Nigerian woman emerges as the first female Chancellor of Birmingham University

Sandie Okoro, a British-Nigerian, has become the first female Chancellor of the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom.

Okoro, who is now Group General Counsel at Standard Chartered, where she oversees the bank’s Legal, Group Corporate Secretariat, and Shared Investigative Services operations, is the university’s eighth Chancellor in its 124-year history.

According to the organisation, Okoro, who holds the title of Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE), has an impressive record of awards for her contributions to diversity, equality, and female rights.

According to the announcement, the Birmingham graduate succeeds Lord Bilimoria of Chelsea CBE, who will step down as Chancellor in July after a decade in the position, and follows in the footsteps of the Right Honourable Joseph Chamberlain and the Right Honourable Anthony Eden, Earl of Avon.

The university said, “Sandie is a proud University of Birmingham alumna, graduating with a degree in Law and Politics from Birmingham before qualifying as a barrister at City, University of London.

“After switching roles to solicitor, she held posts including Head of Legal for Corporate Services at Schroders, Global General Counsel at Barings and General Counsel for HSBC Global Asset Management. Sandie was also Senior Vice-President and General Counsel, and Vice-President for Compliance, for the World Bank Group.”

Vice-Chancellor of University of Birmingham, Adam Tickell said, “We are excited to welcome Sandie as our new Chancellor. She is a highly respected trailblazer in the corporate legal sector and is of course a proud University of Birmingham graduate. To hear her talk about breaking glass ceilings and aiming high is inspirational and reflects the attitude and passion of our university and our commitment to championing equality, diversity and inclusion.”