Keynote speaker

Dr. Emmanuel Otu

Dr. Emmanuel Otu has been a champion of higher education and on a mission to provide students with topflight, cutting-edge educational experiences, both academically and experientially for his entire career as a Professor, Department chair, and Dean, a career which has spanned 34 years.  His career has taken him around the world.  His formal educational pathway began in Nigeria where he completed his undergraduate education in Chemistry (now Obafemi Awolowo University) and then took him to Canada to his Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of Ottawa and postdoctoral work at the University of Waterloo (Canada).  Professionally, Dr. Otu has served as faculty at several institutions during his career.  Beginning at Purchase within the SUNY system of New York, Emmanuel found his way to Indiana University and eventually for the past twelve years here at UW-Parkside as the Founding Dean of the College of Natural and Health Sciences.   

Emmanuel has always sought to create opportunities at the institutions he has served and his “can get it done” attitude has led him to leadership positions at every institution he has been at.  He became head of the Chemistry Department after only three years at SUNY, rose to Department chair once again at Indiana and then chose to serve as Dean of the School of Natural Sciences for his final three years there. 

At around this time, Emmanuel and his family were happy that he was finding opportunities to advance his educational career moving in a southernly direction, as his home in Nigeria didn’t experience quite the harsh winters that his early career was providing for him. However, learning of the opportunity to potentially serve as the Founding Dean of the College of Natural and Health Sciences was just too good to pass up, even if it meant moving geographically in the wrong direction.  We are certainly glad he did. 

There is no doubt that as Emmanuel steps down as the Dean, the University of Wisconsin-Parkside’s College of Natural and Health Sciences is in a much better place now than when he first came. 

When he started, the college had just one master of science degree program. It now has eight existing or approved graduate programs, the latest being the M.S. in Physician Assistant to start in 2027. On the undergraduate side, he led development or helped support several new programs and academic revisions: within the Applied Health Sciences major of concentrations in Public Health, Medical Laboratory Sciences (accredited), and Radiologic Science (accredited); an online B.S. degree completion program in Psychology; A.S. degrees in Laboratory Sciences and Physics; a revamping of several majors including Chemistry, Environmental Studies, Kinesiology and Sport Performance (previously Exercise Science), Psychology (now Psychology, Neuroscience and Professional Counseling). 

He led the college in developing its first strategic plan in 2013 that has been updated biannually. He formed the college’s first Advisory Board; developed multiple articulation agreements with regional and international partners; reintegrated Math instructors into an academic department and led the development of a corequisite teaching model for computational skills math requirement; administered a new workload policy supporting individualized instruction, student research, and other high impact practices; assumed operations of the Root River Environmental Community Education Center in Racine (a partnership between the City of Racine and UW-Parkside); and led development of the S.C. Johnson Integrated Science Laboratory, Biotechnology Lab, the Interactive Teaching classroom, Tallent Hall renovation for the Nursing program, a 36-station computer classroom in Greenquist Hall, and other teaching and research spaces. 

He was instrumental in helping raise over $2 million in student scholarships, $1 million for equipment in new labs, secured investments by Abbott Laboratories and Shimadzu Scientific Instruments, and started an annual celebration that brings College of Natural and Health Sciences alumni back to campus, now in its 10th year. Fifteen students received $1,000 scholarships at the 9th celebration last year, and that number is growing each year, in a very real way, due to his vision, leadership, and passion for UW-Parkside.   

His twelve years of service as Founding Dean of the College of Natural and Health Sciences has laid the foundation for future success and has shown us what is possible when you believe.