Bidemi Babalola, a research archaeologist at the British Museum in London, has received the 2025 Dan David Prize, the world’s largest award for historical research.
Bidemi Babalola was honoured with the $300,000 prize at an awards ceremony held in Italy on May 28, 2025.
The Dan David Prize celebrates exceptional scholarship in the historical disciplines, awarding individual recipients for groundbreaking contributions that deepen our understanding of the past.
Bidemi Babalola was one of nine scholars worldwide recognized this year. His accolade comes in recognition of a groundbreaking archaeological discovery that proved glass bead production was historically indigenous to Africa, a revelation that challenges longstanding academic assumptions.
For decades, many scholars believed that glass bead production in Africa was the result of foreign influence or importation. However, through extensive excavations in Ile-Ife, Osun State, and two decades of laboratory research, Babalola demonstrated that ancient African societies independently developed sophisticated glassmaking technologies.
His work has opened a new frontier in the study of African civilisation, offering evidence that rewrites previously held narratives about technological innovation on the continent.
Babalola’s win comes just a year after fellow Nigerian historian, Professor Saheed Aderinto, also received the Dan David Prize. The two scholars share a personal history: they became friends as undergraduates at the University of Ibadan in 1998 and have remained close ever since.
With this award, Babalola becomes the second University of Ibadan alumnus to claim the Dan David Prize, reinforcing the university’s growing legacy of producing globally recognized scholars in the humanities.
His achievement is not only a personal milestone but also a significant moment for African historical scholarship, highlighting the continent’s capacity to produce world-class academic research rooted in its own heritage.
