Description
As a student in the segregated schools of Newport News, Virginia, Linda B. Akanbi had a number of outstanding teachers and knew from an early age she wanted to be a teacher too. After graduating in 1966 with a BS in Education from a traditional HBCU, West Virginia State University, she began her teaching career as a reading teacher in Virginia, working with Title 1 federal programs designed to help children from underserved communities achieve reading competency. From there, she went to the University of Buffalo for MEd and EdD degrees, completing her work in 1978. During that time, she served as coordinator of reading instruction at the university’s Learning Center. Dr. Akanbi’s college teaching career included an instructorship in 1977-78 at Southern Illinois University, followed by an assistant professorship the following year at Norfolk State, and then service as a lecturer at Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria. Returning to the United States, she taught briefly at Virginia State University, then taught for ten years at Albany State University in Georgia, where she was an associate professor and coordinator for the graduate reading program. During her tenure at Albany State, she took advantage of a Regents Development Program in the University System of Georgia, where she worked closely with the president and vice president at Armstrong State College in Savannah. In 1992, Dr. Akanbi moved to Kennesaw State College as head of the Department of Elementary and Early Childhood Education, a post she held for seven years. During that time, she was successful in diversifying the department’s faculty and also in recruiting minority students for careers in education through a Ford Scholars Program. From 1999 to 2003, she served as director of KSU’s Reading Institute. By the time she retired in 2008 and throughout her post-retirement years, she has gained an international reputation through her work with the Eisenhower People to People program in South Africa, her work with an International Reading Association project in Nigeria, and papers at international conferences on a variety of continents. In retirement, Dr. Akanbi continues to work as a reading consultant and author. In 2019, she published a book, My Father’s Daughter: An Untold Story, A Personal Journey of Discovery. At KSU, she has also created the Linda B. Akanbi Annual Scholarship for Education. Her papers are in the KSU Archives.
Citation
Linda B. Akanbi, 2025-04-14, Kennesaw State University oral history series, Kennesaw State University Oral History Project, 1973- , KSU/45/05/001, Kennesaw State University Archives.
Rights
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Identifier
ksu-45-05-001-03_163
Format
video/mp4
