Morgan’s Administration Places Prowess at the Vanguard
Proof of Morgan State University’s forward momentum abounds, and the uber-motivated, highly talented leaders being chosen to continue the University’s progress are well suited to the task.
Here, we present four outstanding additions to the Morgan leadership team who exemplify the “diverse, dedicated and expert faculty, administrators and staff” listed as a strength in the University’s 2021–30 strategic plan.
Passing Down Passion
Dr. Abimbola Asojo
Dean of the School of Architecture and Planning
Abimbola Asojo, Ph.D., FAIA, dean and professor of Morgan’s School of Architecture and Planning since August 2023, says academia is in her “DNA.” Dr. Asojo’s father is a retired biomedical scientist, her mother is a retired a university professor of philosophy, and her family lived on the campus of the University of Ibadan, the premier university of Nigeria. The campus also housed her high school, International School Ibadan, which is where Dr. Asojo’s passion for architecture was sparked by an all-school assembly featuring two of the nation’s few women in the profession. After she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Architecture from Obafemi Awolowo University, in Nigeria, she moved to the UK, where she received a Master of Architecture in Computer and Design from the University of East London, then to the U.S., where she earned her Ph.D. at the University of Oklahoma. The work she has done as a practitioner and educator during the past 32 years “fills a void in the body of knowledge on cultural diversity and non-Western issues in design,” she says.
“One reason I came to Morgan is to continue doing the work of increasing representation in our fields,” Dr. Asojo says. “HBCUs, for example, contribute seven out of 10 licensed African American architects to the profession. My passion for growing the next generation of diverse built environment professionals starting from K–12 to higher education is what attracted me to Morgan. Our School of Architecture and Planning is the only HBCU with architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, regional and city planning, and construction management in one school. Plus, we have a Ph.D. in Architecture, Urbanism and Built Environments.”
Asked what she hopes to accomplish at Morgan, Dr. Asojo says, “Student success is very important to me. We have to meet students where they are and grow a diverse profession that is reflective of the communities we serve and the diversity of our population.”
Making a Difference
Dr. Paul Tchounwou
Dean of the School of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences
He’s “just honored to have the opportunity to be part of the National Treasure,” says Paul Tchounwou, Sc.D., dean of Morgan’s School of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences (SCMNS) since Jan. 1, 2023. And the National Treasure is honored to have him. Recently named one of the “World’s Top 2% of Scientists” by Stanford University, and a 2023 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Dr. Tchounwou was also the top student in his graduating classes at the University of Yaounde, in his home country of Cameroon, where he earned his Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences and his master’s in Biochemistry. Pursuing master’s and doctoral degrees in public health at Tulane University in the U.S. inspired his interest in conducting innovative research to find solutions to improve the health and well-being of the community, and his return to Cameroon to teach medical students and conduct medical research grew his passion for being an educator. Three years later, he returned to Tulane University, where he conducted postdoctoral research in cancer biology and chemotherapy for two years, and then joined Jackson State University, where he served in faculty and high administrative positions in the College of Science, Engineering and Technology at the historically Black institution for more than a quarter-century.
“One of my biggest accomplishments that I feel proud of is the opportunity that I have had to really make a difference in the lives of so many students,” says Tchounwou, who has mentored hundreds of scholars ranging from K–12 through doctoral, and has won two major awards for educators: a 2013 Mentors Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a 2018 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring.
“I view this as being an exciting time for the School of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences,” Dr. Tchounwou says. “I envision to build on the strong foundation that has been laid to deliver high-quality science, technology and math education to our students.”
Facilitating Success
James Curbeam
Director of Enterprise Risk Management
James Curbeam has come to love the career field he entered mainly by happenstance. In the 30-plus years since he received his Bachelor of Science in finance from Creighton University, Curbeam has earned an Executive MBA from the University of Nebraska Omaha and has gained a wealth of experience in risk management in areas ranging from insurance to energy to water to hospitality to, most recently, education. In risk management, he says, “There’s always some new challenge. The world is ever-changing, and there are new risks that come about every day that you have to figure out, to put your organization in a position to mitigate or transfer those types of challenges.”
In his current post, the newly created position of director of Enterprise Risk Management for Morgan, Curbeam will also collaborate with the University’s Office of Internal Audits to monitor audit reports and implement processes and procedures to ensure University-wide compliance, and he will serve as chair of the University’s Enterprise Risk Management Committee, which the Board of Regents established.
Curbeam sees multiple opportunities at Morgan to help bring about beneficial change in his field.
“One of the things the industry has been talking about for years is their lack of diversity,” he reports. “I would love to be able to introduce risk management to Morgan students so they can get the flavor of this industry and know how exciting it is.”
His ultimate goal at Morgan is to get engagement at the faculty and staff level by filling a role analogous to the point guard or coach in basketball, “so everyone basically is a risk manager for the organization, and I’m kind of the facilitator, making sure everyone has the tools and the equipment and the processes they need to be successful in their day-to-day work life.”
Support and Tough Love
Dr. Ryan Maltese
Associate Vice President for Student Success and Retention
Ryan Maltese, J.D., Ph.D., is a master facilitator as well. He had envisioned himself a lawyer since he was a child, but soon after he received his law degree from North Carolina Central University, in 1999, he says, he realized a career as a full-time lawyer was not for him. Fortunately, his work as a graduate assistant in development and university relations when he was in law school offered another path.
Morgan’s associate vice president for Student Success and Retention in the Division of Enrollment Management and Student Success since December of last year, Maltese has had a fulfilling and wide-ranging career — including completion of degree programs at Oberlin College, University of North Carolina Greensboro and Georgia State University, three years as a program director at the Lowery Institute and 19 years as a director at North Carolina A&T State University and later at Georgia State. Tying it all together thematically is his passion for human rights and social justice.
“I don’t think you can grow up the son of a social worker and not be indoctrinated,” he says. “…I’ll venture to say I’m my mother’s son in that respect…. The principles that I live by are cultural competence, social responsibility and servant leadership.”
Providing support for students from admission to graduation; supervising academic advising, orientation, summer/transition programs and the alumni mentoring programs in his oversight of the Center for Academic Success and Achievement; and cochairing Morgan’s new Certificate Committee to help Morgan students leave the University as more employable job candidates are all aspects of his job. And so is giving tough love.
“I really do want to reframe the narrative around student expectations of the college experience, for Morgan students to know that getting a college degree is their responsibility,” Maltese says. “It is their walk, their journey, and it is something that they have to embrace and fight for.”
