I was a single mum of three during my PhD – Nigerian named Cambridge university college president

DAILY TRUST

A Nigerian-born Professor of Pharmaceutical Nanoscience, Ijeoma Uchegbu, who was recently announced as the seventh President of Wolfson College, one of the 31 colleges of the University of Cambridge, on Tuesday morning narrated her academic journey. 

According to the institution, she is set to assume the role on October 1, 2024, succeeding the current President, Prof Jane Clarke.

Uchegbu, who is currently holding the position of a Professor in Pharmaceutical Neuroscience at the University College London, is from Owerri, Imo State.

In an interview on Arise TV, she said she commenced her pharmacy studies in 1981 at the University of Benin, after which she pursued her Master’s degree at the University of Lagos before moving to the United Kingdom for her PhD due to infrastructure limitations.

After returning to the UK, she said she undertook postgraduate studies at the University of London, culminating in a PhD in 1997 under the guidance of Alexander (Sandy) Florence, the Dean of the School of Pharmacy.

Subsequently, she served as a lecturer at the University of Strathclyde from 2002 to 2004.

Though noted that she came to Nigeria for the first time as a teenager, saying, “I had never been to Nigeria before then. I arrived in Nigeria for the first time in the 1970s. My parents are from Owerri. So moving from London to Owerri in Nigeria was quite a huge difference. But I quickly settled down. I went to secondary school in Nigeria. When I completed secondary school, I went to the University of Benin. And I can tell you that I thoroughly enjoyed being in the University of Benin. I had great lecturers. It was a dream.

“After that, I went to the University of Lagos for my masters degree while also being a member of staff. It was really nice then in the 1980s. We had students who were really motivated to learn. So it was really a friendly environment for me. And one of the reasons I say that going to Nigeria as a teenager was great was due to the availability of role models who motivated me to aspire a little more than I was willing to do while I was living in London. So for me, that was the big thing, the big difference.”

The Nigerian-British is now a Professor of Pharmacy at the University College London where she held the position of Pro-Vice Provost for Africa and the Middle East.

She is the Chief Scientific Officer of Nanomerics…