Professor Oghenetega Ighedo has become the first Black woman to earn a doctorate in Pure Mathematics from University of South Africa, marking a historic milestone in the institution’s 148-year history.
The Nigerian-born academic achieved the feat while serving as an Associate Professor in UNISA’s Department of Mathematical Sciences, completing her PhD in just three years despite balancing the responsibilities of motherhood.
Ighedo’s academic journey began at Delta State University, where she obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Mathematics. She later earned a Master of Science in Pure Mathematics from University of Ibadan before pursuing her doctoral studies at UNISA.
She credited her passion for mathematics to her mother, a retired mathematics teacher, whose influence inspired her from an early age.
“I was inspired by my mother. I saw the way she taught mathematics, and as I grew older, I found it interesting and wanted to do it like her,” she said as quoted by Women Power Africa.
