The death of renowned Nigerian scholar and first female vice chancellor of the University of Benin, Prof. Grace Alele-Williams, on March 25, is a great loss to the academic community and the country. Aged 89, the celebrated Professor of Mathematics died in Lagos, according to family sources. She made history as the first Nigerian woman to obtain a PhD as well as first Nigerian female professor of Mathematics Education.
Born in Warri, Delta State, on December 16, 1932, the late professor attended Government School, Warri, Queen’s College, Lagos and the University College 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 in 1963. Alele-Williams taught Mathematics at Queen’s School, Ede, Osun State, 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 of Education, University of Ibadan from where she was appointed a professor of Mathematics at the University of Lagos in 1976.
She demonstrated concern for the access of female African students to scientific and technological subjects. While in the University of Lagos, she spent a decade directing the Institute of Education, which introduced innovative non-degree programmes, with many of the certificate recipients being older women working as elementary school teachers.
Outside the university system, Alele-Williams also made useful contributions in the development of education in Nigeria. She was the chairman of the curriculum review committee in Bendel State from 1973–1979. She also served as chairman of the Lagos State curriculum review committee and Lagos State examinations boards from 1979 to 1985. She was appointed the vice chancellor of the University of Benin in 1985, thus became the first female vice chancellor of a Nigerian university, an appointment she said, was “a test case to demonstrate a woman’s executive capability.” Being appointed the vice chancellor at a time the activities of secret cults, confraternities and societies were rife in Nigerian universities, especially in the University of Benin, and been able to confront the challenge made her a force to be reckoned with in the reformation of Nigeria’s higher education system.
She was a woman of rare attributes, a disciplined and astute administrator who was not afraid to work with others. Her success as a vice chancellor showed that she was a strong character who could withstand any challenge. She excelled in the administration of the University of Benin in spite of the mounting opposition by the male staff. 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 governing council, UNESCO Institute of Education. She was also a consultant to the UNESCO and Institute of International Education Planning. From 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 as the regional vice president for Africa of the Third World Organisation for Women in Science from 1993 to 2004. On account of his achievements, Alele-Williams was conferred with several awards and honours. She received the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) 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 the 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. Alele-Williams was a role model and a great scholar who by dint of hard work proved that what men can do, women can even do better. Being the first Nigerian women to obtain a PhD, she showed other women that they can break the glass ceiling on educational achievements irrespective of gender barriers.
Considering her numerous achievements to the educational development of women in Nigeria and other worthy causes in nation-building, the government should immortalise her. We commiserate with her family, the academic community, the government and people of Nigeria on the irreparable loss, and wish her soul eternal repose.