David Akanmu, the University of Lagos’ top graduating student in 2024, has been named a Knight-Hennessy Scholar for that year. This was revealed in a statement by Stanford University’s Knight-Hennessy Scholars on Tuesday.
According to the announcement, Akanmu was one of five Africans—and the only one from an African academic institution—selected to be a part of the largest cohort—the class of 2024—since the award’s creation.
According to the release, UNILAG is the only African university out of the 60 that produced the 90 new scholars from the 2024 cohort.
“Knight-Hennessy Scholars at Stanford University today announced its 2024 cohort of 90 new scholars, the largest to date. This seventh cohort comprises students from 30 countries who will pursue degrees in 45 graduate programmes across all seven graduate schools at Stanford. For the first time, the cohort includes scholars with citizenship from Austria, Bahrain, Belarus, Bolivia, Bulgaria, France, and Sri Lanka.
“Knight-Hennessy Scholars is a multidisciplinary, multicultural graduate fellowship programme spanning all seven schools at Stanford University. Knight-Hennessy scholars receive up to three years of financial support to pursue graduate studies at Stanford while engaging in experiences that prepare them to be visionary, courageous, and collaborative leaders who address complex challenges facing the world,” the statement reads in part.
“Scholars are selected based on their demonstration of independence of thought, purposeful leadership, and a civic mindset,” the institution continued.
Emeritus president of Stanford University and Shriram Family Director of Knight-Hennessy Scholars John L. Hennessy stated, “I am even more encouraged about the future with each new cohort of scholars.” The complexity of the problems facing our globe only increases, proving the significance of our work here.
UNILAG announced on its X account on Wednesday that Akanmu is the third alumnus to be honored with the Knight-Hennessy Scholar Award.
“Akanmu, who is the third UNILAG graduate to receive the Knight-Hennessy Scholar Award, will be pursuing a Ph.D . in Energy Science and Engineering at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability.
“He graduated with a perfect Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 5.0 in Civil Engineering at the UNILAG Convocation Ceremonies held in January 2024,” the post read.
On his behalf the University Senate and the community, Vice-Chancellor Prof. Folasade Ogunsola commended Akanmu on his accomplishment.
