The Graduate College

Doctoral Scholars E-Showcase - Fall 2017

We Invite You to Join Us in Celebrating Our Fall 2017 Graduating Doctoral Scholars and Their Research!

To view past Doctoral Scholars E-Showcase profiles, please visit our archive.

The road to the doctoral degree is long and arduous, but the result is well worth the challenge. Here at the end of your doctoral journey, you have achieved an unparalleled level of expertise in your particular area of study.

The Graduate College commends you on this remarkable achievement. We now encourage you to take time to reflect back on the effort it took to get to this point and to reflect also on the support others provided to you during this process. From faculty advisors to funding organizations, from colleagues in the lab to family members and friends--your doctoral work has developed with the guidance and support of countless others. 

As you walk across the graduation stage, you will join the ranks of our University’s more than four hundred total doctoral degree recipients. Your success strengthens A&T’s legacy and helps push our institution towards the goals of our strategic plan, A&T Preeminence 2020. 

Congratulations and best wishes as you move forward into the next phase of your career!

Sanjiv Sarin, Ph.D., PE
Dean, The Graduate College
Vice Provost for Research, Graduate Programs, and Extended Learning

The Doctoral Scholars E-Showcase allows us to highlight the research of our graduating doctoral students. Our doctoral students have gone through an extensive and rigorous academic journey to get to this point, and their research reflects the level of their achievement. Below, you will find information about graduating doctoral students as well as brief summaries of their research. Take a moment to consider the significance of a doctoral degree. The doctoral degree indicates a high level of competence in a specific field of study. In order to earn the esteemed Ph.D. degree, a student must pass qualifying examinations demonstrating their knowledge of the current debates, concepts and dilemmas in their soon-to-be field of expertise. In addition, Ph.D. candidates must demonstrate their ability to perform independent research and must successfully complete a research proposal, create a research strategy, carry out research in their field, and present the results of that research in both oral and written forms that will be evaluated carefully by experts in the field. It is truly a monumental achievement to receive a Ph.D., and we commend our students on their success.


Fall 2017 Highlighted Doctoral Scholars: To view the research of our graduating Doctoral Scholars, you can click on a name below or scroll down through the full listings further down on the page. Click on a student's picture or link to see a summary of their dissertation research.

David Amanor, Ph.D. 
Program: Electrical Engineering

Emmanuel Ansah, Ph.D.
Program: Energy & Environmental Systems

Willie Jones, Ph.D.
Program: Leadership Studies

Sonya Renee Oglesby, Ph.D.
Program: Rehabilitation Counseling & 
Rehabilitation Counselor Education

Rama Krishna Sharma, Ph.D.
Program: Nanoengineering

Kendra E. Whitehead, Ph.D.
Program: Energy & Environmental Systems

Travis Williams, Ph.D.
Program: Electrical Engineering

 

 

 

Photo of David Amanor Ph.D. 

David Amanor, Ph.D. 
Program: Electrical Engineering
Dissertation Title: “Visible Light Communication Physical Layer Development for Inter-Satellite Communication”
Major Professor: Dr. William W. Edmonson

 

Photo of Sonya Renee Oglesby Ph.D.

Sonya Renee Oglesby, Ph.D.
Program: Rehabilitation Counseling & Rehabilitation Counselor Education
Dissertation Title: "Utilization of Sensory Integration Rooms with Children with Disabilities” 
Major Professor Name: Dr. Michael Brooks

 

 

Photo of Travis Williams Ph.D.

Travis Williams, Ph.D.
Program: Electrical Engineering
Research Title: “Advanced Image Classification using Deep Neural Networks”
Major Professor: Dr. Robert Li

Photo of Emmanuel Ansah Ph.D.

Emmanuel Ansah, Ph.D.
Program: Energy & Environmental Systems
Dissertation Title: “Experimental Studies and Process Modeling of Pyrolysis of Biomass to Biofuels and Chemicals”
Major Professor: Dr. Lijun Wang

 

 

photo of Rama Krishna Sharma P H D

Rama Krishna Sharma, Ph.D.
Program: Nanoengineering
Dissertation Title: “Electrospun Bioactive Nanofibrous Scaffolds for Sustained Release of Biomolecules” 
Major Professor: Dr. Shyam Aravamudhan

Photo of Willie Jones Ph.D.

Willie Jones, Ph.D.
Program: Leadership Studies
Dissertation Title: “Examining the Impact of Leadership Practices on the Retention of Millennials”
Major Professor Name: Dr. Comfort Okpala

 

 

Photo of Kendra E. Whitehead Ph.D.

Kendra E. Whitehead, Ph.D.
Program: Energy & Environmental Systems
Dissertation Title: “Synthesis, Structural, and Spectroscopic Studies of Lanthanide Terpyridine Trigold Complexes”
Major Professor: Dr. Zerihun Assefa