto Metropolitan University, the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary, and Royal Roads University in Victoria; across these three institutions, he supervises doctoral students.
He was a 2026 Visiting Erskine Fellow at the University of Canterbury’s School of
Accounting and Information Systems.
His research has been supported by two major SSHRC grants totalling nearly $1 million. His work examines accountability, governance, public sector finance, actor networks, common-pool resources, and public-private partnerships.
Before entering academia, he spent 25 years as a finance executive across telecommunications, banking, oil and gas, utilities, and consumer packaged goods. He is also the founder of the John Ware Institute and has held senior public service leadership roles, including serving as Deputy Minister for two ministries in Alberta—first Trade, and subsequently Immigration—as well as senior corporate leadership positions.
He earned his PhD from the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary and his MBA from the Johnson School of Business at Cornell University. He is a Fellow of Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada, a U.S. CPA, and a U.K. Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. He is also an ICD.D-certified corporate director. He is a recipient of the King Charles III Coronation Medal and the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Meda
Keywords: Accountability, common pool resources, EDI, productivity, fiscal resilience, public private partnerships (P3)