American Association of Petroleum Geologists Honours UNN Lecturer with Distinguished Educator Award

A Senior Lecturer in the Department of Geology at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Chidozie Izuchukwu Princeton Dim, has been honoured with the Grover E. Murray Memorial Distinguished Educator Award by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG).

Dr. Dim was nominated for the prestigious award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to geology education, research and professional development.

He is scheduled to receive the award during the IMAGE 2026 Honours and Awards Ceremony in Houston, Texas, United States.

An internationally recognised scholar, Dr. Dim is renowned for his research and teaching in reservoir characterisation from outcrop to subsurface, high-resolution sequence stratigraphy and regional-scale hydrocarbon prospectivity analysis.

Over the years, he has built an impressive record of multidisciplinary collaboration with industry experts and researchers on regional and global hydrocarbon prospectivity studies.

His research has contributed significantly to studies across several major petroleum basins, including:

• Nigeria's inland basins.
• Onshore and offshore Niger Delta Basin.
• Alaska North Slope Basin.
• Offshore São Tomé and Príncipe.
• Danish North Sea.
• Mid-Norwegian Shelf.
• West Waha and Worsham-Bayer fields.
• North Viking Graben.
• Barents Sea-Finnmark region.

The recognition further strengthens UNN's growing reputation for academic excellence and international research impact.

The university noted that several of its academics have received major national and international recognition in recent months.

Among them:

• Obinna Onwujekwe of the Faculty of Health Sciences was named among the world's top researchers in the prestigious Talent 100 global ranking.
• Nnanna Onuoha Arukwe and his research team were recognised by Affilia Praxis for their contributions to feminist studies, interdisciplinary scholarship and international research collaboration.
• Franca Okechukwu, Simon Chinedu Eze and Ibiwari C. Dike were recognised among contributors to a landmark academic achievement marked by the public presentation of 72 scholarly books at the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) Auditorium in Abuja.
• The Elsevier Global Scientist Ranking also listed 19 UNN scholars among the top two per cent of scientists globally, the highest number recorded by any Nigerian university.

The latest honour adds to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka's growing profile of international academic recognition and celebrates Dr. Dim's contributions to geology education, research and the global petroleum industry.