University at Buffalo Scholar Wins Two of Science Fiction’s Most Prestigious Awards

Nnedi Okorafor, an associate professor of English at the University at Buffalo of the State University of New York System, is only the fourth author in the past two decades who has won both the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award for the same novella. The awards are among the highest honors given to science fiction authors.

The Hugo award is presented by the World Science Fiction Society and the Nebula Award is given out by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Professor Okorafor was honored for her novella Binti (2015), which tells the story of a young African woman who must leave her family in order to attend the galaxy’s most prestigious university.

Dr. Okorafor is a graduate of the University of Illinois, where she majored in rhetoric. She earned a master’s degree at Michigan State University and a second master’s degree and a Ph.D. in English at the University of Illinois-Chicago.