Tade is a sociologist by training. He studied at the University of Lagos and the London School of Economics (LSE) and obtained his doctorate from the University of Sussex. Tade was a professor at the University of Lagos, lecturing on urban poverty, governance and development. At Lagos, where he combined research with activism, Tade was one of the founders of the Nigerian Environmental Study Team and the Lagos Group for the Study of Human Settlements, publishing widely on these and related issues. Tade has spoken widely about Africa’s universities, and in his monograph Quality and Relevance: African Universities in the 21st Century, critically assesses the sector’s history. Throughout his career as a scholar and administrator, he has worked with determination to develop routes toward deepening democratization, reforming public policy and building civil society. More recently, he has been researching and exploring concepts around the fourth industrial revolution and its implications for the continent – work we hope to continue collaborating with Tade on as part of the TrustAfrica Diaspora network. 

He is the Executive Director of the Partnership for African Social Governance and Research based in Nairobi. Previously, Tade was Program Director, Higher Education in Africa, at the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Tade is an experienced foundation executive whose decade-long tenure in the Ford Foundation’s Nairobi office, including as Regional Representative for East Africa, was marked by innovation and visionary leadership. Today, Tade is with the MasterCard Foundation, continuing to push innovation working as head researcher. 

He has also served on the Kenya Human Rights Commission, on the board of Winrock International and as well as Deputy Executive Secretary of the Dakar-based Council for Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA).