Female UNN Professor Wins UNESCO'S $100,000 Prize For Physical Sciences

A Nigerian professor at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, UNN, Francisca Okeke has won the 2013 laureate award for her contributions “to the understanding of daily variations of the ion currents in the upper atmosphere which may further our understanding of climate change.”

A second Nigerian award recipient, Dr Eucharia Nwaichi, an environmental bio-chemist from the University of Port Harcourt, joined 15 other young scientists in the “International Fellows” category.

During the ceremony that took place last weekend in Paris, she bagged the prize of $100,000 as one of the winners of the 2013 L’Oréal-UNESCO awards in Physical Sciences.

She was the only recipient in that category from Africa and the Arab nations and the third Nigerian Laureate since the UNESCO-L’Oreal partnership was established in 1998.

Francisca Okeke is an inspiration, for us all.