Nigerian born Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon has become one of the youngest people in the UK to be awarded an MBE, Member of the Order of the British Empire (
Nigerian born Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon has become one of the youngest people in the UK to be awarded an MBE, Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in recognition of her services to young women. Dr Imafidon, 27, is the eldest child from a family described by experts as world’s smartest family and is the founder and chief executive officer of multi-award-winning organization, Stemettes.
The MBE, her latest in a long string of awards in her honour comes just months after being invited to speak to university leaders including vice chancellors in London, Oxford and Cambridge. Her organisation seeks to inspire and support young women into science, technology, engineering and maths careers.
When she first got notification of the MBE last year, she said, “I’m ecstatic beyond words as this is divine and simply God-sent. Nobody would have expected this when my journey started with the mathematical and science games at Excellence in Education (EIE) programme a few years ago.
“This programme equipped me with the unique pedagogical techniques which makes learning fun and it is radically different from conventional school. It helps anyone tackle educational and even professional challenges with ease.”
Her father, a world renowned expert and government adviser, Professor Chris Imafidon, said:
“If one gets an award, one is very excited but if one’s child gets such award, that is a step further than anyone could have imagined. I am still pinching myself as this is more than a miracle.”
Professor Imafidon, who now chairs the ExcellenceinEducation.org.uk programme, known for supporting inner-city pupils, added that science and technology is the future. He stressed therefore, is too important to be left to schools alone, pointing out that EIE and similar programmes play a vital role in society.
Anne-Marie holds the record of being the youngest girl to ever pass two GCSE examinations for Mathematics and Information Technology and A-level computing at the age of 11 in Britain. Due to her high exceptional brilliance, she received a British Scholarship to study Mathematics at John Hopkins University at the age of 13 in 2003. Two years later, she commenced a degree at Oxford University after which she enrolled for her Masters degree, setting another record of the youngest Masters degree holder from the university.
Imafidon who speaks six languages and has worked with Goldman Sachs, Hewlett-Packard, Deutsche Bank, and Lehman Brothers. In 2013, she founded Stemettes, a social enterprise which inspires the next generation of women into pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics with an objective to break barriers women who pursue a career in the field face.
Stemettes, which grants awards to young women, have programs workshops and events designed to introduce young women to STEM careers, concepts, and role models, have attracted over 7000 young women from across the UK, Ireland and Europe.
Imafidon’s rather unique achievements at a young age has stood her out as a person to watch out for by the British press; she was named on Evening Standard’s list of ’25 under 25s’ and a Guardian ‘Top 10 women in tech you need to know’ as well as being the UK IT Industry & British Computer Society’s Young IT Professional of the Year in 2013.
Her father, Prof. Imafidion sandwiched between British officers
