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June 04, 2005
I Was Voted AFRICAN OF THE YEAR
Washington, DC - June 4, 2005
DC Convention Center
My wife, mother and son accompanied me to the African People's Intercontinental Awards. We had a great time and enjoyed meeting a dozen Nollywood stars.
The oration (as prepared for delivery):
Son of Africa, supercomputer pioneer, we honor you. We heed Kwame Nkrumah’s warning that, “socialism without science is void” in honoring you for crowning Africa with shining scientific discoveries. When you won the 1989 Gordon Bell prize, the “Nobel Prize of Supercomputing,” then-president Bill Clinton called you, “one of the great minds of the Information Age.” The New African magazine readers ranked you as the greatest African scientist ever. Ladies and gentlemen, for his groundbreaking discoveries and for the sheer force of his mind, we present Africa Man of the Year Award to PHILIP EMEAGWALI.
My acceptance remark:
Thank you for recognizing two scientists - Wangari Maathai and myself. We accept our awards on behalf of other African scientists that also helped push back the frontiers of knowledge and create our collective future. On behalf of all African scientists, I say thank you.
Posted by emeagwali at 11:10 PM | Comments (3)