Background: The practice of exclusive breast feeding among mothers vary with different populations, religion and locality but low below the 90% the global target recommended by UNICEF/WHO. Return to work has been documented as reason for discontinuation of exclusive breastfeeding among the working-class mothers. This study looked at the knowledge and practice of exclusive breastfeeding and time of initiation of breastfeeding among mothers in academia in Rivers State, Nigeria. Methods: A total of 360 female lecturers in the six tertiary institutions in Rivers State were enrolled to participate through multistage sampling method. A pretested questionnaire was used to collect information on their socio-demography, knowledge of exclusive breastfeeding, obstetric and breastfeeding history, and the reasons for not practicing exclusive breastfeeding. Data was analyzed using IBM SPSS version 22 software. Categorical variables were presented as percentages on frequency table and continuous variables as means and standard deviation. Results: About four-fifth (89.7%) of the participants were junior cadre academics below the rank of Senior Lecturer. More than four-fifth have knowledge of exclusive breastfeeding. Almost all the women (97.5%) breastfed their babies for a mean duration of 10.5±6.1 months, 61.5% practiced exclusive breastfeeding, 41% initiated breastfeeding within one hour of birth of their babies and return to work (17.8%) was the most common reason for discontinuation of exclusive breastfeeding. Conclusion: The knowledge of exclusive breastfeeding among mothers in academia is high as well as the practice of breastfeeding. However, the practice of exclusive breastfeeding is moderate but still below the UNICEF/WHO global target.