Prof Comfort Ekpo commenced her career in March 1981 as a part time lecturer at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and was appointed Lecturer III in January, 1983 in the then College of Education, Uyo which later became the University of Cross River State (UNICROSS), today knows as the University of Uyo in 1991.
Prof Comfort Ekpo worked steadily in the university system and was promoted to Associate Professor in 1998 and Professor (the first female Professor) in the University of Uyo on October 1, 2001.
She is a teacher trainer and has taught many courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, served as an External Examiner to various Universities and supervised numerous undergraduate and postgraduate projects. Prof Ekpo is a member of many professional bodies locally and internationally. She has produced many instructional media packages and programmes for teaching and learning and has more than sixty publications including books, chapters in books, journal articles and monographs to her credit.
Prof. Comfort Ekpo has served the nation of Nigeria as member of the Governing Council of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria from 1993 to 1996, RITMAN University from 2015 to date, and is a member of the Common Wealth Scholarship Interview Panel. She has served the education industry as team leader for the National Universities Commission (NUC) in regulating accreditation and as a panel member for drawing up Basic Minimum Academic Standards (BMAS) in Education for Nigerian Universities.
She has also served the University of Uyo as Head of the Department of Educational Technology and Library Sciences (1993 to 1999), as Director of Institute of Education (2000 to 2006), as Chairperson and member of various University committees including Communication Officer for Science Technology Education Post Basic Project UNIUYO (Step-B Projects); and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) 2006 to 2008.
She is the team leader for the collaborative research on Synthetic Phonics, the Jolly Phonics Read and Write Now (RAWN) Project. Her research interest is in courseware development and management of instructional media. By her appointment as the Vice Chancellor in December, 2010, Prof Comfort Ekpo made history as the first female Vice Chancellor and the fourth substantive Vice Chancellor of the University of Uyo.
Prof. Comfort Ekpo is a married to Prof. Memfin D. Ekpo, a Consultant in Clinical Pathology and has children. She is passionate about the quality of education and is a strong advocate for female empowerment and youth development, maintaining that these are essential for building a strong, united and prosperous nation. She is a disciplined administrator and academic who has impacted greatly on the lives of youths and women through her brainchild Women in Total Development (WIT-GIRL).