Faculty Spotlights
Godwin Arku
Godwin Arku is a professor at Western, teaching Geography and Environment in the Faculty of Social Sciences. He recently received funds for two new projects to empower Black youth on and off campus, work he hopes will be transformative for the communities studied. He leads Diversity Western: Enhancing the Black Experience and received the Robbins-Ollivier Award for Excellence and Equity in hopes of building new bridges between Western and surrounding communities.
Yvonne Asare-Bediako
Yvonne Asare-Bediako is the founder of WeBridge Community Services, a non-profit organization launched in February 2021 amid the Black Lives Matter movement. As a previous faculty member at Brescia University College, Asare-Bediako established WeBridge to address social exclusion and health inequalities faced by Black-identifying individuals in the London area. The organization provides culturally grounded counselling, education, and research services, along with other supports.
Chinelo Ezenwa
Chinelo Ezenwa is an Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) specialist and academic advisor in Western University’s School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. Originally from Nigeria, Ezenwa’s lived experiences as an international student inform her empathetic approach to supporting graduate students. She advocates for student-centred equity and inclusion, drawing on her academic background and personal journey to create safe spaces for meaningful conversations and support.
Cornel Grey
Cornel Grey is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies at Western University. He is developing the course content for Western's new minor in Black Studies. The program aims to provide diverse perspectives on Black history, culture, and heritage, addressing racism and inequity from a scholarly viewpoint.
Erica Lawson
Erica Lawson is an associate professor and the undergraduate chair of women's studies and feminist research at Western University. She teaches the Introduction to Black Studies course, which already has over 60 students registered. The course is part of the new minor in Black Studies, which explores local, national, and global perspectives on Black history and culture.
Isaac Luginaah
Isaac Luginaah is a professor in the Department of Geography and Environment at Western, recognized as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada for his outstanding contributions to the field. His research focuses on health geography, environmental health, health disparities and the impacts of migration on health. Professor Luginaah's work makes substantial impacts on both academic and policy spheres.
Tea Mutonji
Téa Mutonji is Western University's Writer-in-Residence and the author of Shut Up, You're Pretty a novel following Loli, a Black Congolese girl, and her friend Joli, as they journey through childhood to become grown women. The book’s release in 2019 brought critical acclaim, signaling Mutonji as “a unique feminist voice in Canadian fiction."
Margaret Mutumba
Margaret Mutumba is the director of Western's Frugal Biomedical Innovations and has actively worked towards addressing the barriers and inequities in healthcare. Her doctoral research focused on implementing accessible and affordable fertility services in Sub-Saharan Africa. In her role at Western, she leads the Frugal Biomedical Innovations program, a multi-disciplinary initiative focused on co-designing, developing and delivering innovative medical technologies to enhance health-care access for patients in remote and low-resource regions. Mutumba has made her mark globally, recognized for her research, innovation and advocacy.
