ProfessorUzoma Odera Okoye is a Professor in the Department of Social Work at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. She was a Fulbright Scholar at Boston College, and a Dick Splane Scholar at the University of British Columbia Vancouver. She obtained her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Social Gerontology in 2002. She also obtained a Certificate in Applied Gerontology at the University of North Texas, Denton United States of America in May, 2014. She became the first Social Work Professor in Nigeria in 2011. She has been a two-time head of the Department of Social Work, at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and was the founding Head of Department of Social Work at the University of Benin, Benin-city.
Prof Okoye has been involved in many research projects. She has been a Senior Consultant for the Federal Ministry of Social Welfare and Development for the Review of Social Development Policy for Nigeria and a consultant for The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) when she served as an International Census Monitor for the Pakistani Population and Housing Census in March 2017. Prof Okoye has served as PhD External examiner to universities within and outside Nigeria as well as assessors for colleagues seeking academic promotions to the professorial cadre. She has authored over a hundred journal articles and has graduated over fifty Masters and PhD students. She is the current convener of the Association of Social Work Educators of Nigeria (ASWEN) and is married to a fellow professor and they are blessed with four children. Her current research interests include gerontology, migration, public health, gender, and social work education.
