Grace Alele-Williams
She was a Nigerian professor of mathematics education, who made history as the first Nigerian woman to receive a doctorate, and the first Nigerian female Vice Chancellor at the University of Benin.
1932
2022
Nigeria
NigeriaN
Alele-Williams received several awards and honours. She received the Order of the Niger in 1987, and was elected a Fellow of the Mathematical Association of Nigeria and a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Education.
On 28 February 2014, she was one of 100 people to receive the Centenary Award, a special recognition of unique contributions of Nigerians to the socio-cultural, economic and political development of the country in the last 100 years.
She attended Government School, Warri, Queen’s College, Lagos and the University College of Ibadan[11] (now 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 (US) in 1963, thereby making her the first Nigerian woman to be awarded a doctorate. She was married later that year and became known as Grace Alele-Williams. She returned to Nigeria for postdoctoral
work at the University of Ibadan before joining the University of Lagos in 1965.
Alele-Williams’s 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.
She had a special interest in women’s education. While spending a decade directing the Institute of Education, she introduced innovative non-degree programmes, allowing older women working as elementary school teachers to receive certificates. Alele-Williams has always demonstrated concern for the access of female African students to scientific and technological subjects.[1] 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 Program in Newton, Massachusetts, under the leadership of MIT 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. such as the book Modern Mathematics Handbook for Teachers published in 1974. She taught at the University of Lagos from 1965 to 1985 By serving in various committees and boards, Alele-Williams made useful contributions in the development of education in Nigeria. Alele-Williams was appointed Vice Chancellor of the University of Benin in 1985, becoming the first female to hold this post at a Nigerian university, and she believed that her appointment was a test case to demonstrate a woman’s executive capability.
Alele-Williams was a force for reform in Nigeria’s higher education in the 1980s. After serving as the Vice Chancellor of the University of Benin, she joined the Board of Directors of Chevron-Texaco Nigeria. She was also on the board of HIP asset management company limited, an asset management company in Lagos, Nigeria.
Alele-Williams was a member of the Governing Council, UNESCO Institute of Education. She was also a consultant to the 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 Vice President of the World Organisation for Early Childhood Education and later President of the Nigeria chapter, and the first President of the African Mathematical Union Commission on Women in Mathematics. She also served ten years (1993–2004) as regional Vic-President for Africa of the Third World Organization for Women in Science.
Spouse – Babatunde Abraham Williams. They had five children.
https://www.nigeriagalleria.com/Nigeria/Personality-Profiles/Prominent-Nigerians/Grace-Alele.html accessed 22/06/2022
https://businessday.ng/news/article/in-memoriam-grace-alele-williams-in-five-quotes/ accessed 22/06/2022
https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/519657-alele-williams-nigerias-first-female-university-vice-chancellor-dies-at-89.html accessed 22/06/2022
https://warrikingdom.org/the-loss-of-an-itsekiri-trailblazer-chief-prof-grace-alele-williams/ accessed 22/06/2022
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Alele-Williams accessed 22/06/2022
https://quotepark.com/authors/grace-alele-williams/ accessed 22/06/2022
