In recognition of her trailblazing contributions to computing and digital innovation across Africa, our dynamic Vice-Chancellor, Professor Francisca O. Oladipo has been awarded the prestigious Fellowship of the British Computer Society (BCS), The Chartered Institute for IT.
In a news release published on the London Daily Post website, the BCS acknowledged Professor Oladipo’s pioneering work in implementing FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) data systems across multiple African countries and her visionary leadership in leveraging technology to address global development challenges in resource-constrained environments.
An accomplished academic and researcher, Professor Oladipo holds a PhD in Computer Science from Nnamdi Azikiwe University and completed a prestigious postdoctoral fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2014. She has also undergone advanced training at globally renowned institutions, including the Machine Learning Summer School in Madrid, the Institute of Analytics and Data Science at the University of Essex (UK), and the University of Oxford’s Continuing Education program in Data Science.
Her international recognition has been further amplified by multiple research grants totaling over $300,000 from Google, including the ExploreCSR Research Grant, TensorFlow Research Funding, and the Google Award for Inclusion Research. In 2016, she was selected as a TechWomen Emerging Leader by the United States Department of State, where she completed a professional fellowship at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California.
At Thomas Adewumi University, our Vice-Chancellor has distinguished herself as a transformative leader. Through global collaborations with organizations such as MIT, Oracle, and Huawei, she has established several research hubs and digital skills academies. Under her leadership, TAU has risen from 252nd to 41st in Nigeria’s university rankings and is now the top-ranked institution among universities licensed in 2021.
Commenting on her Fellowship, Prof. Oladipo said, “This recognition from the BCS reinforces the importance of African perspectives in global digital policy and innovation. The future of technology must be inclusive, culturally informed, and ethically grounded.”
Beyond her technical and academic achievements, she has mentored over 500 students and established data stewardship centres across Uganda, Nigeria, Tunisia, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, and Tanzania—further solidifying her commitment to building a sustainable digital future for Africa.
Her BCS Fellowship affirms her personal excellence and Thomas Adewumi University's rising stature as a beacon of innovation, research, and ethical computing leadership in Africa and beyond.
