March 25, (THEWILL) – First female Vice Chancellor of a Nigerian university and the first Nigerian woman to receive a Doctorate, Prof. Grace Alele-Williams, is dead.
THEWILL reports that Prof. Alele-Williams, born December 16, 1932 died on Friday at the age of 89 years.
Alele-Williams, a professor of mathematics made history as the first female Vice Chancellor at the University of Benin (UNIBEN), Edo State.
She was also the first Nigerian woman to receive a doctorate degree.
Born in Warri, Delta state, Prof Alele-Williams attended Government School, Warri; Queen’s College, Lagos and the University College of Ibadan (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 (U.S.) in 1963, thereby making her the first Nigerian woman to be awarded a doctorate.
Alele-Williams returned to Nigeria for a couple of years’ postdoctoral work at the University of Ibadan before joining the University of Lagos in 1965.
She was appointed the vice-chancellor of the prestigious University of Benin in 1985. Her tenure witnessed a drastic reduction in cultism, a menace in UNIBEN at the time.
Mourning her passing, former Delta State governor, Chief James Onanefe Ibori, expressed sadness and a deep sense of personal loss of the late professor of mathematics.
Chief Ibori in a press statement issued on Friday by his Media Assistant, Tony Eluemunor, said: “Alele -Williams’ life imparted greatly on mine as she was the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Benin while I was a student there. I remember her as an outstanding woman of integrity and one of those who showed my feet the way to follow.”
The former governor sent his condolences to the Itsekiri nation and Delta state, whose histories Alele-Williams decorated with her trail-blazing life; as the first Nigerian woman to earn a PhD in Mathematics and the first female Vice-Chancellor of a Nigerian University.
“I regret her passing even as I thank God for the pace-setting life she lived as a high -achiever”, he said.
