Dr. Obasi Akan
University of Tennessee-Chattanooga
Ph.D. in Management-Case Western Reserve University, 2002

Obasi Akan was in his 50s and had already served 30 years in federal civil service, with five more in consulting, when he enrolled in a doctoral program. Today a professor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, he says, "I don't view this step as a second career. Rather, it is a continuation of my life's mission - to unleash the voices of people who are often unheard, marginalized, or even oppressed, so they can be active players and participants in organizational life."

As an organizational development practitioner, Dr. Akan says, he became skilled in the practice of his profession, but increasingly "curious about the theory behind it." As a doctoral student exploring those theories, he repeatedly encountered students who told him, "I never had an instructor who looked like you." Choosing UT-Chattanooga because of the school's active involvement in its community, he has already done some OD consulting for local government and had a paper accepted for presentation at a conference. His philosophy: "There are no individuals, there are only groups. There is no 'you' without 'me.'"

Dr. Newkirk's next milestone is to publish his research on Strategic IS Planning.

If you are a PhD Project participant and would like to share your story, send e-mail.