Philip Emeagwali

Profile of Mr. Philip Emeagwali

Mr. Philip Emeagwali was born in Akure – a town in South Western Nigeria – on the 23rd of August, 1954. Due to the Civil War that broke out in Nigeria in the year 1967, Philip’s early school had to be suspended and he – alongside many other children – had to drop out of school for security reasons. At the time the war started, Philip was thirteen years of age and due to circumstance, he joined the Biafran army. When the war came to an end, Philip did not exactly go back to school but he completed the equivalent of high school through self-study.

After his self-study through high school, Philip traveled to the United States. This journey to the United States was under the auspices of a scholarship he had earned after completing a correspondence course at the University of London. Finally, in 1977, he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics at Oregon State University. Later on, he moved to Washington DC, where he bagged a Master’s degree in Ocean and Maritime Engineering from George Washington University in 1986. He went on to the University of Maryland where he got his second Master’s degree in Applied Mathematics. According to Next magazine, it was suggested that Mr. Emeagwali claimed to have bagged further degrees. While he studied, Philip Emeagwali was a civil engineer and he worked at the Bureau of Land Reclamation in Wyoming.

In 1987, Philip enrolled for a Ph.D. at the University of Michigan – a program he ran till 1991. Sadly, Philip’s thesis was not approved by the committee of examiners and for this reason; the degree was not awarded to him. Emeagwali took this case to court because he had the course to believe that the committee discriminated against him racially and this was definitely an infringement on his civil rights. His lawsuit was dismissed and he went on to make an appeal to the Michigan state Court of Appeals.

In 1989, Philip Emeagwali received the Gordon Bell Prize for his brainiac skills in the computer when he designed a computer program that brought about a paradigm shift in oil-reservoir modeling, by using a strange but very effective and efficient mathematical formulation. He was given a prize of $1,000 as part of his reward.

Emeagwali’s supposed achievements have stirred up a lot of controversy over the years, but regardless of that, it is beyond doubts that he is indeed an Einstein of his time. In an analysis that was done by New African magazine some time ago, Emeagwali was voted as the thirty-fifth greatest African and he was voted as the greatest African scientist of all time. According to a speech that was delivered by Bill Clinton, Philip Emeagwali’s accomplishments were a representation of what Nigerians had the capacity to achieve when they had the opportunity within their reach.

Philip is married to Mrs. Dale Brown Emeagwali, who is a renowned African-American microbiologist.

In 1987, Philip enrolled for a Ph.D. at the University of Michigan – a program he ran till 1991. Sadly, Philip’s thesis was
not approved by the committee of examiners and for this reason; the degree was not awarded to him. Emeagwali took this case to court because he had the course to believe that the committee discriminated against him racially and this was definitely an infringement on his civil rights. His lawsuit was dismissed and he went on to make an appeal to the Michigan state Court of Appeals.

In 1989, Philip Emeagwali received the Gordon Bell Prize for his brainiac skills in the computer when he designed a computer

program that brought about a paradigm shift in oil-reservoir modeling, by using a strange but very effective and efficient
mathematical formulation. He was given a prize of $1,000 as part of his reward. Emeagwali’s supposed achievements have stirred up a lot of controversy over the years, but regardless of that, it is beyond doubts that he is indeed an Einstein of his time. In an analysis that was done by New African magazine some time ago, Emeagwali was voted as the thirty-fifth greatest African and he was voted as the greatest African scientist of all time. According to a speech
that was delivered by Bill Clinton, Philip Emeagwali’s accomplishments were a representation of what Nigerians had
the capacity to achieve when they had the opportunity within their reach. Philip is married to Mrs. Dale Brown Emeagwali, who is a renowned African-American microbiologist.