Dr. Chieke Ihejirika was born and raised in Nigeria, and acquired his B.A. in English Education from the AlvanIkoku College of Education, an Affiliate of University of Nigeria Nsukka in Enugu State, Nigeria. After finishing his undergraduate studies, Ihejirika went on and obtained his Master’s degrees in Belgium and Canada and his Ph.D. from Temple University.

Since completing his studies, amongst achieving prestigious publications and traveling as a keynote speaker, Dr. Ihejirika began teaching at Lincoln University Pennsylvania. Although he spent his formative academic years at PWI’s, he finds that there’s almost no better experience than working at Lincoln University, the nation’s oldest HBCU. He believes so much in the HBCU experience that he led all his children to graduate from Lincoln University.

He feels it gave them a direct sense of belonging and confidence: “They are now well fortified to go anywhere and pursue any careers, and without any complex about whom they are and what they can accomplish.” Dr. Ihejirika finds that being in a Black institution, there’s this fine duality of yearning to seek self-fulfillment, as well as, the aspiration of being the future of America.

His faith relies heavily on his dual perspective of being both as a professor and a father. He gets a firsthand look at what coming into one’s own looks like for young Black students at Lincoln. All of his children found more stable characteristics gelled to their confidence as young Black people after going to Lincoln University. This stays with them no matter where they go, or what they do.