PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Celestine Iwendi

Celestine Iwendi is a professor of artificial intelligence whose published work applies machine learning to patient health and recommendation systems. He earned degrees from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Uppsala University, and the University of Aberdeen between 1998 and 2013. His 2020 study used a boosted random forest to predict COVID-19 patient health; in 2022, he coauthored an item-to-item machine-learning recommendation model. He chaired the IEEE Computer Society Worldwide Election Committee in 2024; IEEE ComSoc selected him for its 2025–2026 Distinguished Lecturer term, and he received the Herbert Simon Award in 2025 for the 2022 recommendation paper. As of October 2026, he is an AI professor and head of CIoTh at the University of Greater Manchester; the 2026 ranking places him second in Great Britain and 57th worldwide in AI in healthcare.

Now at
University of Greater Manchester
Works
299
Citations
6,992
h-index
47
Badges

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 19 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1998–2013

    Four university degrees

    He earns a BSc and an MSc at Nnamdi Azikiwe University in 1998 and 2002, an MSc at Uppsala University in 2008, and a PhD at the University of Aberdeen in 2013.

  2. 2020

    Boosted forest for COVID-19

    In 2020, he coauthors a study that uses a Random Forest boosted with AdaBoost to predict COVID-19 patient health.

  3. 2022

    Item-to-item recommendations

    In 2022, he coauthors a machine-learning model for item-to-item collaborative-filtering recommendations.

  4. 2024

    IEEE election committee chair

    In 2024, he chairs the IEEE Computer Society Worldwide Election Committee.

  5. 2025–2026

    ComSoc Distinguished Lecturer

    In 2025, IEEE Communications Society selects him as a Distinguished Lecturer for its 2025–2026 term.

  6. 2025

    A Herbert Simon Award

    In 2025, he receives the Herbert Simon Award for his 2022 paper on a pointer-based machine-learning recommendation system.

  7. 2026

    AI in healthcare ranking

    In 2026, he is ranked second in Great Britain and 57th worldwide in the Scholarly Index Top 1000 Scholar rankings for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare for the 2021–2025 impact window.

  8. As of October 2026

    Professor and CIoTh head

    As of October 2026, he is Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Head of the Centre for the Intelligence of Things at the University of Greater Manchester.

Career

  1. Since 2021University of Greater ManchesterProfessor of Artificial Intelligence
  2. 2025–2026Near East University
  3. 2024–2026Vellore Institute of Technology University
  4. 2021–2025Robert Gordon University
  5. 2018–2021Central South University of Forestry and Technology

Education

  1. 2013University of AberdeenPhD
  2. 2008Uppsala UniversityMSc
  3. 2002Nnamdi Azikiwe UniversityMSc
  4. 1998Nnamdi Azikiwe UniversityBSc

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

Most-cited works

  1. COVID-19 Patient Health Prediction Using Boosted Random Forest Algorithm2020 · Frontiers in Public Health · 510 citations
  2. A Novel Deep Learning Model for Detection of Severity Level of the Disease in Citrus Fruits2022 · Electronics · 309 citations
  3. A metaheuristic optimization approach for energy efficiency in the IoT networks2020 · Software Practice and Experience · 261 citations
  4. Realizing an Efficient IoMT-Assisted Patient Diet Recommendation System Through Machine Learning Model2020 · IEEE Access · 232 citations
  5. AI-empowered, blockchain and SDN integrated security architecture for IoT network of cyber physical systems2021 · Computer Communications · 223 citations

From OpenAlex, as of 19 October 2026.

  1. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers rose from 2% to 32%Includes University of Aberdeen. We estimate where leading AI researchers worked when their most-cited papers appeared. The company share rose from 2% in 1975–1979 to 32% in 2020–2024.
  2. Google had the most people shaping AI every year from 2014 to 2025Our estimates of which organizations employed the most people shaping AI from 1961 to 2025, with a year-by-year chart.
  3. The United States employs an estimated 53% of people in our data with a known employment countryOur estimates of where AI careers are concentrated now and how countries’ shares of dated positions changed over time.
  4. 46% of living people in our data with known birth and employment countries work outside their birth countryOur estimate of cross-border careers in AI, from country of birth and the country of each current organization.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Celestine Iwendi yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Iwendi | African Scientists Directory africanscientists.africa. Checked 18 October 2026.
  2. COVID-19 Patient Health Prediction Using Boosted Random Forest Algorithm frontiersin.org. Checked 18 October 2026.
  3. Prof. Iwendi receives Herbert Simon award for outstanding contribution In ITDM field - Vanguard News vanguardngr.com. Checked 18 October 2026.
  4. Celestine Iwendi | Professor of Artificial Intelligence & Head of the Centre of Intelligence of Things (CIoTh) | University of Bolton bolton.ac.uk. Checked 18 October 2026.
  5. University of Greater Manchester professor selected to be ‘Distinguished Lecturer’ bolton.ac.uk. Checked 18 October 2026.
  6. University’s AI professor recognised in global rankings greatermanchester.ac.uk. Checked 18 October 2026.