Board of Trustees

Born in 1961 in the historic city of Kano, Professor Hauwa Imam is a distinguished academic in educational administration and management with over four decades of varied professional experience. Her academic journey began with a B.A. (Hons) from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, followed by a Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) and a Master’s degree in Educational Management. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Lagos, Akoka Yaba in 1998. Professor Imam became a Professor at the University of Abuja in 2011, where she founded the Institute of Education, serving as its pioneering Director in 2004. Her leadership positions at the University of Abuja have also included Dean of the Faculty of Education, Director of the Centre for Gender Security Studies and Youth Advancement, Director of Consultancy Services, and Director of University Bookshop Services.

Professor Imam has a long-standing commitment to mentoring future leaders in education, having successfully supervised and graduated numerous Ph.D. and Master's degree holders. Her extensive research and scholarship are reflected in her numerous publications in refereed journals and in her collaborations with scholars across the globe.

In her pursuit of educational innovation, Professor Imam introduced Blended Learning at the Institute of Education in September 2022, in line with the University of Abuja's dual-mode mandate. In 2023, she secured a grant from the Commonwealth of Learning (CoL) in Canada to build staff capacity in the design of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses). In 2024, she led the development and launch of the "Teaching Science with Technology" MOOC (TSTMOOC), which ran for six weeks with participants from 53 countries. Following this success, Professor Imam secured another CoL grant in September 2024 to develop an online International Postgraduate Diploma in Education for the African region and the Commonwealth. This will stamp the University’s position as the centre of MOOCs excellence.

Her professional affiliations and recognitions highlight her stature within the field of educational administration and management. She has been a member of several prestigious national and international associations, including her role as National President of the Nigerian Association for Educational Administration and Planning (NAEAP) from 2018 to 2022, and her current position as Vice President of the Commonwealth Council for Educational Administration and Management (CCEAM) (2022-2024). Among her accolades, she received the University of Lagos Law Society Award in 1996 for her contributions to women's empowerment through her TV soap *Winds of Destiny*. Professor Imam is a Fellow of CCEAM, NAEAP, and the Chartered Institute of Administration, and she holds memberships in the British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration Society (BELMAS) and the Nigerian Academy of Education. She also served on the Technical Advisory Group of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) from 2000 to 2024.

Beyond academia, Professor Imam has provided consultancy services to various Nigerian federal ministries, including Education, Women’s Affairs, National Planning, and Youth Development. She was a key member of Nigeria’s Vision 20:2020 team and has served as a consultant to several international organizations. These include her role as national consultant to UN Women on Women, Peace, and Security in Nigeria, and as a consultant for DFID's mid-term review of *Voices4Change*. She also contributed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands' survey on traditional rulers in Nigeria. Professor Imam is a celebrated poet, writer, commissioned researcher, and author.

Currently, Professor Imam serves as the Director of the Institute of Education at the University of Abuja, which is the largest center at the university with an 8,000-student capacity. Her leadership is marked by innovation, quest for excellence, dedication, and a firm stance against corruption, earning her great respect within the university and beyond. In August 2024, she was elected unopposed as President of the Commonwealth Council for Educational Administration and Management (CCEAM) at its AGM in Nicosia, Cyprus.