Background

I am a PhD student at Purdue University. My work is in the area of organization studies. My disciplinary training has included organizational theory, communication, leadership, issues management, strategy and intercultural competence. My training has also provided me with advanced qualitative research skills and a strong foundation in metatheory. My long-term goal is to learn through research and contribute findings to practice and teaching. My research interest resides at the meso-organizational level, meaning it sits at the intersection of levels of analysis by drawing on micro topics (like individual motivation, perception and performance), and macro topics (such as culture and strategic management) to understand group dynamics and collective phenomena (like organizational identity). Specifically, my dissertation research connects the macro to the meso and micro by studying how a strong vision affects performance among individuals and teams in the organization. I hope that beyond theory development, my scholarship will be instructive for managers and organizational leaders in understanding the direct impact of organizational phenomena on internal processes. I have also worked on research that looks at the impact of culture on the organization and identity. Currently, I am on the job market (for Fall 2021) looking for opportunities to network, learn more about my future goals and navigating academia as a professor, researcher and role model. I am also on a few projects with the underlying goal of building leadership in Africa.

Job experience

• August 2016 - present
  Graduate Teaching Assistant (Primary Instructor)
  Purdue University
  

  West Lafayette, IN, USA

  In this role, I serve as primary instructor of Purdue undergraduate courses. Responsibilities include course design, daily instruction, grading, providing detailed and specific feedback and mentoring. Some course areas I have taught include:
  - Intercultural Competence
  - Public Relations
  - Communication
  - Interviewing Principles and Practices
  For these classes, I use the student-centered approach to teaching. I also use a group system that allows for better student engagement and classroom management. Every course requires some form of presentation by students and features invited speakers who share on core (course) concepts from perspectives that may be different from my own. This thus provides students with a more wholistic learning experience. Classes are hands-on, practical and tailored to students' needs. They are challenged from day one to think of course lessons within the frame of how they plan to use it. Thus, my classes are taught as skills-based classes going beyond theory to practical applications. Because of the hands-on approach, attendance is always mandatory and the success of the class depends on the presence and involvement of everyone. As an added advantage, students imbibe team building skills useful for the workplace.
  I had the opportunity to re-design the Intercultural Communication course curriculum and syllabus for my section. In this course, speakers representing different parts of the world guest lectured about their culture during our Intercultural Morning Talks and shared music from their communities. Learning followed a problem-based-approach to pedagogy often drawing on the case method. Furthermore, students were matched with undergraduate students at universities around the world such as China, Turkey and Bangladesh. During the virtual-immersion, students (with their partners abroad), worked on tasks that challenged and helped develop their intercultural competence.

• January 2019 - June 2019
  Graduate Teaching Assistant (Teaching Support)
  Copenhagen Business School
  

  Copenhagen, Denmark

  My time at the Copenhagen Business School afforded me a transition to organizational theory from communicative vis-a-vis management perspectives. I studied and worked with Dr Stephen Blaschke on the constitutive role of communication (CCO) in organization, organizing, and organizationality. I provided support in tweaking the organization and communication course to become a more blended learning class which allowed the course to cater to students' individualized needs and interests, provide continuous feedback, and anonymized peer review throughout the semester.

• August 2015 - June 2016
  Visiting Assistant Professor (Fulbright Scholarship)
  Indiana University
  

  Bloomington, IN, USA

  I assisted in teaching Yorùbá language and culture at Indiana University. We not only had in-class instructions, but also a language table where focus was on culture sharing and preparing students for the Yorùbá play which they stage at the biannual Indiana University African Languages Festival.
  I also worked with the National African Language Resource Center (NALRC) to develop and edit public information materials on African languages such as language brochures and reviews of some book publications. I worked on the content development and editing of Ulimi, the annual newsletter/magazine published by the NALRC, and joined other staff at conference exhibitions to showcase the Yorùbá language and culture and the publications and services of the NALRC.
  As a Fulbright Scholar, a huge portion of my work was culture sharing. I served as a Yorùbá cultural ambassador within the Bloomington community. This was a role that I played in the above descriptions and also within the community through presentations at local events and participation in international and intercultural activities.

• August 2014 - August 2015
  National Youth Service Corps Member
  National Youth Service Corps
  

  Delta, Nigeria

  I taught English to ESL speakers in secondary school.
  I also was president of the Charity community development services (CDS) group.
  We put together several health campaigns and environmental sanitation activities at Isiokolo in an effort to help develop the community.

Education

• Purdue University
  PhD
  

  2018 - 2021

  My Phd concentration is organization studies. This has explored the interdisciplinary fields of organizational behavior and communication. At Purdue, I train under scholars who approach the study of organizations from different paradigmatic and disciplinary lenses (e.g. organizational behavior in Krannert School of Management and organizational communication in the Lamb School). I also studied organizations from a European perspective through work at the Copenhagen Business School where I was a visiting PhD student. CBS is renown for interdisciplinary scholarship in management, communication and culture.
  I have continued research investigating how theories of organizational identity hold true when applied outside Western environments. My work has been supported through various grants and presented at national and international conferences in the US and abroad. I also received Purdue's Ross recruitment fellowship and the Lamb School doctoral grant in support of my research.
• Purdue University
  M.S.
  

  2016 - 2018

  As a master's student at Purdue, I studied Public Relations and Intercultural Communication. My research work was in issues management, social stake, public diplomacy and organizational identity. My methodology was inductive, qualitative research using grounded methods: interviews, ethnographic observations, rhetorical and document analysis. My research work was supported through a mix of funds including Purdue's PROMISE grant, CGSA grant and the Brian Lamb Research and Professional Development fund. I presented my research at local and international conferences including the Global Fusion conference in Philadelphia, BledCom Public Relations conference in Slovenia and the Fulbright Association Conference in Nigeria.
• University of Lagos
  B.A.
  

  2009 - 2014

• Graduate Instructional Development Certificate
  Purdue University
  

  April 2017 - present
• Graduate Teaching Certificate
  Purdue University
  

  April 2017 - present