Professor James Olugbenga Aribisala was born on 29th May 1963 at Ikole Ekiti, Ekiti State, he attended  Ifaki Grammar School, Ifaki-Ekiti (1974/79)  and graduated with Division 1 ,  University of Ilorin, Ilorin for B.ENG ( Second Class Upper Division, 1985) and M.ENG (1989) degrees  , Aalborg University Denmark and the University of Benin for Ph.D. program.  Was registered   by the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) in 1995,    became a Fellow of Nigerian Society of Engineers  in 2004, Fellow of the Nigerian Institution of Water Engineers in 2012 and  Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration in 2013 .

He became a Professor of Civil Engineering with specialization in Water and Environmental Engineering in 2007. He is the principal partner of Garibs Engineering Company that has undertaken   Consultancy services on many  Projects such as DFID  sponsored rural roads in Ekiti State , 2004,  African Development Bank sponsored roads , 2010,  Coordinating Consultant to Ekiti State Government on 42  Road projects between 2007 and 2010. 

He had held many positions in the University system, which include : Sub-Dean, Faculty of Engineering ; Head, Department of Civil Engineering; Dean, Faculty of Engineering; Dean, School of Postgraduate Studies ; Chairman Committee of Deans and Provost ; Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic), 2012 to 2014 and Member, Ekiti State University(EKSU) Governing Council ,2009 to 2012. Some of the awards won  include ;  Most Outstanding Lecturer, University of Benin , 2006/2007 ; Most Outstanding Lecturer , Faculty of Engineering, EKSU  , 2022 .

He served the Nigerian Society of Engineers as Chief Examiner(2001-2009), foundation chairman of the Nigerian Institution of Water Engineers , 2011 and chairman of Ado Ekiti Branch , 1999 to 2001 .    He  served as a member of the Presidential Visitation Panel to Federal University, Lokoja in 2021,  won research grants such as Mashav utilized at CINADCO, Israel, 2003; ETF   in 2009 ; European Union  utilized at Aalborg University, Denmark,1991-1992 and Highland Fellowship on leadership at Abingdon, Virginia, USA,2008.  

He had served as External Examiner for   Ph.D. at University of Witwatersrand, South Africa 2010, Pan African University ,2022 and several Nigerian Universities and  had facilitated conferences and workshops  such as workshop for Directors of Works and Physical planning units of Nigerian Universities at NUC Auditorium, Abuja (2017 -2019). He had served on NUC accreditation panels to different universities as chairman or member.

He has supervised Ph.D. and M.Eng. Theses.  Some of his mentees are now professors, Rector of Polytechnic, Dean of Faculty , Head of Department and Fellows of professional bodies.  Some  are lead consultants of Engineering firms.   His pioneering work of one dimensional flow in unsaturated zones of the soil using Green Element Method became a global breakthrough that has now been extended to 2 and 3 dimensions by other researchers. 

He  was instrumental to the  establishment of Nigerian Institution of Water Engineers . He is happily married to Deaconess Evelyn Aribisala and the marriage is blessed with children.