Welcoming the Black academic excellence cohort hire

Meet the twelve tenure-track scholars who recently joined the U of A as part of a commitment to diversifying the institution's professoriate.

Dr. Josephine Godwyll, Dr. Elizabeth Onyango, Dr. Victor Ezeugwu, Dr. Osezua Ibhadode, Dr. Domale Keys, Dr. Giselle Thompson and Dr. Michael Omoge

From top left to bottom right: Dr. Josephine Godwyll, Dr. Elizabeth Onyango, Dr. Victor Ezeugwu, Dr. Osezua Ibhadode, Dr. Domale Keys, Dr. Giselle Thompson, Dr. Michael Omoge. Not pictured: Dr. Olubukola Alimi, Dr. Faith Majekolagbe, Dr. Godwin Dzah, Dr. Charlie Mballa, Dr. Oluwakemi Amodu

Last fall, the University of Alberta joined 40 other peer institutions across Canada in signing the Scarborough Charter on Anti-Black Racism and Black Inclusion in Canadian Higher Education, a document outlining a national plan of action to fight structural racism.

As a part of this commitment to diversifying the institution’s professoriate, we launched an inclusive excellence initiative, the Black academic excellence cohort hire, that included hiring twelve tenure-track Black scholars across a range of disciplines and Faculties. We are delighted to report that many of these colleagues joined our campuses this past July (2022). A welcoming reception for these new colleagues sponsored by the Office of the Provost and the Office of the Vice President (Research and Innovation) was held at the University Club in the fall that invited these new Cohort hires, along with Chairs, Deans, and members of the Black Faculty Association.

I would like to express my gratitude to those who were key in moving the cohort hire forward, including the Black Faculty Collective, deans and participating faculties, and all those involved. On behalf of the entire university: thank you.

Please join me in warmly welcoming each of these excellent academics to our University of Alberta campuses, including North campus, Campus Saint-Jean and Augustana.

COLLEGE OF HEALTH SCIENCES

Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport & Recreation

Dr. Josephine Godwyll, Assistant Professor

Research areas: Connections between individual and community well-being; access to public spaces; inequitable spatial and systemic barriers that exist to accessing recreation facilities; development of disadvantaged populations.

School of Public Health

Dr. Elizabeth Onyango, Assistant Professor

Research areas: Health geography; population health and food security; gender based violence; household and food security; youth and maternal health; environmental health

Rehabilitation Medicine

Dr. Victor Ezeugwu, Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Therapy

Research areas: Precision health using behaviour change and ecological approaches to personalize rehabilitation interventions; neuroimaging biomarkers, physical- and social-environment correlates and determinants of movement behaviours in people with neurological and cognitive impairments; relationships between sleep, sedentary behaviour, physical activity, and health.

Nursing

Dr. Oluwakemi (Kemi) Amodu, Assistant Professor

Research areas: Addressing sexual and reproductive health issues faced by women who have experienced conflict and forced displacement.

COLLEGE OF NATURAL + APPLIED SCIENCES

Faculty of Engineering

Dr. Osezua Ibhadode, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering

Research areas: Engineering specializing in Mechatronics; design for additive manufacturing (3D printing), especially metal additive manufacturing.

Dr. Olubukola Alimi, Assistant Professor

Research areas: Civil and Environmental Engineering specializing in water treatment (arriving 2023)

COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES + HUMANITIES

Faculty of Arts

Dr. Domale Keys, Assistant Professor, Department of Women’s and Gender Studies

Research areas: Transnational Race, Gender, and Feminist Studies; the experiences of Black women with violence and their organizing against violence.

Faculty of Education

Dr. Giselle Thompson, Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Policy Studies

Research areas: Black Studies in Education; Black Communities in transnational, local, and diasporic contexts.

Faculty of Law

Dr. Faith Majekolagbe, Assistant Professor

Research areas: Intellectual property and public interest, with specific emphasis on the nexus between copyright and global development goals; adaptation of copyright laws to support digital education in a pandemic and post-pandemic world.

Dr. Godwin Dzah, Assistant Professor

Research areas: International environmental law; climate change; public international law; sustainable development law.

AUGUSTANA CAMPUS

Dr. Michael Omoge, Assistant Professor, Department of Fine Arts/Humanities

Research areas: Philosophy of mind; epistemology; African philosophy.

CAMPUS SAINT-JEAN

Dr. Charlie Mballa, Assistant Professor at Faculté Saint-Jean

Research areas: Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa


Carrie Smith
Vice-Provost (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion)