Professor Basil Orioghae Ikede was born in Nigeria then under British colonial rule. He received his primary education in his village named Bethel, and at age thirteen, left home for further schooling at Urhobo College Effurun, near Warri. He attended the University of Ibadan, and the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria from where he earned the first DVM degree in Nigeria in 1967. Four years later, he received a Diploma in Diagnostic Pathology from the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Canada. The following year, at age thirty, he received a PhD in Veterinary Pathology from the University of Ibadan, also the first in Nigeria. For over twenty years, he worked as lecturer, professor, and department head at the University of Ibadan. Throughout those years, he also carried out research and diagnostic services as a visiting professor in various countries around the globe. In 1989, he moved with his family to Canada, having been offered a tenured position in the Atlantic Veterinary College at the University of Prince Edward Island, where he continued his contributions to veterinary science for nearly two decades. Professor Ikede is an award-winning academic author and has been a contributor to the four most recent editions of Veterinary Medicine. A Textbook of the Diseases of Cattle, Sheep, Pigs, Goats and Horses, the standard reference for veterinary students and practicing veterinarians. Now retired, Professor Ikede lives in Ottawa with Joy, his wife of over fifty years, and enjoys time with family and friends.