US varsity honours Nigerian PhD student, Saidat Balogun

Southern Illinois University (SIU) in the United States has awarded the 2024 Distinguished Student Award to Nigerian Saidat Rasaq Balogun.

Saidat, a doctoral student at SIU, was honoured alongside seven other students from the university’s campuses in Carbondale, Edwardsville, and Springfield.

The awards were conferred by the SIU Board of Trustees and the Student Advisory Committee for the SIU System (SACSS).

SIU System President Dan Mahony stated that SACSS received applications from across the system and selected an undergraduate and a graduate student each from Edwardsville and Carbondale, as well as one student from the SIU schools of medicine, law, pharmacy, and dental medicine.

“SIU is proud to have so many accomplished students who are making significant impacts both on campus and in the greater communities,” Mahony said.

Saidat, a first-class student from the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA), has made significant contributions at SIU as a teacher, researcher, and volunteer, the statement said.

It added that she currently serves as Vice President of the SIU International Student Council.

“Serving international students is a key part of Saidat’s life at SIU. On campus, she works with numerous organisations focused on helping international and African students.

“Saidat’s service even extends to her home, where she often provides temporary housing to international students as they arrive or if they face challenges.

“She makes inclusivity a top priority as she takes the initiative to ensure that international students can find communities where they belong at SIU,” Mahony said.

Saidat, speaking with newsmen, shared that she is in her third year at the Environmental Resource and Policy Department on the Carbondale campus. Her PhD research aims to understand historical and projected future changes in warm seasons and heat stress in the Midwestern United States.