Nnedinma never thought he was going to be an academic but being the third generation of teachers or academics, you can say it runs in the family.
A Chartered Construction Manager, Dr Nnedinma Umeokafor [PhD, MSc (PM), MSc (QS&CM), PGCAP, Dip NCRQ, FHEA, FAPM, MCIOB] is a Senior Lecturer in Built Environment and Programme Leader at the School of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Faculty of Engineering and Science, University of Greenwich (UoG) (see University profile). Prior to joining UoG in 2022, he was a Senior Lecturer in Quantity Surveying at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU). Before this, he was a Senior Lecturer in Construction Law and the Course Leader for Undergraduate BSc programmes — Building Surveying, Quantity Surveying Consultancy, BSc Construction Management — in the Department of Civil Engineering, Surveying and Construction Management at Kingston University London (KUL). At KUL, he taught Construction Law and Contract Administration. He joined Kingston University in 2019 from University College of Estate Management (UCEM) where (from 2017 to 2019) he was a Lecturer and a member of the school’s Research Committee. He has held academic positions in other higher education institutions in the UK, for example in the University of Greenwich, and University of East London. Dr Umeokafor’s standing has been recongnised by being appointed an External Examiner (EE) for postgraduate (PhD and MSc) research in universities such as University of Johannesburg, South Africa; Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, South Africa; and University of Cape Town, South Africa. Kingston University, London has also appointed him to chair doctoral viva. He is also EE to academic programmes at De Montfort University, UK, and Cardiff Metropolitan University, UK. For many years, he was certified/approved by qualification awarding bodies not limited to Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) to deliver training. Dr Umeokafor has also held various industrial and consultancy positions abroad and the UK, the most recent being a Health and Safety Manager.
Dr Umeokafor exploits every opportunity to learn, as he sees and treats everyday as a learning opportunity, whether in the industry or education institution. Hence, the medium for acquiring education and knowledge is not limited to formal education in universities or colleges. This has been fundamental to his education and experience.
He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) and holds a chartered membership status with the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) as a Chartered Construction Manager (MCIOB). Dr Umeokafor is also a Fellow Member of the Association for Project Management (FAPM), a Graduate Member of the IOSH and was a Member the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM). He is also a Member of Health in Construction Leadership Group. Dr Umeokafor is a Mentor for CIOB “chartered membership professional review” applicants and Member of its Accreditation Panel. He is an Approved Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Construction and Built Environment Ambassador — Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) STEM Ambassador. CITB and Build UK have partnered with STEM Learning to provide the STEM Ambassador programmes. As a CITB Ambassador, Dr Umeokafor inspires and encourages young people to become the next generation of construction professionals, a way of giving back to the community. Working with IOSH Magazine and IOSH, he engages with the industry by stimulating discussions on burning issues through articles on IOSH Magazine. The magazine has a readership of over 48,000 occupational health and safety professionals around the world. His standing and contributions have been recognised by being invited by IOSH as one of the experts in a three-person discussion panel in a webinar series delivered to occupational health and safety professionals including IOSH members globally. This event was attended by over 890 people from across the world. He has also delivered talks at other major events including an international conference organised by African Research Universities Alliance where over 170 academics attended. He is the Secretary of IOSH London Metropolitan Construction Section (May 2021 to date).
He is qualified to doctoral level where he examined a complex construction health and safety regulatory regime and its links with the contextual environments.Other academic qualifications are not limited to: two master’s degrees, MSc in Project Management (sustainable behaviour dissertation), and MSc in Quantity Surveying and Commercial Management (digital technologies in infrastructure development dissertation); Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PGCAP), and the National Compliance and Risk Qualifications (NCRQ) and AIM Level 6 Diploma in Applied Health and Safety (Dip NCRQ) (equivalent to bachelor’s degree level).
Dr Umeokafor is research-active with over 70 scholarly output including publications in leading, reputable, refereed, built environment and safety, health and environment journals (e.g. Elsevier Safety Science [impact factor 6.392]), international conferences (e.g. International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction (CIB) W099) and book chapters. His publications have recognised by his peers resulting in awards (see honour/recognitions/awards for more details). While health safety and wellbeing is Dr Umeokafor’s main area of research, other areas are not limited to regulation and compliance; construction management; project management; equality, diversity and inclusion; and higher education research. His work has benefited from funding from organisations including CIB and Lloyd’s Register Foundation. Dr Umeokafor has presented papers in major international conference in Brazil, Nigeria and the UK. He has a h-index of 13 and i10 index of 16 (Google Scholar). He collaborates with leading academics in reputable universities across the world and industry practitioners in the UK and other countries such as Canada and Nigeria. Some of these academics abroad are in universities not limited to Curtin University, Australia; Massey University, New Zealand; University of Cape Town, South Africa; Federal Univerity of Technology, Minna, Nigeria; and University of Johannesburg, South Africa. He is a member of the Associate Editor of Journal of Construction Business and Management, Reviewer Board Member, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, and a Guest Editor in in high-ranking international journals (e.g., International Journal of Construction Management, Energies, International Journal of Construction Supply Chain Management, and Journal of Construction Busniess and Management). Further, he is a regular reviewer in, at least, 11 high-ranking international journals, and conferences not limited to the International Journal of Construction Management, Construction Management and Economics, Elsevier Safety Science, Journal of Engineering Design and Technology, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, and CIB W099. For a full list of verified reviews, please see Publons. He has also reviewed the impact and standing of academics for National Research Foundation (NRF) South Africa. For more about Nnedinma’s research, refer to the websites below or the research and scholarly outputs pages of this website.
He enjoys reading, running, swimming and playing golf.
The websites: