Professor Chinedum Peace Babalola, vice-chancellor of Chrisland University, has been conferred with the highest accolade a person can receive for humanitarian efforts – The Alvan Ikoku Distinguished Fellowship.
The award winning professor has been harvesting awards following her numerous contributions in education, outstanding scientific achievements and scientific research for socio-economic development in Africa.
The Chrisland’s VC was awarded the fellowship alongside other distinguished personalities like Chief Engr. Emmanuel c. iwuanyanwu; Archbishop of Owerri Catholic Archdiocese, His grace, Most Rev. Anthony J.V. Obinna; Prof. Ernest N. Emenyonu; Chief Chukwuma Ekomaru (SAN); Chief Leonard Stanley Ekeh; Hon. Deacon Chike Okafor; Prof. Benjamin Osisioma; and Capt. Emmanuel IIheanacho.
According to reports, the convocation ceremony of the college, which is being celebrated with a 4-day event, awarded NCE, B.Ed and PDE graduands of the college with their certificates.
The Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education, located in Owerri, Imo State was established in 1963. The College runs the Nigerian Certification in Education (NCE), the Bachelor of Education (B.Ed), in affiliation with the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and the Professional Diploma in Education (PDE) programmes.
Known as the woman of firsts, Prof. Babalola has also received the award of Advanced Industrial Pharmacy Training (IPAT) jointly issued to her from Kilimanjaro School of Pharmacy, Tanzania and Purdue University, USA.
She has bagged several grants, including the German Academic Exchange Service, World Bank and MacArthur Grant. In 2011, she won a $1 million MacArthur Foundation Grant to set up a Centre for Drug Discovery, Development and Production (CDDDP) called centre of excellence at the University of Ibadan.
Since she became a professor, she has supervised hundreds of undergraduate students and over 30 postgraduate students (PGD, MSC, M. Phil &PhD). She has published over 120 scholarly articles in reputable academic journals as well as books, book chapters, conference abstracts and monograph..