Biography of Dr. Nkechi Agwu, President of AAUW NYC Branch

Nkechi Agwu, Ph.D., is the President of the American Association of University Women New York City (AAUW NYC) Branch. She is a past Executive Vice President, Program Co-Vice President, Public Policy Chair, Black History Chair, By-laws Committee Member, Emerging Leader and Educational Foundation Honoree of the Branch. She has given several workshops and presentations for students and parents within the NYC Branch’s Explore Your Opportunities (EYO) Conference, College/University Program and Black History Program. She is currently spearheading efforts of the NYC Branch in developing a free Mathematics Tutorial Program for College/University and High School students and in documenting the lives of women, men and programs that have made a significant difference to the community through recognition within the NYC Branch Memorial Trust Fund. Under her leadership as Black History Chair, the NYC Branch initiated its annual Martin Luther King Day Celebrations to foster values of civil rights and equality for all. The Branch MLK Day celebrations in 2010 will take place in conjunction with the Winter Open House on Monday, January 18, 2010.

Dr. Agwu is a member of the Leadership Corps of AAUW. She is a past AAUW New York State (NYS) Special Projects Awardee and a past member of the NYS Nominations Committee and Public Policy Committee. She is a Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL) Faculty for the Twenty-first Century (F21), Class of 1997, and has received professional development in leadership from PKAL at its summer institutes for Heads of Departments, Deans, Directors, Vice Presidents and Presidents of colleges and universities.

Dr. Agwu is a Professor of Mathematics at the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC), City University of New York (CUNY), a certified BMCC Community Emergency Response Team member and a past Director of their Teaching Learning Center. She is a recipient of the CUNY Excellence Award and of the Professional Staff Congress of CUNY Friends of CUNY Award for service related to the tragic events of September 11, 2001.

Dr. Agwu is a member of the Bronx Volunteer Fire Patrol (BVFP), Company #4, and of the Firemen’s Association of the State of New York (FASNY). She is a recipient of the Sierra-Leone President’s Bronze Award (1980) for community service as a Junior Rotarian in advancing the cause of the aged homeless community in Freetown, Sierra-Leone. A former Title I Officer of the Parents Association of P.S. 182 in the Bronx, she served as an advocate for parents of P.S. 182 with the school, the District and the Department of Education. She organized, coordinated and presented at several workshops at P.S. 182 for the educational advancement of parents and their children.

Dr. Agwu received her doctoral degree from Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, with a major in Mathematics Education and a minor in gender studies and multicultural education. She received her master’s degree in mathematics from the University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, and her bachelor’s degree with honors in mathematics from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria. She received a certificate and advanced certificate in the History of Mathematics and Its Uses in Teaching from the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) Institute in the History of Mathematics and Its Uses in Teaching at the American and Catholic Universities, Washington D.C. She is the Historian of the American Mathematical Association of Two Year Colleges (AMATYC), an AMATYC INPUT awardee for innovation in teaching, and the Writing Team Chair for the chapter on instruction of AMATYC’s signature document, Beyond Crossroads. She is a member of the Centennial History Committee of MAA and a Life Patron and Life Fellow of the International Biographical Association (IBA). She has received honorable mention on many Who’s Who listings, including Who’s Who in the World, Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who Among American Teachers.