Draft:Daphne Williams Ntiri

Daphne Williams Ntiri (born August 21, 1948) is a Sierra Leone-American academic scholar, author and administrator. She is a Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of African American Studies at Wayne State University, a position she has served for more than three decades, and an Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame laureate.

Early life and education

Ntiri was born in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and earned her Bachelor’s degree from Fourah Bay College, the University of Sierra Leone, and her Master’s (Linguistics and Reading) and doctorate degrees (Adult and Continuing Education) from Michigan State University in 1977.

She earned her first Fulbright scholarship to the University of Ouagadougou in 2015, to be followed by another Fulbright scholarship to the University of Namibia nine years later (2024).

Career

Ntiri’s research focuses on adult education/literacy and its intersection with gender and the African and African-diaspora experience. Her teaching and publications, which share many of the same themes—including rich cross-pollination between academia, research and service to the community—address the intractable societal challenges of illiteracy among the disadvantaged in urban and Third World settings, particularly women. Her advocacy has resulted in effective, transformative programs for change through uninterrupted State and foundation grant funding over the last four decades For Ntiri, “the hope is to incarnate change in a globalizing world”.

Affiliated institutions of Higher Learning

• University of Namibia: Fulbright Scholar, Namibia (2024)
• Wayne County Community College, MI: Instructor (part-time) (2007 - 2021)
• University of Uppsala, Sweden: Invited Faculty, Centre for Gender Studies (2017)
• University of Ouagadougou: Fulbright Scholar, Burkina Faso (2015)
• University of Djibouti: IFESH Scholar/Instructor, Djibouti (2007)
• Teacher Training College of Kismayo, Somalia: UNESCO consultant (1986)
• Michigan State University, Research Assistant, Non Formal Education (1972 - 74)
• Michigan State University, Teaching Assistant, African Studies Center (1970 - 74)

Consultancy to international organizations

• International Foundation for Education and Self-Help (IFESH), Instruction, (2007)
• UNESCO/Regional Office (BREDA) (6) - Consultant- Adult Education/Literacy, Dakar, Senegal, (1984 - 1985)
• UNESCO/Paris – Consultant: Teacher Training College of Kismayo, Somalia (1986)
• International Institute for Labor Studies (IILS) (7): Research Fellow (1974 - 1975)
• (International Labor Office).

Service

Ntiri has demonstrated the ability to blend high caliber scholarship with community participation and service, epitomizing the goals of engagement that are the hallmarks of Wayne State University as well as her department, the African American Studies.

Service areas highlighted:

• WSU Another Chance (2009 - present). Title: Director. This is a university supported community service program to elevate the outlook of Detroit residents and motivate them to secure a GED to transition into higher education or the world of work.

• Detroit Literacy Coalition (1993 - 2021). Title: Executive Director (volunteer). This is a non-profit organization that worked in collaboration with the Detroit Public Library, Dominican Literacy, Virginia Park Neighborhood and many other community stakeholders to transform the future of metro Detroit through carefully designed instruction and programs.

• United Black Artists, USA (1978 - 2010). Title: Executive Director (volunteer). This is a non-profit professional arts organization that was the pathway to matching professional excellence with funding. Ntiri secured millions of dollars to impact the careers and lives of several Detroit professional jazz, literary and visual artists’, from 1977 to 2010.

• Bedford Publishers, USA (1992 - 2011). Title: Founder, CEO and Publisher. This fostered academic advancement of eminent scholars from US universities by publishing their scholarly works. Two dozen titles were published, including Clenora Hudson’s works Africana Womanism: Reclaiming ourselves and Emmet Till: The Sacrificial Lamb of the Civil Rights Movement (now available on Amazon 12).

Notable publications

• (2023) Africa’s Adult Literacy Landscape in The Age of Globalization: A path to increased access and change. Re-Membering Africa: Critical Dimensions of African Studies. De-Maio, J., Scheld, S., Spencer-Walters, T. (Eds.). Lexington: Lexington Press, pp.187-200.
• (2015). (Ed). Literacy as Gendered Discourse: Engaging the Voices of Women in Global Societies. North Carolina: Information Age Publishing.
• (1999). (Ed). Cultivating Partnerships - Models of Alliances in Adult Education. American Association for Adult and Continuing Education, Washington D.C.
• (1985). (Ed). One is not a woman, one becomes: The African woman in a transitional society. Troy, MI: Bedford Publishers.

Awards and recognition

• International Adult & Continuing Education Hall of Fame laureate (2) (2022)
• Women in Education Award - Pearls of Hope Foundation (13) (2015)
• Arthur L. Johnson Individual Community Leadership Award (2014)
• Alumni Faculty Service Award (1) (2012)
• Women of Wayne Award (1) (2006)
• Lifetime Achievement Award - Michigan State Department of Education (15) (2006)
• President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching (2000)

Consulting editor and journal reviewer

• Adult Education Quarterly
• Dialogues in Social Justice (Founding member)
• Journal of Adult Learning (web link?????) Is ‘Journal of Adult Learning’ the official title?
• The Journal of Negro Education