Nigerian Lady makes history at US university, becomes the first student to earn masters in Catastrophe Modeling
AFRICA | Urinrin Otite, a bright Nigerian woman, is the first person to graduate from Lehigh University’s Master of Science in Catastrophe Modeling and Resilience program in the United States.
Approved in 2023, the esteemed program is a component of Lehigh’s Center for Catastrophe Modeling and Resilience, a multidisciplinary research center founded in 2021.
The center’s primary goal is to further research and education in the area of modeling the effects of diseases, natural disasters, and other social crises in the US.
Otite completed the 30-credit requirement with an impressive Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 3.83 out of 4.0, earning her master’s degree.
She started her academic career with a first-class degree in civil engineering from the University of Port Harcourt in Nigeria.
Otite received the title of Best Graduating Student in the Faculty of Engineering (Class of 2012) upon graduating with a CGPA of 4.73 on a 5.0 scale.
In 2018, the U.S. Consulate in Lagos chose her as a scholar for the EducationUSA Opportunity Funds Program (OFP), which assists exceptional Nigerian students in obtaining fully supported graduate studies in the United States.
She was accepted into several prestigious universities through this program, including Stanford University, Johns Hopkins University, Lehigh University, the University of Alabama, and the University of California, Berkeley.
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Otite decided to pursue her PhD in Civil Engineering at Lehigh University, where she is presently enrolled in her fourth year. When Otite reflected on her remarkable accomplishment, she said it was a moment she will remember for the rest of her career.
“I am immensely impressed and proud. One accomplishment I will treasure throughout my career is becoming the first person at my university—and perhaps the entire United States—to obtain this degree, Otite stated.
“It’s exciting to be one of the few civil engineers who have learned how to model and manage risks related to natural disasters,” she continued.
Professor Paolo Bocchini, who is also the Director of the Center for Catastrophe Modeling and Resilience, is credited by Otite with helping her succeed academically.
“He constantly finds time to mentor each of his students, making sure we become the best versions of ourselves, even though he wears many leadership hats—director, professor, and key researcher,” she added.
For Otite, this accomplishment marks a significant turning point in her academic and professional careers.
She hopes to use the knowledge she has received from Catastrophe Modeling to benefit communities and lessen the effects of natural catastrophes as she pursues her PhD research on resilient energy infrastructure.
She thanked her program instructors, her advisor, the Catastrophe Modeling Center, as well as her friends and supporters. Otite is eager to observe the future developments in the field.
