I am an assistant professor and director of Extended Studies and Online Learning at North Carolina Central University’s School of Library and Information Science. 

My research primarily investigates the socio-economic and socio-technological factors that impact technology acceptance, use, and impact of use, predominantly among marginalized populations and communities often underrepresented in technology research. My work is funded by grants from the NCDIT, NIH, NTIA, and the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society. I am a member of the inaugural cohort of the Marjorie & Charles Benton Opportunity Fund Fellowship.

I have received multiple national and international recognition for my work. In 2014, I was recognized as a promising young scholar by the Federal Government of Nigeria and awarded the Presidential Special Scholarship for Innovation and Development. Most recently, I received the 2022 Charles Benton Early Career Scholar Award for my paper evaluating the Alabama Broadband Connectivity for Students program (the only digital inclusion initiative in the US administered using direct-to consumer vouchers). I also received the 2022 Pacific Telecommunications Young Scholar Award in recognition of groundbreaking work that I conducted as part of my PhD dissertation.

I earned my PhD in Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University and won the Robert Dunlap Award for the best paper in the Part B qualifying exam. I have a Master’s in Management and Information Technology from the University of St Andrews, Scotland and a Bachelor’s in Information Technology from Bells University of Technology, Nigeria (best graduating student in my department and college). Further, I underwent additional training as a postdoctoral scholar at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California. During my postdoctoral appointment, I collaborated with the California Emerging Technology Fund and Pews Charitable Trust to review existing research on the effectiveness of digital inclusion initiatives, create a taxonomy of these initiatives, and evaluate a sample of recent initiatives across the United States.

When I’m not working (which I’m trying – emphasis on “trying” – to nonnegotiably make weekends and four weekday evenings), I enjoy cooking, taking long bike rides with my husband, and reading fiction.

You can access my short bio here. For more information about my work you can check out my publications and my CV.