Grace Alele Williams Death, Grace Alele Williams Biography, Grace Alele Williams Children, Grace Alele Williams Achievements and Grace Alele Williams net worth.
Newsonline reports that Nigeria’s first female Vice-Chancellor, Grace Alele-Williams has died at the age of 89.
Ms Alele-Williams, a professor of mathematics gained prominence after 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.
Before her appointment as vice-chancellor, she made history as the first Nigerian woman to obtain a doctorate degree in Mathematics education in 1963, a rare feat in the sixties.
President Muhammadu Buhari had facilitated with the former VC on her 89th birthday in December 2021, applauding her role in sanitising UNIBEN of cultism.
“President Buhari congratulates the educationist on her achievements over many years, inspired by vision and hard work, becoming the first woman to earn a Ph.D in Nigeria (1963), and using her resources to create opportunities for other women, particularly in getting education,” partly read the statement issued by Mr Buhari’s spokesperson, Femi Adesina.
The circumstances surrounding her death are unclear as of the time of filing this report.
Grace Alele Williams Death: Grace Alele Williams Biography, Children, Achievements
Name: Grace Alele Williams
Date of Birth: December 16,1932
Age: 89
Profession: Core Educationist
Hometown: Sobe, Owan West, Edo State
Place of birth: Delta State
Laurels: First Nigerian woman to receive a doctorate degree
Husband: Late Professor Babatunde Williams, a political scientist
Children: Five children with late husband, Professor Babatunde Williams
Grand Children: Nine grandchildren
Place of death: Unknown
Net worth: Not mentioned
Grace Alele Williams was born in Delta State on December 16, 1932, to an Itsekiri mother and a Sobe, Owan West, Edo State father. Admiral Abiodun Dele Ojeifo Alele, the Sobe-born King of Adawa juju-highlife music, is first cousin to late Alele-Williams.
The Biography of Grace Alele Williams is incomplete without a mention that she attended the Government school in Warri, then queens college, Lagos and the University College of Ibadan (now the University of Ibadan).
Other interesting facts in the Biography of Grace Alele Williams:
After completing her undergraduate education, she became a master in mathematics at Queen’s school, Ede Osun state, from 1954 until 1957, a feat that qualifies her as the female Vice Chancellor cum female doctorate degree holder.
In 1963, Alele Williams received a Ph.D. in mathematics education from the University of Chicago, with a dissertation titled “Dynamics of Education in the Birth of a New Nation: Case Study of Nigeria.” In 1974, she was the first female professor of mathematics education. She also directed the Institute of Education at this time, where she introduced teacher-beneficial programs, as well as participating in the African Mathematics Educational Development Center in Newton, Massachusetts, whose purpose was to consider changes in mathematics education in Africa.
She is particularly interested in female education. She established unique non-degree programs, allowing older women working as elementary school teachers to acquire certificates, while she was the director of the Institute of Education for a decade. Alele-Williams has long been concerned about female African students’ access to scientific and technical topics.
More interesting facts in the Biography of Grace Alele Williams
When Alele Williams accepted the position of Vice-Chancellor of the University of Benin in 1985, she became the first female Vice-Chancellor of an African university. She held the position of Vice-Chancellor until 1991.
Professor Alele-Williams also served on a number of committees and boards, and she made significant contributions to the advancement of Nigerian education.
For a decade (1963–1973), Alele-Williams worked as a consultant for UNESCO and the Institute of International Education Planning. She was the chairman of the curriculum revision committee at Bendel State University from 1973 until 1979. She was the chairman of the Lagos State Curriculum Review Committee and the Lagos State Examinations Boards from 1979 to 1985.
She joined the board of directors of Chevron-Texaco Nigeria after serving as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Benin. She was also the World Organization for Early Childhood Education’s vice president and later the Nigerian chapter’s president.
In the biography of Grace Alele Williams, it is sacrosanct to mention books she authored along with numerous awards and laurels
Alele-Williams authored the book “Modern Mathematics Handbook for Teachers” and contributed to various national and international academic journals.
Professor Grace Alele Williams has received numerous honors, including becoming the first Nigerian woman to get a doctorate degree. Order of the Niger 1987, Fellow of the Nigerian Mathematical Association and the Nigerian Academy of Education, Merit Award Winner of Bendel State in Nigeria, and Regional Vice President for Africa of the Third World Organization for Women in Science” (Science in Africa: Women Leading from Strength AAAS, Washington, 1993). Professor Williams also serves as the Chairwoman of the African Mathematical Union Commission for Women in Mathematics (AMUCWMA).
Not shortly after returning to Nigeria from the United States, Alele-Williams married Babatunde Abraham Williams (b. 1932). Williams was a political scientist and a senior lecturer at the University of Ife in Osun State at the time of their marriage.
Professor Grace Alele Williams is the widow of the late Professor Babatunde Williams, and they had five children and nine grandkids.
