Florence Onyebuchi Orabueze was born on 30th March, 1966 at Enugu-Ezike, Igboeze Local Government Area of Enugu state. She hails from Uruagu, Nnewi in Nnewi North Local Government Area of Anambra State. She had her Primary and Secondary Education at Uruagu Central School and Girls’ Secondary School, Nnewi. She is a graduate of University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and a professor in the Department of English and Literary Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. She has attended several academic conferences within and outside the country. She has published a plethora of critical essays on the English language and literature in several local and international journals. She has also published two collections of poems entitled The Return of Heart of Darkness and Other Poems, The Dawn of a New Day, and The Message of the Ayaka Masquerade and Other Poems.
She has to her credit a novel – Men Behind The Masks – and two collections of critical essays, Society, Women and Literature in Africa, The Creative Writer as a Human Rights Activist. Her academic output and mentorship of other scholars and researchers are put together and celebrated in a four-hundred and ninety-nine- paged festschrift titled Perspectives On Language, Literature & Human Rights: Essays in Honour of Professor Florence Onyebuchi Orabueze is in the press now. She has served in several panels and committees at the departmental, faculty and university levels and is a member of several boards in the university.
She was the first woman to be appointed as director of the University of Nigeria Bookshop Ltd and Managing Director of University of Nigeria Press Ltd. At present, she is the first woman in the fifty-six-year history of the Institute of African Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, to be appointed as the director. She had also been appointed as member and chairman of several committees and panels in the university, including the Chairman, The Maiden Grand Home-Coming of The Alumni of School of Postgraduate Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka and member End of Service Events of the 14th Vice Chancellor of University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Besides, she was a member of the University of Nigeria selection committee for the university registrar and bursar in 2011, and a member of the search committee for the Vice Chancellor in 2019. She had also been the chairman of some Nigerian Universities Commission’s Accreditation Panels to some Universities.
She has been conferred with several academic recognitions, awards and fellowships, including University of Nigeria Excellent Performance Award; Fellow of Public Administration and Management; Fellow, Society for Research and Academic Excellence; Life Member, Nigerian Academy of Letters. And on 8th July, 2019, she was given a Diploma Certificate by MANAGEMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTES held at Galilee International Management Institute, Israel. In May 21, 2019, under her management and supervision as the director of University of Nigeria Press Ltd., the press won the 2019 BEST LEGAL DEPOSITOR MERIT AWARD from National Library of Nigeria. She belongs to several professional bodies and recently she had been conferred with the title of Chiadikaobi by Students Union government of University of Nigeria and another chieftaincy title of Chim Merem Eze by the Ancient Kingdom of Nsukka Asadu. And on 17th August, 2019, National Union of Anambra State Students conferred her with the title of Nne Di Ora Mma I and A Philanthropic Excellence Award. She is the chairman of the board of trustees of The Grace Uzoma Okonkwo Foundation. She is also the convener of The Grace Uzoma Okonkwo international conferences, and the editor-in-chief of Ogbazuluobodo – the University of Nigeria Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies. She is married to Sir A. O. Orabueze and the marriage is blessed with four children: Chiamaka, Ibuchukwu, Ikenna and Chukwunedum.