Nigeria’s First Female VC, Grace Alele-Williams Turns 89 Today
ERUDITE Professor of Mathematics Education, Grace Alele-Williams, who made history as the first Nigerian female vice-chancellor at the University of Benin (UNIBEN) and first Nigerian woman to receive a doctorate or PH.D, has clocked 89 years of age.
Newscrackers. com reports on her remarkable biography: Alele-Williams was born in Warri, Delta State. She attended Government School, Warri, Queen’s College, Lagos and the University College, Ibadan (University of Ibadan). She obtained a Master’s degree in Mathematics while teaching at Queen’s School, Ede in Osun State in 1957 and her PhD degree in Mathematics Education at the University of Chicago (U.S.) in 1963, thereby making her the first Nigerian woman to be awarded a doctorate. She returned to Nigeria for a couple of years’ postdoctoral work at the University of Ibadan, before joining the University of Lagos in 1965.
Her teaching career started at Queen’s School, Ede, Osun State, where she was a mathematics teacher from 1954 to 1957. She left for the University of Vermont to become a Graduate Assistant and later Assistant Professor. From 1963 to 1965, Alele-Williams was a postdoctoral research fellow, Department and Institute of Education, University of Ibadan, from where she was appointed a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Lagos in 1976.
Her interest in Mathematics Education was originally sparked by her stay in the US, which coincided with the Sputnik phenomenon. Working with the African Mathematics Programme in Newton, Massachusetts, under the leadership of M.I.T’s Professor Ted Martins, she participated in mathematics workshops held in various African cities from 1963 to 1975. Highlights included writing texts and correspondence courses, covering basic concepts in mathematics, working in concert with leading mathematicians and educators. She taught at the University of Lagos from 1965 to 1985 and spent a decade directing the institute of education, which introduced innovative non-degree programmes, with many of the certificate recipients older women working as elementary school teachers. Alele-Williams was appointed the first female vice-chancellor of a Nigerian university in 1985 by then Military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida.
She said she believes her appointment at the University of Benin, which ended in 1992, was a test case to demonstrate a woman’s executive capability. Among her honors are ‘Fellow of the Mathematical Association of Nigeria, Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Education, Merit Award Winner of now defunct Bendel State in Nigeria and regional vice-president for Africa of the Third World Organisation for Women in Science” (Science in Africa: Women Leading from Strength AAAS, Washington, 1993).
Alele-Williams was chairman of the African Mathematical Union Commission for Women in Mathematics. She has held and served in various capacities. By serving in various committees and boards, Alele-Williams had made useful contributions in the development of education in Nigeria. She was chairman of the curriculum review committee, former Bendel State 1973–1979. From 1979 to 1985, she served as chairman of the Lagos State curriculum review committee and Lagos State examinations boards.
She was a member of governing council, UNESCO Institute of Education. She is also a consultant to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and Institute of International Education Planning. For a decade (1963–73), she was a member of the African Mathematics Programme, located in Newton, Massachusetts, United States. She was also vice-president of the World Organisation for Early Childhood Education and later president of the Nigeria chapter. In 1974, Alele-Williams published a book titled, “Modern Mathematics Handbook for Teachers”. After serving as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Benin, she joined the board of directors of Chevron-Texaco Nigeria. She is also on the board of HIP Asset Management Company Limited, an asset management company in Lagos.
Alele-Williams was a force to reckon with in the dark period for Nigeria’s higher education. Then, the activities of secret cults, confraternities and societies had spread within the Nigerian universities, especially in the University of Benin. She made valuable impacts, with combination of courage, ingenuity and strategy that the growing tide of cultism was stemmed in the university. A task which many men had failed, she was able to make notable contributions.
She married Babatunde Abraham Williams, not long after returning to Nigeria from the United States. Williams was a political scientist who, at the time of their marriage, was a senior lecturer at the University of Ife (Obafemi Awolowo University, Osun State. Alele-Williams has five children.
