Fr John Abubakar is Villanova University’s Chief Sustainability Officer and serves as an Adjunct Professor of sustainability. He joined the Augustinians in Nigeria in 1996 and was ordained a priest in 2004. Among other roles, he served as vocations director, Professor of theology, project manager, and as the leader of the Augustinians in Nigeria from 2012 to 2020. Before coming to Villanova, he had worked in Nigeria, Italy, and the United Kingdom. He began working at Villanova in the Summer of 2021.

A transdisciplinary scholar interested in using the theory and practice of sustainability to promote human flourishing and nature’s health, John earned a BA in Philosophy from the Urbaniana University Rome, and a BA in Theology from the University of Jos. He has a master’s in biblical studies from the Gregorian University Rome, and an MSc in International Development from the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom. He has an MA in Leadership from Roehampton University London, and an MBA from ABU Zaria. He earned a doctorate in business from CIU, California, USA. He is completing a second doctorate in Sustainable Architecture at DMU Leicester, United Kingdom.

John is a Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) sustainability professional and an advisory council member of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), USA. He also serves as a judge in the Earth and Environmental division of the Global Undergraduate Awards, Dublin, Ireland. He founded a sustainable education center in his home country Nigeria that focuses on climate and sustainability literacy.

Fr John has sustainability certificates from the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom. He is a member of the International Society of Sustainability Professionals and a fellow of the International Society for Development and Sustainability.

Outside of work and school, he enjoys playing tennis, soccer, scrabble, and learning languages.