Anne-Marie Imafidon is a British mathematics, computing and language child prodigy. She took the science community by storm in her early years, breaking academic records for fun.
Anne-Marie Imafidon Biography
Anne-Marie Imafidon was born with the full name Anne-Marie Osawemwense Ore-Ofe Imafidon in 1990 to Nigerian parents Chris Imafidon (father) and Ann Imafidon (mother).
Her father, Chris, is an ophthalmologist who migrated to the United Kingdom, from Edo State in 1990. She has three younger siblings – Christina and twins Peter and Paula – who are part of a family that has become known as the “smartest family in Britain”.
British-Nigerian prodigy Imafidon had her elementary education at St Saviour Church of England Primary School in Walthamstow, London, from where she proceeded to the Lyceum Institute of Technology in East Ham, London, graduating as the youngest person ever to obtain a qualification in Information Technology.
She also won a scholarship to the private School St Joseph’s Convent School in Reading at age 10. Anne-Marie also won herself a British scholarship to study mathematics at Johns Hopkins University in 2003, at 13.
At 15, she was admitted by the University of Oxford for a degree program, finishing at 17, in 2007. She would later begin a master’s degree at Oxford University in the same year, becoming the youngest ever graduate with a master’s degree at 19, in June 2010.
Anne-Marie and her siblings have consistently as a family broken age records in educational attainments. Her twin siblings, who are also musicians, are the youngest students to ever pass the University of Cambridge’s advanced mathematics exam.
Paula Imafidon, a county champion in rugby, said she hopes to teach math while Peter said he would like to serve as Prime Minister in the future. Like his twin, the latter is a 100m and 400m relay champion in the United Kingdom.
Her immediate younger sister, Christiana is currently making waves as a mathematician and statistician. She skyrocketed to stardom when she passed her Maths GCSE at age 9 and gained several scholarship admissions to start secondary education.
Christiana loves to play sports such as hockey, football, netball, and athletics in her spare time.
Their father currently works as a renowned scholar and international education consultant to several governments. In addition, Chris reportedly coaches and mentors American students at various academic levels using Skype and web technology.
Facts About The Nigerian-born Science Prodigy
1. Scholarship Award
Anne passed two GCSEs in Mathematics and ICT at the age of 10, being the youngest girl to pass A-level computing at age 11, receiving a British Scholarship to study Mathematics. She became the youngest to be awarded a Masters’ degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Oxford at age 20.
2. Royal Recognition
Queen Elizabeth II, awarded Anne-Marie Imafidon an MBE, Member of the Order of the British Empire, for her work inspiring the next generation of women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). At 27, Imafidon is the youngest scientist to get a royal recognition since 1890.
3. Career
Imafidon worked briefly for Goldman Sachs, Hewlett Packard, and Deutschebank. Presently, she is the CEO and co-founder of Stemettes, an award-winning social enterprise for young girls interested in STEM. She launched the organisation in February 2013 to bridge the gender gap in science, technology, engineering and math after she realised the meagre number of women in the industry.
Anne-Marie is also Advisor to Financial Sector Deepening-Mozambique Fund (FSDMF), financed by the UK Department for International Development (DFID). She also occupies a high-level position at an international investment bank in London.
4. Honour
In 2013, Imafidon was awarded BCS (British Computer Society) Young IT professional of the year. The following year, she also received Women of the Year award by Red Magazine. In the same, she was awarded the Prime Minister’s Points of Light Award.
5. She has been listed as a “person to watch” by numerous major publications, including the Guardian, which named her one of ten women in ‘tech you need to meet.’
6. She has been named in the list of 100 inspirational and innovative women for 2017, Imafidon made the list for her role in supporting women to go into careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
7. At the age of 10, Anne-Marie Imafidon could speak six languages.
8. Anne-Marie Imafidon is very active on social media. She can be found on Instagram and Twitter. Her Twitter ID is @aimafidon.