Joseph Okokon Charles is a Professor of Social Anthropology. He was employed as an Assistant Lecturer by the University of Calabar and deployed to the Department of Sociology in 1985. Born 1956 and had early primary education at St. George’s School, Idebe (1959-1960), St Joseph’s Unyenge, (1961-1963) and St. Joseph’s School, Ikot Ene (1964) and obtained a First School Leaving Certificate (1964) at Credit level. Secondary Schools attended included Queen of Apostle’s Seminary, Afaha Obong (1965-1967) and St Patrick’s College, Ikot Ansa (1968-1969) where he obtained West African School Certificate. Through private studies/tuition he holds Advanced Level GCE Certificate (1976) and professional Certificate in Marketing (London) in 1978 and Diploma in Business Management (London) in 1972. In 1978, he took the competitive premier Joint Admission and Matriculation Board Examination (JAMB) and was admitted to read Sociology in the University of Calabar. He was awarded South Eastern State Scholarship from 1979-1982 as an undergraduate. In 1982, he graduated with BSc (Hons), Second Class Upper. He also holds MSc in Industrial Sociology (1984) and PhD (1994) in Social Anthropology (Calabar). His PhD research was supported with funds from University of Calabar Senate Research Grant, Ford Foundation Studies Grant/IITA (Nigeria) and Sigma Xi (USA) Grant. Prof Charles conducted his ethnographic field-work among the Ibibio Immigrants in Akpabuyo, Efikland. The 526-paged thesis has contributed enormously to rural-rural migration, farming systems and general ethnographic studies of the Ibibio people of Nigeria (the 4th most populated ethnic group in Nigeria). His research interests span rural-rural migration, poverty, population, communication and family life, child abuse/domestic servants, farming systems and health (malaria, onchocerciasis, HIV/AIDS and Reproductive Health. His interest in rural poverty earned him a Guest Researcher Program Fellowship at the Institute of African Studies (Nordiska Afrikaninstitutet) where he presented seminars at the Institute and World Development Centre in Copenhagen, Denmark. He has consulted for local and international bodies (World Bank- Poverty studies, APOC/WHO-Malaria and onchocerciasis, UNICEF- ECOSAN Toilet Project; UNFPA- Family Life and Communication, Reproductive health Issues, UNESCO- Population and poverty; NNPC- EIA on Float Station; UNDP- Health and Development Issues, DFID/British Council,- Community Policing Project and Police HIV/AIDs Project; Family Health International- Reproductive health, Nigerian Ports Authority- EIA and Re-settlement Plan; Shell Petroleum Ltd- EIA Studies and Government Agencies (federal and state), etc. Prof Charles has consulted for Cross River State Government as Member, Clan Verification Committee; Member, Tourism Development Project and four-times Chairman, Proposal Verification Assessment for Grants on HIV/AIDs program by SACA (State Action Committee on AIDS) and ECOSAN Toilet Project sponsored by UNICEF/UNDP. As an Advisor to WHO-APOC on Onchocerciasis projects, he travelled across African counties- Nigerian States, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Uganda, Ghana and Raja-South Sudan to gather field data on the socio-economic dimensions of the disease for the Anglophone Team. In one of such trips to Uganda, he physically crossed The EQUATOR LINE-a tourist’s wonder of the world. Another outcome of his research endeavours was his selection by UNESCO to present a country paper for Nigeria at the World Most Populous Nations’ Conference in Indonesia 1997 after submitting a research report from a Nation-wide ethnographic study on Population and Family Life Issues sponsored by UNFPA/Fed Ministry of Information and Culture. That report on Efik and Ibibio of Nigeria studied by him was adjudged the best from the six ethnographic sites selected for study. Apart from research endeavours, Prof Charles has been functioning for many years as Adviser to US-based Grant awarding Body called American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) specific on the development of African Humanities Program (AHP) where research proposals for PhD and Post Doctoral applications for research grants are reviewed. Professor Charles has undertaken 96 researches/ commissioned projects and consultancy services including Technical Reports, and has also published widely in Learned Journals. He has been Associate Editor and Editor respectively for University-based Journal of Social Development, co-editor and consulting author as well as reviewer for journals such as Journal of Social Development in Africa, Global Journal of Social Sciences, Global Journal of Medical Sciences and Editorial Adviser to OKPULO Journal of Art and Culture, of National Museum, among others. Apart from supervising and graduating 44 PhDs and 56 Masters candidates, Prof Charles has mentored many and has satisfactorily harvested, at the last count, more than 20 Professors/Associate