Adeoye O Adeyemo

Adeoye Adeyemo, a University of Illinois alum and a former collegiate scholar-athlete. He received his B.S. in Finance and M.A in Education from the University of Illinois, and received his PhD. from the University of Georgia in Social Foundations of Education. He is currently an Assistant Visiting Professor in the Education Policy and Organizational Leadership Department in the College of Education at the University of Illinois.

Adeyemo has also presented iterations of these papers at the American Sociological Association, North American Society for the Sociology of Sport, and at the American Education Research Association conferences, where his work on Black males who play high school sports is uniquely positioned to lead an expansion of research that provides in-depth analysis of their experiences, beliefs, and aspirations. Beyond understanding the experiences, beliefs, aspirations and the role of race in Black male students’ lives, Adeyemo’s future research endeavors will examine the experiences of female students who play sports, and the experiences of Black male athletes in countries such as Nigeria and other African nations, in order to more broadly engage Black males who play sports, in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields. Moreover, his research will address the mental health implications of participating in football and the impact on the social determinate of health.

When researching, speaking and teaching about the issues facing urban communities and schools, Adeyemo uses his multiple identities (e.g., former college football player, Black male, sibling, former financial advisor, former Southside Chicago resident, researcher and scholar, to forge positive and impactful relationships with Black youth and other youth of color.

Adeyemo's research centers on understanding the experiences of Black adolescents who play sports and how their neighborhood, schooling, social and cultural forces may shape their aspirations and perceptions towards athletics and academics. He has recently published articles for the Urban Education and The Urban Review. His articles offer the scholar and research communities, empirical research that highlights Critical Race Theory as well as place, as an important but often neglected concept in understanding the experiences of Black male high school students who play sports. These studies also utilize interview and observation methods to illustrate how Black students’ beliefs and aspirations were shaped within their neighborhood and school contexts.