Zanele Madinane
South African engineer
Tag Archives: African Descent
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Aïssata Issoufou Mahamadou
She is thought to be one of the first Nigerien women to pursue a career in the sciences and headed the mineralogy division of SOMAIR, the national mining company of Niger. She is the first wife of former President Mahamadou Issoufou (‘First Lady’ 2011-21) and has used her influence to improve access to health care in her country.
Winifred Burks-Houck
Chemical engineer and specialist on environmental hazards and minimizing potential threats to worker safety. She was the first female president of National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE)(1993 – 2001), which was founded in 1972.
Léonie Abo
Congolese writer and activist Léonie Abo is best known for her role in the 1963-65 Kwilu rebellion.
Grace d’Almeida
Beninese lawyer, feminist and human rights activist
Dora Tamana
South African anti-apartheid activist
Stella Obasanjo
As the wife of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Stella Obasanjo was the First Lady of Nigeria from 1999 until her death in 2005.
Dr Christine Grant
2022 President of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers
Janez Lawson
She became the first African-American hired into a technical position at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, as a ‘computer’. JPL sent her on a programming training course at IBM and she learnt speed coding and was promoted to ‘mathematician’.
Dr Stella Nyanzi
Ugandan medical anthropologist who has written about sexuality, HIV/AIDS and women’s health. She is also a political activist who campaigns for women and girls rights, as well as the rights of LGBTQIA+ people.