Professors spread across faculties, departments and Universities in Nigeria who have passed through his tutelage, lectures and supervisions over the years. For Professor Charles, mentoring continues with the very young ones recently employed by the University whom he unceasingly encourage to write papers, attend conferences, engage in research activities and prepare effectively for each lecture before appearing before students. He has performed External Examiner’s functions for University of Uyo, University of Port Harcourt and University of Nigeria, Nsukka in Nigeria and has been a Professorial Assessor to ten Universities in Nigeria (so far 13 of such assessments to Professorial ranks have been done by him). Prof Charles has actively taken part in National Universities Commission (NUC) Accreditation exercises in Nigerian Universities spread across the country as Chairman and member respectively of different Accreditation Panels. To date, he has done 14 of such accreditation exercises. He also offered gratis, to co-supervise/mentor, through a written request, a Ghanaian medical student who worked on febrile illness of under-5 children in far away University of Ghana after seeing one of my publications on line. Prof Charles, acted as an academic mentor, working behind the scene, for a PhD candidate at the University of Bassel who worked on ‘Women Fish Traders of Calabar’ till she successfully defended her thesis and graduated in Anthropology of Theatre. He was, as well, a co-supervisor/mentor of a PhD candidate in Faculty of Agric-Economics and Extension Services, Unical on a project titled ‘Fulani Herdsmen and Farmers Conflict in Cameroon’. Prof Charles is member of Institute of Marketing London, Museum Society of Nigeria, Nigerian Sociological and Anthropological Association, History Society of Nigeria, Nigerian Population Association, Pan-African Anthropological Association, among others. He has received Patron Award from National Museum, Gold Award by NSASA, Great Personality Award by SOWSA, Award of Excellence in Scholarship and Leadership from Unical Sociology Alumni, Gold Award by Faculty of Social Sciences, Leadership Distinction Award by NOYA, among others. Administratively, he has served as a two-time Head of Department of Sociology, and Chairman and member of several ad-hoc and standing committees at the departmental, faculty and University levels. This includes Chairman Graduate Committee, Chairman Departmental and Faculty Examination Malpractice Committee, Chairman, Faculty Electoral Committee, Member and Co-Chairman Senate Monitoring Committee, Member Course Planning Committee, Member, Senate Central Mock Accreditation Team (and Chairman of A Sub-Team) etc. He has been member of 1st Faculty International Conference (1987), PWPA conference (1992) and Co-Chairman Pan-African Anthropological Association held 2018 in Unical. He takes active part in advocacy outreach especially on tropical diseases such as Onchocerciasis, malaria and worrisome cultural practices such as child hawking, housemaid-ship in Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Raja, Sudan. He is a part-time lecturer of Sociology of Illness and Health for the Department of Nursing Sciences and Sociology of Health and Community Development for the Department of Public Health, University of Calabar. Presently, Professor Charles has about seventy publications (aside works accepted for publication and manuscript ready for review) including co-authored and edited research-based book entitled Socio-cultural Factors Affecting Attitude and Behaviour Regarding Family Life Issues in Nigeria; a leading author of Human Development, Child Welfare and Addiction; an author of Social Anthropology: Concept, Theory and Ethnography; Ethnography of African Societies: Sub-Saharan Africa; addiction and Society and National Values System; Social Environment and Human Behaviour: Social Work Approach; Sociological Theory: An Historic-Analytical Approach on Man and Society in addition to over sixty journal articles in local and international journals. Prof Charles has delivered twenty six Invited (Guest) Lectures, attended 114 conferences, seminars and symposia, and presented papers. Though employed September, 1985, Prof Charles began his teaching career as an Assistant Lecturer effectively early 1988 after three years of tutelage under renowned Professors of Anthropology: Professor V. C. Uchendu of the American Tradition of Anthropology and Professor G. K. Nukunya of the British Tradition. He is happily married to Arit O. Charles PhD, a friend, a sister, a mother, astute planner, a homemaker, a wife, a retired Director of Medical Social Services, University Of Calabar Teaching Hospital, (now on contact as Lecturer 1 with University of Calabar, Dept of Social Work), a practice-based Midwife/Nurse, a Medical Sociologist par excellence and a Social Worker/Counselor at its peak and admirable researcher. The marriage is blessed with three children.