Ijeoma Akunyili, fondly and popularly known as Ije Akunyili, is a typical example of a chip off the old block, when it is used to represent everything positive, good and attractive. She is the daughter of one of Nigeria’s finest administrator, Dr. Dora Akunyili, who served the country in various capacities including as the famous, no-nonsense Director General of the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
An Nigerian-American medical practitioner today, the younger Akunyili has become an epitome of parental expectations, striding gingerly in the footsteps of her mother, and creating niche after niche for herself and institutions she has come to represent.
The success stories of Ijeoma are just getting fresher, as say in and day out, the world is inundated with one solid achievement after another credited to the ebullient medical practitioner.
Just this July of 2024, it was announced that The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) in the US elected Ijeoma Akunyili as an alumni board member of the institution. She was named alongside eight others from different countries. This is a newer cap added to an avalanche of caps that deck her intelligent head.
A graduate of Summa Cum Laude from the University of Pennsylvania, Ijeoma has a Masters of Public Administration degree from Harvard. This, she obtained before going on to work as a Junior Professional Associate for the World Bank. She also attended the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and had her emergency medicine residency at the McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston.
Ijeoma was the regional medical director for TeamHealth’s Northeast Group where she managed the operations of nearly 20 emergency departments, critical care, and hospitalist service lines in New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and New York. She had also served as the chair of emergency medicine at Waterbury Hospital. She is the current President of the Connecticut College of Emergency Physicians.
A prolific achiever, Ijeoma had on January 11, 2023, received the Jersey City Medical Centre appointment as their Chief Medical Officer. She therefore, became the hospital’s first Black Chief Medical Officer in its history. Her elevation to the top job at a time her career was just budding was a clear signal that the young Nigerian has so much up sleeves in terms delivery, experience and international exposure.
She is not however, a newcomer to elevations and Awards as in 2016, she received the Rising Star Award from the American Association of Women Emergency Physicians.
Also, in 2019, Ijeoma Akunyili was named the Medical Director of the Year for her generous efforts in work at the Waterbury Hospital Emergency Department, and recently in 2024, she got recognised as Becker’s Hospital Review Black Healthcare leaders to know.
A workaholic, Ijeoma is also an award winning homemaker, winning from the homefront, and setting the path for greater glory for her children as her own mum did.
She is married to Aris Brou, and they are blessed with two children.
As already stated as regards her parental origin, she iis the first daughter of Dr. Chike Akunyili and Dora Akunyili, who among many things is a former Minister of Information and National Orientation.