Cyril Agodi Onwumechili was a Nigerian physicist, academic administrator, and professor of geophysics at the University of Ibadan and later University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He was the fourth Vice Chancellor of the University of Ife from January 1979 to December 1982 and the former President/Vice Chancellor of the Anambra State University of Technology, Enugu, Nigeria, from January 1983 to December 1986. He delivered the Ahiajoku lecture on 20 November 2000. He was the first Nigerian geophysicist and the second president of the Nigerian Academy of Science. He was elected as president of the Academy in 1979 to succeed Professor Victor Adenuga Oyenuga, the first emeritus professor of the University of Ibadan and the first African professor of Agricultural science.

The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public research university in Ibadan, Nigeria. The university was once a college of the University of London. The college was established in 1948 as University College Ibadan, one of many colleges within the University of London. It became an independent university in 1962 and is the oldest degree-awarding institution in Nigeria. Through its graduate network, the University of Ibadan has contributed to the political, industrial, economic and cultural development of Nigeria.