UNILAG’s best-graduating student, Akanmu bags prestigious Stanford uni scholarship

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 released on Tuesday by Stanford University's Knight-Hennessy Scholars.

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 announcement.

According to the release, UNILAG is the only African university out of the 60 that produced the 90 new scholars from the 2024 cohort.

The largest-ever Knight-Hennessy students cohort to date, consisting of ninety new students, was announced today by Stanford University. Students from 30 different nations make up this seventh cohort, which will enrol in 45 graduate programmes offered by Stanford's seven graduate schools. Scholars having citizenship from Austria, Bahrain, Belarus, Bolivia, Bulgaria, France, and Sri Lanka are included in the cohort for the first time.

The Knight-Hennessy Scholars programme at Stanford University is a multicultural, multidisciplinary graduate fellowship that encompasses all seven schools. According to the statement, Knight-Hennessy scholars are awarded up to three years of financial support to continue graduate studies at Stanford while participating in programmes that help them become brave, imaginative, and cooperative leaders who tackle the world's most difficult problems.

"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 Akanni is the third alumnus to be honoured with the Knight-Hennessy Scholar Award.

At the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, Akankun, the third graduate of UNILAG to be awarded the Knight-Hennessy Scholar Award, will pursue a Ph.D. in Energy Science and Engineering.
"At the UNILAG Convocation Ceremonies held in January 2024, he graduated with a perfect Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 5.0 in Civil Engineering," the statement stated.

On behalf of the University Senate and the community, Vice-Chancellor Prof. Folasade Ogunsola commended Akanmu on his accomplishment.