Kola Olofinboba: Reflections on a stainless steel in the medical world
By Abraham Ariyo, M.D.
Young Kola, our distinguished Alumni Speaker was born at our University College Hospital in Ibadan to Professor Michael and Mrs. Jolaade Olofinboba. The Olofinbobas hail from Ikere-Ekiti in Western, Nigeria. He received his Primary education at the University of Ibadan and University of Ilorin Staff Schools, and his Secondary education at Federal Government College, Ilorin. He graduated in 1983 with distinctions in all eight subjects in his GCE O-Level Examinations. That year, he had the highest Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) entrance score to the University of Ibadan Medical School. In 1989, he graduated with an MBBS degree and began a rotating internship at San Fernando General Hospital in Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies.
In 1991, Dr. Olofinboba stormed America, matching into the University of Connecticut Internal Medicine Program (UConn), the first Nigerian accepted into that program. He distinguished himself, excelled clinically and academically, and displayed leadership skills resulting in his selection as Chief Medical Resident after his third year. After training, he served as an Assistant Professor and Hospitalist and helped establish the Hospitalist Service at the institution. He spent two years in this role, winning the “Teacher of the Year Award” from the Residents in both years.
In 2001, looking to explore his budding interest in Business, he gained admission to the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he obtained an MBA in Financial Management and received the Robert Toigo Fellowship. Upon graduation, he joined the Global consulting firm McKinsey & Company, serving corporate and government clients globally in Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare services, and Private Equity.
In 2007, Fairview Capital Partners recruited him, and he has worked there for the last 16+ years, becoming a Managing Partner in 2015. Fairview is a Venture Capital and Private Equity fund investment firm, one of the leading platforms in the U.S., with an aggregate fund capitalization of $10.8 billion since inception. On behalf of its clients, the firm invests in many of the world’s leading private markets’ funds and derivatively in their portfolio companies, often at the earliest stages of company formation. Many of these companies have become mega-corporations, disrupting incumbents in all major segments of the economy.
Dr. Olofinboba currently serves on the Boards of Hartford HealthCare, the second-largest Healthcare system in Connecticut, and Liberty Bank, one of the largest and oldest Mutual Banks in the United States. He has led his firm in Business Ventures with the African Development Bank and other International Financial Institutions. He has also invested personally in several leading technology startups across African Continent. He advises numerous Entrepreneurs, Investment Firms, and Governments, in Africa and the United States, on matters related to Venture Capital and Startup investments.
He is engaged in various communities and constituencies. He served as our inaugural Public Relations Officer for ICOMAA-NA and is an enthusiastic contributor to causes related to the University of Ibadan College of Medicine. He also contributes to Bobas School in Ikere-Ekiti, a Primary and Secondary school founded over 35 years ago by his parents, educating hundreds of young minds in that community.
Dr. Olofinboba is an avid golfer who won the 2021 PGA Travelers Championship Pro-Am as a member of a team featuring Bryson DeChambeau. He is married to Dr. Trudy Olofinboba, an Anesthesiologist in Hartford, CT, and they have a daughter, Simisola, a Software Engineer at Microsoft in Redmond, WA.
